Work ended hours earlier than I thought it would at 8:45pm. This was a pleasant surprise, and meant I could drive back to Atlanta tonight and not have to worry about heading back tomorrow on the day of my flight. But my injured eyelid was killing me... I had been up since 4:00am and was exhausted... and it was raining hard with lightning strikes... so I decided to just grab me some dinner and go to bed.
At least this was the plan as I pulled into a 24-hour restaurant.
After being ignored when I walked in the door, I was finally told to grab a table and they'd be right with me. But nobody was right with me. Everybody wandered off. I tried to get the attention of the one girl who was left, but she just rolled her eyes at me and walked away. I'm a fairly level-headed guy, but After TEN FULL MINUTES of being completely ignored, my anger was at the boiling point.
I said "SCREW THIS!" and walked out.
Which I have only done twice in my entire life.
Fueled by rage, I was no longer hurting. No longer tired. No longer giving a shit about the pouring rain. I just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.
So I packed up my shit and drove the hour-forty back to Atlanta.
One of the reasons I love The South is the genuine Southern hospitality here. These people aren't faking it. Most of the time I feel like family when meeting total strangers because they're just so dang nice. I expect to walk into a restaurant and feel like I'm at home because that's how it's been every other time I've eaten at a restaurant here.
So when bullshit like this happens, I'm understandably pissed off.
On the way back I stopped off at a Waffle House in the city of Griffin and had me a couple fried egg sammies, which were delicious. And served by a friendly, attentive, hard-working staff...
I tipped well. Not being ignored puts me in a generous mood. And now I am taking my generous mood to bed, where hopefully I can sleep-in tomorrow morning.
I'm taking an Excedrin PM, so my fingers are crossed...
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So the universe gave you the opportunity to put yourself in another person’s shoes, to pactice patience, humility, empathy, to rise above unpleasantness and be happy–or at least content–in spite of circumstances you can’t control instead of because of them–and it took you ten minutes to yell “screw you” back to the universe?
Dave. Where is your inner peace?
My inner peace died after being ignored and treated rudely for an inexcusable length of time. I thought I made that quite clear. There was nobody’s shoes but my own to be in because there were only four customers in the entire restaurant, and they already had their food.
Patience? I’d say TEN MINUTES of sitting at a table being ignored was being patient. Humility? It’s not like I was demanding service or thought I was more important than other customers and should be served first… I just wanted to be served AT ALL. Empathy? Sorry, but I refuse to empathize with rude people who won’t do their job. Happy? Content? “Circumstances I couldn’t control?” All crazy talk. I CAN control my circumstances by LEAVING that shitty restaurant and going to ANOTHER restaurant where I can be happy and content by actually being served food.
And I didn’t YELL “screw you” I SAID “screw this.”
Only a fool stays in an uncomfortable and undesirable situation when there is no benefit to themselves or others to remain there. Only a sadist remains in a place where their future actions are sure to cause unpleasantness for others. Only a masochist enjoys suffering so much that they’re willing to pay somebody to treat them badly. As I am neither a fool, sadist, or masochist, I sought inner peace elsewhere. And found it at a Waffle House in Griffin, GA, just like I said. Sometimes the universe helps those who help themselves.
My first stop whenever I am in the South is at Waffle House. They have never disappointed me. I have a deep love of their cheese grits and their pecan waffles.
Hooray for Waffle House! mmmmmm.
There really are few things better than a Waffle House in the South.
I will leave if ignored too. Life is too short to waste time with that kind of bullshit.
I hope your Excedrin PM did magic for you!
I wouldn’t have stayed, either. Hope the Excedrin worked! And in case I don’t get on tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving, Dave! xoxo
Waffle House to the rescue. And served with mayo packets. Although I have to ask where the grits are (they server grits with just about every meal)
I’d have done the same. I wouldn’t have rewarded such poor service or incompetent management with my business, either. I’ve walked right back out of many an establishment for failure to be served.
I used to go to Atlanta, every Memorial Day weekend and never missed having breakfast at Waffle House. I was just down South a couple of weeks ago and was headed back to Charlotte to catch a plane and drove past a Waffle House and went “Oh, shit!” so, pulled out my Droid X (Sorry, Dave)and located the next one. Cheese eggs with raisin toast! Mmmmm! BTW Their folks are the most friendly and welcoming of any place I’ve ever been.