Christmas Eve Eve

Well, I thought yesterday's post would be my last before the holidays, but I've found that I have some time today to blog. I hope everyone got a good laugh out of the iFilm clip I posted yesterday for your viewing pleasure.

I have lots of plans for today as far as cleaning and laundry and whatnot, but, as I woke up with a stomachache (and it is still lingering) my plans have been put on temporary hold.

My stomach probably hurts as a result of what I've ate over the past couple of days. Thursday, I definitely remember eating a chilli dog for lunch. I can't say I remember what I ate for dinner that night...oh yes, I do. A big honkin' cheeseburger from Halo Burger. With everything. Oh okay, I don't really regret that cheeseburger. Yesterday for lunch I had a steak quesidilla(sp?) from Taco Bell. I would have eaten something else, but I was in a real time crunch. For dinner, I had filet minon, chicken, and fried rice at Miyako's (I think that's what it's called...it's like Bennihanna's but cheaper). All in all I woke up with a good tummy ache. I'm not worried about the steak being undercooked, because I always order my steak well done. I just cannot deal with any kind of redness to my meat.

So why dinner at Miyako's? Well, simple, it was my sister Tiffany's 24th birthday party. And yes, I know, you might be thinking, wait, aren't you 24? Well, yes, I am. You see, my mom pulled off the miracle of miracles, having two children in one year. I was born on January 22, 1982, and my sister was born on December 21, 1982. It's what people so *nicely* refer to as being "Irish Twins."

Tiffany's birthdays always seem to be an entertaining event, and this was no let down. Before we even got to dinner, I had a feeling it was going to be a long night. Tiffany and her husband were already fighting when I got to their house. Well, actually, it was Tiff yelling at Rich at the top of her lungs...fighting would imply that Rich actually had something to say in response. My sister insisted on bringing her massive, $50 birthday cake. A friend who is a pastry chef made it for her. It was a two tier cake, designed to look like two Tiffany & Co. boxes that had been tied together with a white bow. It was beautiful! It looked like a wedding cake for a small wedding. I forgot my camera, otherwise I would post a pic. I might later when I get a copy of the photo from my sis. Anyhow, I mentioned that we should call the resturant to see if they were okay with her bringing her birthday cake in. Some resturants are totally cool with that, and some aren't. Well, Tiff of course thought I was being foolish, so in the car the cake went, and we were off to the party.

Before we even got to the party, my brother in law got a call on his cell phone from his friend, saying that one of Tiff's friends was arguing with a waiter. That would be my sister's best friend, who is also named Tiffany. Tiffany#2 is known for being loud mouth, quite rude when she feels like it, and overall can be an obnoxious person to be around. Luckily when we got to the resturant Tiffany#2 was calmed down, and said she was arguing with the waiter because he told her there was no reservation. Whatever...at least it was resolved before we got there.

When we met the host at the door, he informed my sister that cakes were not in their resturant's "policy." I have to hand it to my sister, she was being very friendly and polite, and the host agreed to talk to his manager about it, seeing as she already had the cake with her. The manager came out and said they'd be happy to store the cake in the back of the kitchen for us, and we could have a waiter bring it out to us, but that we'd have to serve it to ourselves because it was not something on their menu. We agreed, and the problem seemed to be okay.

When we sat down around our grill (my sis says it has some special name, but I don't remember) our waitress came out. She was an Asian girl, but I don't think she was Japanese. If anything I thought she looked Chinese. Either way, she didn't have an accent, so I assume she knew about as much Japanese as I did. From the very beginning, she acted like it was a chore to do anything for us. When Tiffany#2 was having a hard time deciding what to order, the waitress very clearly got impatient, and started stamping her foot with her hand on her hip. She kept trying to get everyone's orders, but my sister had already asked her for a few minutes because a guest had yet to arrive. Apparently this wasn't okay with the waitress, because she kept going on and on about how she needed to get the orders in "now" and she needed to get the entire table at once...and how once she got the orders the table would be "closed" to any other guests. Yeah, hey snooty college girl who works at a knock off Bennihanna's. Arguing with a birthday girl about who can sit at her table and whether or not we can wait 10 minutes to order...probably not in your best interest! My sister immediately flashed her best immitation of my mother and said "ooh ooh guys! Better hurry and order! Our table is going to be closed! Sorry the table's closed guys! If you don't order now, you go hungry!"

Yeah, instead of the waitress realizing the error of her ways and coming across to us a little bit nicer, she just got even more snippy with us. When the last guest had finally arrived and everyone decided on what they wanted, the waitress finally dropped off everyone's drinks and wandered away without even asking if there was anything else we would need. Oh yes, she also didn't bring out one person's soup, but as she didn't come back for half an hour, said guest never did get a bowl of soup.

Our chef came out, and...he was very much Mexican. Which was totally fine, but hillarious seeing as we were at a Japanese steak house. He was very very friendly, and in the end we all agreed that it was too bad that we couldn't leave the tip for him, because he was so much better than our waitress. When we were finally done eating, and in much need of drink refills, our waitress came by and started delivering checks. My brother in law had already offered to pick up my dinner (which was very nice of him!) and had told the waitress to put me on his bill. But of course she hadn't. Around 10 minutes later another waiter came and slipped me my bill...aparently she couldn't be bothered to bring the bill herself. Which, I felt like a big dork having to hand my bill to my brother in law.

The waitress came back to pick up the checks, and Tiffany#2 asked for ice cream. The waitress looked at her blankly and finally was like "Um, I already got your check." I winced, thinking that Tiffany or Tiffany#2 was going to get another attitude. Tiffany#2 calmly looked up at her and said "Well, now to be fair, you didn't ask if I was ready for my bill yet. I'd like some dessert. And I want vanilla ice cream. With a cherry on top, if you please." The waitress just sighed and turned on her heel to wander away. My sister called for her, and asked her to please bring out the birthday cake, along with some plates and forks. The waitress was just like "cake?" My sis explained to her for the second time that there was a cake in the back...and PLEASE bring it to the table.

The cake finally arrived, and the waitress, I guess, felt like she needed to get a final word in. As she sat the cake down on the table, she handed my sister a butter knife. Now, my sister did not think anything about the butter knife, nor had she even commented on the knife. The waitress made this big speech about "I'm sorry I can't bring you out a bigger knife, but we really don't like to give customers sharp knives. And seeing as this is a cake you brought in yourself, and we have a "policy" about such things, the only thing I can bring you is this little knife." Yes, we all know you are a b-i-t-c-h. My personal opinion was that she couldn't bring us a bigger knife because it was currently up her bum...but I kept that to myself. My brother in law, who had been pretty quiet up to this point, looked at her and said "Yeah, no one cares about the knife. Now, can you go back and get us plates and forks and sh*t like my wife asked you to do? That'd be great."

We all stared with our mouths hanging wide open. We couldn't believe that Rich had actually spoken up, and that he cursed at the waitress. Well, at that point, she totally deserved it. I didn't feel sorry for her at all. We ate our cake (ahh that might be another reason my stomach hurts, my sis gave me a piece of that chocolate cake and it was the size of my head) and soon left. As we were walking to the parking lot, I asked my brother in law "You didn't leave her like some really good tip, did you?" He looked at me and replied with "Well, for the three of us, the bill was like $80. I figure a really good tip off of $80 would have been like $15. Yeah, that's why I left her a dollar and some change."

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I know a guy, who I won't really call a friend because I find him to be an obnoxious jerk. We once got into an argument at Perkins of all places, because he insisted that you should automatically leave a waiter 20%. He claimed you should keep adding to it if the waiter is good, but even if they are bad, they should at least get 20%.

Yeah apparently he thought I was like all of our other friends, and when he spoke I was just going to stare at him in amazement and nod my head. Not so much. I told him that was the most rediculous thing I had ever heard of. I will more than gladly leave a great tip if the waiter is good...but I think a tip is earned. It's not my fault you make less than minimum wage, it was your choice to become a waiter. And in a job where being friendly and curteous is going to gain you more income, well, I don't think it's so much to ask that you come around and ask me if I need another refill on my coke, and if I'd like a bottle of ketchup for my fries.