I think there are 2, distinct, issues here - both of which (surprise !) are down to BA.

The first is, as an employer they've failed their employee by putting that person in a difficult/awkward situation for which they're not properly trained and which is customer-facing. You can bet your last cent who'd get the blame if things went wrong and someone complained.

The second is, that as a business they've failed their customer by not really providing the advertised service. This won't come as a surprise to anyone - especially if they saw the disgusting lettuce on the First dining thread - and is simply more of the same.

I'm sure the crewmember did their best, and that's commendable, but it's down to them having some nous and a bit of 'can do'.

I did note the 'robotic service' trope surfaced again in this thread as 'automatons' (it's actually automata - FYI). I'd like to know which airlines employ these menials who've had the consciousness sucked out of them like some sort of 'Zombies Served My Lunch at 40,000 Feet' B-flick