How did you deal with it?

Indecisive, sloppy eaters and rude customers. I can't help but think the staff would retaliate on your food before bringing it out to you and laughing all the way back to the kitchen.

A general inability to say "please" and "thank you" and show respect for staff that are just trying to do their job.

Also - saying "I don't like that"!" to something on the menu - fine, just order something else,,,

I almost always order for both my date and myself. I hope this is never misconstrued.

Is this proper manners, or am I being weird? I wonder where this came from - if it was derived from the above practice.

Sam

There is a difference between politely ordering the food for your date and making a proclaimation that she "will not speak to the hired help".

Now if you don't allow your date to speak, then yeah, that IS weird. And likewise it is RUDE for the woman to refuse to make eye contact with the flight attendant in that scenario.

If my date were ordering for me and the waiter addressed me for my order, I would politely turn to my date and say "Sam, what was it we decided we would try?" - but I would NEVER ignore the wait staff.

For a long time I was similar, not knowing what to order, agonizing over food. Until I realized that it was NOT IMPORTANT. I will eat again. If its crap, I can always order something elase / desert / eat cheese and crackers later. If I like it I eat it, BUT I don't finish aa huge plate only to finish the food - but I NEVER would take a bag with the leftovers - especially not at a work thing

I have an aunt who really drove me crazy in restaurents.She calls the waiter and ask him about the ingridients how is each item cooked atc.. This would last a long long time.So one day i took her to this restaurent which only serve one item "entrecote Cafe De Paris" and you know what she insisted on asking the ingridients of the sauce which is a no no there.What a pain in the>>>>>

Why is it a no no to ask the ingredients of a sauce? Seems like the waiter should know. Or are you a troll?

When I was a kid, my mother would often embarrass me whenever we order root beer floats by adding, "And don't forget the ice cream." Of course, the reason for that was that once she had ordered a root beer float and received only root beer. Still, I was mortified. Years later, my mother would get the same effect by tipping very badly. She had grown up during the depression--very, very poor, and often quoted a supposed expert who had written that 5% was a good tip. I became adept at supplementing the tip without her knowing.

A young employee of Mickey D's told me that customers ordering from the drive-through would say, in all seriousness, that the order was "to go."

That broke me so much that I used to mortify our then-teenaged daughter by using that line on her friends in the local Golden Arches when we utilized the window for early morning road trips!

"Dad, that's so lame..."

I frequently travel abroad with two very dear married friends, "Martha" and "Peter." She is a super-lawyer and a gourmand who meticulously scrutinizes restaurant menus. Martha always asks lots of questions about ingredients and preparations before deciding what to order in an unfamiliar restaurant.

A few years ago we vacationed together in the Princip�u d'Asturies (the Principality of Asturias, in northern Spain on the beautiful coast of the Bay of Biscay). Neither Martha nor Peter speak more than a few words of rudimentary Castillian Spanish, and they don�t know a single word of Asturianu, the local dialect � whereas I am fluent in Castillian and speak Asturianu at least passably � so I had the duty of translating for my friends throughout our trip.

One afternoon while exploring the countryside we decided to stop for a late lunch before returning to �base camp� at our hotel, the Casa del Busto in Pravia. (The hotel, BTW, is a beautifully restored old mansion dating back to the 16th century � highly recommended.) We found a lovely rustic restaurant in a village up in the mountainous Picos de Europa region. Their menu was extensive and impressive, featuring exotic (to us Americans, at least) entrees using locally-hunted game and fowl.

As usual, Martha asked detailed questions about just about every item on the menu � cooking techniques, oils and fats used, sauce ingredients, thickening methods, recommended degrees of doneness, etc. Translating for her was quite a task, as the menu was surprisingly large for such a small venue. Martha would ask a question in English, then I�d translate it into Asturianu (or Castillian when my dialect non-proficiency required) for our server, a lovely middle-aged woman who was the chef-owner�s spouse. The server would answer in Castillian, I�d translate her answer back into English for Martha, and so forth. This went on, back and forth, for at least ten minutes, maybe more. It was a bit of an ordeal for me � Martha�s questions can be quite exacting, which has discomfited many a waiter � but it was worth it to help my good friend order exactly what she wanted. (It's always more fun to travel together when she's happy! )

After the entire menu had been translated and all of her supplemental questions were answered, Martha finally ordered her meal and Peter and I followed suit. Our very patient server repeated the order back to me in Castillian for accuracy � I told her she had it correct � and then the server turned to Martha and said, in perfect, slightly-Irish-accented English, �Whatever he�s chargin� you is worth it � he�s an excellent translator and very patient, too!� I suppressed a fleeting impulse to strangle her on the spot, but recovered quickly and joined Martha and Peter in rib-cracking laughter.

By the time our meal was finished (it was delicious!) we had become fast friends with our hosts, who brought out a bottle of their home-distilled aguardiente (an excellent grappa of sorts) and joined us at our table.

It turns out our server was originally from Dublin, married her Asturian husband decades ago and moved to Spain. Most of the Asturian population is Ibero-Celtic in original, so she looks like a �native.� She and her husband own a vacation timeshare unit in Tucson and keep a big RV there � they take frequent roadtrips around the U.S.

I love this story! And Justin, you do obviously have the patience of a saint... as much as I want my friends to be happy, I would have lost it very early on in the process.

Do you hang with that guy or gal who order vodka on the rocks (insert 80 proof drink of choice)......which is the cue that you are in for a long embarassing night with a sloppy, grossly flirtatious and handsy drunk with the staff!...For me, that would be a family member who also acts well beyond thier means.

Ah, Calcifer, but they're such wonderful friends! I chose them as my adopted family (ohana hanai) with full knowlege of most of their patience-trying idiosyncracies (I have some of the same, too, and worse!) . . . but their up-side definitely outweighs their "faults" . . .

Aloha,
--Ken

The rule I make is when someone else is paying for the meal I order a meal that is around the price of what the person is ordering. I also take directive if the person is ordering a drink I know I can order one,but if the person is just having water I stick with water.Now if I'm on my own moolah then it's a whole different story.

Actually when going for an interview the boss to be looks at your maners or even if it's just a friend going for a casual pizza. No matter what manners are so important. Do you want to be eating the $30 d ollar Fillet Mignon when the person treating you is eating a $12 dollar salad? I don't think so.

Oh and another habit that I can't help but notice is if something is wrong with the meal the person will complain in a unprofessional manner. Come on people you need to read books on Ettiquite if you think you can pull of bad habits.

The eaisest way is ask your self if Ann Landers were here would she like what she saw? This is what I ask myself to keep me "in tune" with the whole dining experience.

Just my 2 cents.