Last night, I had several friends over for dinner. We had mini meatloaves and mashed potatoes and lots of raw veggies and a good amount of beer. The DD and I herded the other three out the door and she drove us to meet up with other friends at a bowling alley. The wait list was long, and there was no way we were going to get two lanes together anyway, so we went to the pool hall next door.
Most of us had been there before and knew that the owner is not known as the kindest person on earth, but our own run-ins with him had been uneventful. Last night though, he seemed immediately aggravated by our presence and made it clear. He was harping on us nonstop, though we were buying drinks and pool games. We shook it all off, acknowledging what was fair, adjusting to his rules, and resuming our evening. Some of us knew pool table etiquette, some did not, and some were too drunk to worry about it. The problem we had was not with him correcting us, but with his serious lack of communication skills, and his level of scrutiny towards our table bordered on harassment.
Our DD started feeling ill, so her fiancée decided to go across the street to the drug store for some Tums. I went along to find a granola bar or something small to help keep my blood sugar on a good course. When we came back in, he pounced. I was informed by his bar back that I could not eat that package of four crackers inside his establishment. I tried to explain why I was eating them, but was immediately shut down, so I walked outside and my fellow diabetic friend who knows the owner went to go talk to him. The owner told my friend that if the food was for diabetes, then I should be acting more like it was an emergency. My friend tried to explain that it was to avoid an emergency, but the dude just ignored him. I came back in to find everyone packing up. "Fuck this," Sarah told me. "That's not right."
Most of us had paid as we went along, but one friend had a tab running. When the owner went to close it out, he realized that he had accidentally given her card to another customer.
Now, this is the point where everything could have been fine. He was wrong about the crackers, as Sarah immediately referenced from the ADA (not that he would acknowledge her), but he was within his rights to ask us to follow his many rules, even if he was a dick about it. We understood that the card thing was an accident, but we did find it a bit amusing that he could be so meticulous about his rules, but not meticulous about the money. What was appalling is that he did not apologize or attempt to make it right. My friend expressed some serious displeasure as she called her bank. Then he told her that it would be a mistake to leave without paying her tab.
"With WHAT!" she asked him.
"You have lots of friends," he said, and implied that he would call the cops if she didn't pay up. This didn't phase her, as she is a former cop, and she encouraged him to call. She also suggested he run the other person's card. She did pay her tab with cash and voided the other person's charge on her card before canceling it. That bill was a lot more than hers, and he probably won't get paid for that one. I admired the way that she handled it though- some of us were pretty fired up. We all had different ideas about how it should have been resolved and I'm sure you do too, but she was cool and composed and did what she felt was right.
We finished our evening elsewhere and this morning (yes, morning, but barely), all eight of us met for breakfast. Sarah's husband told us about a time when he made that same mistake as a bartender. The difference, of course, was in how he handled it. He immediately explained to the customer what happened, apologized, and explained that he would immediately get the manager. The manager acknowledged the PITA of having to cancel the card and waived their bill, also apologizing for the trouble. He said the customer left with a smile on their face. I don't know why the owner of that pool hall is such an asshole, but his behavior is well documented online. Some of my friends think everyone ought to be warned away from this place, but I think he does that well enough on his own. There are some positive reviews, but I think those people are the same as we were when we walked in last night- they just haven't seen it firsthand yet.
What's funny is that even with that shitty encounter, we all had a great time. We laughed a lot and this outing further bonded friends from different worlds. It was awesome to see them connect and have fun together. We all got along beautifully and tried to meet the grumpy guy's rules, but when I was banished with my crackers, they collectively roared. I felt very loved in that moment, and not just because I was lit. I'm still struck by that, and the same way we all roared when that asshat suggested our friend was trying to skip out on her bill after he gave away her damn card.
The first thing she said this morning when we met up outside the restaurant was, "Well, I think we all know that I'm not paying!"
We went in and ate delicious breakfasts and shared food and laughed, and all of us enjoyed, appreciated, and relayed our appreciation to our awesome waitress for her fantastic customer service.
