Originally Posted by
hsmall
Indeed. I was somewhat irritated recently. I arrived at about 1330 off a late flight from SFO. All I wanted was a shower and a cup of coffee. I was allowed in (having been warned that they closed at 1400, which was fair enough), took until about 1355 (definitely that time as I checked) to get out of the shower (I don't move fast in mornings
). I moved to the coffee machine and was just putting the cup under the nozzle when the person who had admitted me touched my arm and tried to take the cup away mumbling at me in not instantly understandable English they "we are closed". I stood my ground very firmly indeed: I can drink coffee in 5 minutes.
The situation was redeemed (can you redeem an abstract noun?
) when a lady who was obviously one of the other lounbge "dragons", whio was at a table with her colleagues having coffee, came over and disengaged the man. She apologised and said that he was concerned as he had another duty to go to immediately. I finihsed th ecoffee in lightening quick speed, thanked her profusely and left. It was an example of the best and the worst, I thought.
(And yes, there are more important things in life, which is why I did not bother to share the experience until it fitted into this thread...)
Jeesh, I really despair sometimes at the general levels of the "Service Industry" in the UK. Having spent most of January in the USA, South East Asia, Australia* etc. where people go out of their way to help you, be polite and generally seem to understand that as a passenger / hotel guest / restaurant customer etc. you are paying their wages, and if you get good service you might even come back. ^ (OK, in the USA the service is mostly for tips).
* the exception being the girl at Avis in MEL, but that's another story.
When I was a student, I worked in a 'restaurant' that "closed" at 10:00pm. If a customer walked in at 9:59, they could have a whole 3 course meal if they wanted.
My pet hate in lounges, restaurants etc., is staff clearing up and tidying around while they are still "open" eg Buffet breakfast cleared away 20 minutes early as they "have to prepare for lunch" even though breakfast is stated to end at 10:00. IMO clearing away etc. should happen after the closing time.
/end rant