The Customer Is Always Right??

When you think about running a campground, you think about meeting lots of people traveling through. That does happen and we get lots of return visits (due, no doubt, to my stellar personality ....). But what has happened over the years is a group of campers who, though previously unknown to each other, have formed deep friendships. So much so that they have withdrawal symptoms when they are separated during the winter months.


To remedy this, it was decided to meet monthly at a designated eating establishment. Some of our long term campers live to the east and some to the west. They decided to meet here, check on their campers and then we all go to a local place. Not that many places to choose from here. There is a BBQ place that has decent food and it was chosen. I had heard that the food was really good. I don't eat out much during the season and when I do get the chance I am usually in a bigger shopping area. We all gathered and met there in December. I think we were a party of 13. It was cold and miserable outside and the only place to sit was the middle of the room where most of the tables were hastily shoved together. We all enjoyed the company of one another, but I thought the food was just okay, nothing I would go out of my way to get.


Our server was a bit taciturn. She seemed a little put out to have to wait on us. In an effort to be friendly we asked if it would be better if we called ahead. She said it probably wouldn't matter, that she would still have to wait on us by herself, but we did let her know of our tentative day to meet in February. February's date acme along with lots of snow and treacherous, icy roads. We all decided to cancel and he who would never want anyone to be put out called the restaurant to cancel. I don't remember if he was even able to talk to anyone, since most of the city had shut down due to the weather.



So with the spring like weather of last week and the fact that we all had cabin fever and were missing all our buddies we put together a date for yesterday to meet at 4:00 at the BBQ establishment. My sweet husband called ahead and told her to expect 15 people. We headed over a little early to help put the tables together. To be nice. Three of our party were already there and somewhat subdued. They were thinking to help with the tables, too. But it was all set up and we went to sit down with our friends ........... just in time to be severely chastised for not showing up in February. She was like a dog with a bone and went on and on about how she had gotten everything all ready and then we didn't show. I apologized sincerely ........ the first time. But, she was not to be shut down with that and continued with her tirade. Finally, my husband, who was watching her with an expression of fascination, told her that he had called to cancel. She pretty much brushed him off with a sneer and continued. I whispered to Barb that I thought maybe she didn't want a tip. She didn't hear me, but could guess what I was saying and I became her "target". It's okay, really, I have thick skin; and I found her to be amusing. At first.

Seventeen of us showed up. All happy to hug and talk and I suppose we may have gotten a little loud. Two showed up a little late and we grabbed a table and added it to the line ......... causing our hostess to grumble that we had now moved around and she had all of our orders to contend with. Only one person moved and we added two to the end, no big deal. I thought we should all jump up and move to entirely different spots while she wasn't looking. You know, in the spirit of fun ..........

She glared at me periodically and interrupted our conversations to make the announcement that they were only two and a half slabs of ribs and "that's it". We were also instructed to take care of our own drink refills. She did stop short of telling us we had to have permission to get up or use the bathrooms. The food was delivered promptly and to the right people (I still say changing seats would have been fun). Mine was okay and I was hungry. Drew's was undercooked and had to go back to the kitchen. He handled it discreetly and took it back himself. She didn't bother to hide her annoyance with him.

The place wasn't very busy for a Saturday and you would think that our patronage would have been appreciated. We got there at 4:00 and stayed for two hours. We all had separate tickets and my group is known to be generous tippers. While one of our party paid a couple entered and the server, hostess, cashier rolled her eyes and wondered aloud why people couldn't just stay home to eat. I can only conclude that she has never heard that old adage that proclaims the customer to always be right.