THANKS A LOT

Remember way back in February when I posted about my run in with a jerk at Kelsey's?  I wrote a complaint to Kelsey's and about a week after that, I received a call from a customer service rep. He apologized for the lack of wait staff on the floor and promised to send something in the mail to make up for the unpleasant experience.  Do you know what I got in the mail? Nothing...zilch...nada... and that's exactly about the same amount of business they will be getting from me.

PET PEEVE # 4

Remember Pet Peeve # 4 from yesterday?  Well let me tell you a story. It's kind of long but bear with me.

Last night, Emily, Nathan, and I went out for dinner at Kelsey's, a local family friendly steakhouse.  We were seated at a booth in a corner of the restaurant and were patiently waiting for our meals to arrive.  Seated in the booth behind us were two guys and a girl (they looked to be in their late twenties to early thirties).  One of the guys kept dropping the f bomb loud enough that it was starting to bother me.  Nathan looked back over the booth and asked the guy if he would mind his language.  The guy didn't take it well.
"Are you kidding me right now?  Are you serious?" he asked.
Nathan told him that yes he was serious, that he didn't swear and he didn't appreciate listening to it.
The guy responded by asking him to come over to his table and ask him to his face, so Nathan did.  This really got him going and I was worried the idiot was going to clock Nathan.  Nathan just calmly turned away and sat back down.  Had we not ordered our food, I would have got up and left at this point but as we had given our order some time before I felt it was too late to cancel it.  They were quiet for a short time afterward and we thought the problem was solved. Our food came and we tried to enjoy our meal but the idiot behind us began again to swear loudly. When I stood up a little to to look over the top of the booth and frown at the guy, he held up his beer glass and said "That's for you".  I didn't respond.  He got up shortly after and went to visit the men's room.  As he walked back to his seat, he took a longer way around just so that he could give us the stare down.  I stared right back,  He wasn't intimidating me. His foul language continued throughout our whole meal and by the time we were ready to leave, I was completely fed up. He was being a total jerk and he knew it.  Nathan and Emily walked to the door ahead of me while I put the receipt in my purse and got my coat on.  I stopped at the jerk's table on my way out and asked. "Do you kiss your boyfriend with that potty mouth?" In hindsight, I realize that this was probably not the most diplomatic way to handle the situation but I had had enough.  I looked at the glasses on their table and realized that there had been a fair bit of drinking going on.  He promptly told me to go  f#&@ myself and then his girlfriend joined in on the tirade.   I stood calmly  as they both swore at me loudly enough that the customers all around stopped their own conversations to listen.  The guy then told me to let my boyfriend fight his own battles (this should give you an indication of how much drinking had been going on).
"He's not my boyfriend, he's my son." I corrected him (but thanks for making my night). "and I find the language you are using extremely offensive."
"Get the F out of here" was his reply "go on you F 'ing moron".

I did leave his table and went and got the manager.  I told him they needed to stop serving drinks to that table because they had had more than enough.  When the guy realized I was getting the manager, he got up from the table and approached Nathan and Emily who were standing at the front entrance waiting for me.  Nathan thought that he was coming to apologize but he was actually going over to get things heated up again.  I have to say I am proud of my son for keeping it calm without backing down.  The manager went over to him and made a half hearted attempt to get the guy to come away.  We just turned away and left.

You might ask why we didn't just switch to another table but there were no available tables out of earshot of the guy, he was that loud.  I would have spoken to our waitress about it too but unfortunately the service was not all that great and I didn't even see her from the time we were served our dinner until the time she brought the bill.  I don't think I will be going back.

So there you have it, a nice quiet dinner together with my son and daughter-in-law almost ended up in a bar brawl.  And who says Mormons don't know how to have fun?

GOT PETS?

A number of years ago we had a young girl come and live with us for the summer while she worked away from home.  After she got settled into her new room we sat and chatted for a few minutes.
 "Have you got any pets?" I asked.
 "Why?" she replied "Do you want some?"
I was confused and my face must have betrayed the fact.
"What did you ask me?" she inquired.
"I asked if you had any pets." was my reply.
"Oh" she laughed "I thought you said pads (as in the feminine kind)."
We both had a good laugh.

If you were to ask me today if I have any pets my answer would be " Oh I have many a pet...pet peeves that is."
 Here are a few of them in no particular order.
I am sure I will offend with some of these so maybe you should stop reading now.

1. People who insist on smoking in non designated smoking areas.  I don't care to breathe in their noxious fumes as I leave the mall, or enter the hospital, or go to get a donut at Tim Hortons. (I just made my father in law jealous with that last one.)
2. Teenage pregnancy.  Obviously sex education is not working. Teenage pregnancy is more prevalent now than ever before.  Here's a suggestion...turn off MTV and start teaching some morals. Girls respect yourselves!
3. People who let their kids run wild in public places and think it's cute.  Trust me, it's not.
4. People who use foul language in public.. in particular the F bomb.  I turn a movie off on the second occurrence of the word.  Yes, I find it that offensive.  I have a whole blog to post on that tomorrow.  Trust me it is a good one.  You won't want to miss it.
5. People who don't use their manners.  Honestly, how hard is it to say please and thank you?

The list goes on but I will stop here.

Stay tuned for more on number 4.