The Vine: August 4, 2000
Okay, here goes…I go to a bar where friends of mine work the staff. Because I perform at the bar, I’m to get a discount on the drinks. At a certain hour the drinks become free for me, but at this time I wasn’t on the free-drink clock.
I order a drink from my friend. A whiskey sour in a pint glass. Should be about three dollars with my discount. She brings back a pint glass and a small glass, both with whiskey sours. She then tells me that she thinks one of them might be a double. She then asks for eight dollars.
I asked what happened and she said she didn’t know. She said she wasn’t sure what happened, but wasn’t it funny? She joked about me just boozing it up that evening. I gave her ten dollars. I was upset, but I gave her ten anyway. She brought my boyfriend a free beer. This would have been better had I been paying for his drinks. Instead, he just got a free beer and I spent ten bucks. Then after I’d drunk them (hey, they were pricey!), she came back to tell me that she found out one of them was a triple, and the other was a double.
I was plastered and due to perform in less than an hour.
My dilemma is, do you send things back if your friend is your waitstaff? I knew she could have gotten in trouble by my complaint, which is why I kept quiet. But by not telling me exactly what was in my drink, she set me up for a dangerous evening, had I just been some patron who was planning on driving home an hour or two later. I got five shots of whiskey when I asked for one.
Did I do the right thing? Other than never ordering from her again, should I just let it slide, or tell my friends that manage the bar what happened?
And what do I do about this permanent slur?
PR
Dear PR,
When your friend turned up at the table with two whiskey sours, you probably should have asked her, “What’s up with that?” And when she clipped you for the full price but let your boyfriend slide with the beer, you probably should have asked her, “What’s up with that?” I know you didn’t want to get her in trouble with bar management, but I don’t see the harm in pointing out that she bricked your order. You didn’t have to send it back in high dudgeon or anything; you could have just told her not to worry about it this time, but for future reference, “you know, just so you know – oh, it’s no big, but I do get a discount, and actually I only ordered the one drink.”
Given that you said nothing and drank what you paid for, I think it’s a bit late to tell the people in charge. Let it slide this time, but from now on, either order from someone a little more on the ball or remind your friend up front that you get a discount.
Tags: etiquette friendships
