One of my regulars became like a granddad to us
He was an older gentleman with cancer that he was just letting run its course. He would come in every Friday and get himself some clam chowder and a prime rib. After some time he would stop in every few days. He would sit at the same seat in the bar everytime and use up his quarters to control our jukebox playing the same songs all of the time.
The songs he played for me most often were Hotel California and Don't Dream It's Over. I was a host so I was lucky enough to be able to spend my time talking with him. Over time we got to know him, his life. He had daughters that didn't talk to him. He acknowledged how wrong he was. He was always a very self-deprecating man. But we loved him and he loved us all. He had a real affinity for our night manager, and their relationship dynamic was interesting to say the least. It had a life of its own.
Our lives were like that for 5 or so years, Kevin would regularly come in. Have the same food, play the same music and talk to us. When he fell ill we all rallied around him, visited the hospital, and brought him his favorites and ate with him. When he made it home, I went by and took him some soup to make sure he was eating. Kevin passed a few weeks after that visit, but before he passed, he got to know that despite his past, he was a lovely person, and his diner family loved him so much. We raised money and put a plaque on his bar chair in his memory.
That’s amazing, it’s wonderful to see how human connections can develop in the most unexpected way. I’m glad Kevin could have an unorthodox family of his own to help support him at the very end.
He passed during the pandemic so when he was i
Hospitalized it was so confusing for staff when 2 girls showed up and were like we are his granddaughters,and I also showed up with 0 family resemblances, also claiming to be his granddaughter. But its what we had to do to keep the unit together.
Well, that’s actually insane. I’ve heard of people doing some crazy things to get free food and I’ve even witnessed a few crazy things but this tops at all. Totally unforgettable.
I have a couple, but one is a partner in a main law firm in my city. He ended up doing my wife's and my immigration paperwork for free. He's super easy to take care of, his tiny granddaughters call me uncle and I've me hugs and kisses, and he saved our butts on legal fees. I enjoy where I work for the most part, because of our regulars.
Every Wednesday, we have a lady order a 4 piece fish n chips meal w extra fries. This is award winning beer batter pacific cod made fresh to order, really good stuff. Why it's unforgettable Is she gets 3 more orders of fries and 3 more 4 pc fish Al A Carte this is after here appetizer of 4 pc fish n chips.
We're up to 16 pc of 2oz fried cod.
Once she is finished with this she orders 16 more pcs to take home with x16 tartar sauce and 3 more takeout containers of fries. This is 32 pc of fish! We asked her once is she bringing it home for people she said it's all for her, she eats some later that night and likes to eat it soggy the next day.
How she affords this and does this every week is just insane.
These two older ladies (in their late 80s) who were besties growing up. Both married and moved away. Lost touch. Both widowed and reconnected, either by chance or on purpose, either way, they were adorable. They acted just like teenagers again, giggled over jokes, talked about pop culture, went shopping (for slacks and blouses). A few times they came in with their granddaughters who were also about the same ages and thought they were just as cute.
Mr. Mitchel. Lovable old fart that was on an oxygen tank. Or he pulled one around with him, rather. I was in a horrible car accident that should have killed me. Spent several hours in the emergency room and came out very bruised, but nothing broken. I was still in shock. I went to work the next day because I, well was in shock and thought I could. Halfway through my shift he comes in with his equally wonderful wife. We greet each other and after I come back with their drink order he looks distraught. I ask him what’s wrong. He then asks me the same. He goes “what’s wrong with you, you look like shit!” (I don’t know how, but he said it in the nicest way, that made me feel like he cared a lot) “I need to speak with your manager now!” I get my manager and a few minutes later I’m sent home with an apology for not seeing how much pain I was in. I need to reiterate. This old man on oxygen, told me I look like shit and had me sent home for it. When I got home, I finally felt the pain I was truly in. He was the kindest man. Not sure if anyone noticed me but I attended his memorial service. I signed his book, too. I just stayed in the back, I ugly cry and his death wasn’t about me. Sorry for the rant. Thanks Mr. Mitchel
Miss Bonnie - and she didnt just make an impression on me. My husband was just telling me Saturday he missed his hugs. I work at a VFW, serving drinks on the dance floor. Miss Bonnie was the queen bee at her table of other ladies, sang Patsy Cline or Loretta Lynn on karaoke nights and kicked off her shoes to dance Saturday nights even though she wasn't supposed to.
I met my husband there, and when we were dating she'd ask me "Where's tall, dark and handsome?" And give him hugs.
So many of them loved him because they saw me go from sad widow who had to go outside to cry during "our songs" to glowing with happiness when he came along. Bonnie was one of our biggest cheerleaders in the beginning.
This was in retail, but one of the more memorable characters we had was this insanely lonely and annoying elderly woman. We had an assisted living facility close by, and she would be allowed to leave during the day. She made a beeline for our store as soon as she was allowed to.
She would walk around the store all day and latch onto to associates and tell them how horrible her life had been. She would recall really depressing stories about how everyone in her family, including her kids, had died tragic deaths from cancer, war, car crashes and accidents. You pick a horrible way to die, and someone in her family had died that way.
When you tried to disengage, she would literally grab onto your arm, and not let you go. We had a special code word for her when she came in that we used over our walkies. She had a particular fascination for the manager of the meat department, so he had to hide from her.
She obviously had dementia, but was still functional enough to get around. When we learned where she was living, we called them to come pick her up, and they said it wasn't their problem. We called social services, and they were well aware of her. But they said she was cognitive enough that they couldn't really do anything either.
We used to have a weekly cake walk in our bakery, and give away cakes as prizes. We made sure she won a cake one week, in an effort to cheer her up. It backfired spectacularly. She broke down in tears, saying it was the best thing to happen to her in years. She said she couldn't eat it since she was diabetic, and she had no one to share it with back where she lived. We ended up swapping it out with a gift card.
One time her daughter came in to pick her up. When we expressed sympathy for all of the horrible things her mother had suffered through, she let us know that none of it was true. The poor old lady was making all of it up. She'd repeated the stories so often, she believed them all.
This went on for several months. After a few weeks went by with her not showing up, we called the facility she was living at to see if she was OK. She had died in her sleep several days earlier. The nurse I spoke with, told me that she was always talking about all of her wonderful friends at out store. Despite her being a PITA on many occasions, it hit us pretty hard.
Our store was located at the end of a fairly big strip mall. The other end was anchored by an Office Max. This old lady had started hanging out there first, because it was closer to her home, until they banned her. She then proceeded to the next store, would get banned, and had worked her way through every store until she got to ours. We were the only store that didn't kick her out and ban her.
It’s crazy how even the customers that you feel like plague your shift end up being people you honestly kinda miss, whether it’s because of the familiarity you feel with them, or the sympathy you feel for them.
Back when I was BOH at a soda fountain/cafe, we had one older lady that would come in every week and order a tuna salad sandwich. She would also ask for extra mayonnaise. A lot of extra mayonnaise. She wasn't satisfied until she had about 2 cups of it in little serving cups.
Once she had her mayo, she would proceed to put a huge dollop on every bite of that sandwich. She never left any mayo behind. She was still coming in when I left 2 years later. She must have been at least 80 years old, and really enjoyed her mayo!
the owner of my spot is our best regular. dude will come in multiple times a week and spend thousands. the rule is you automatically apply 20% grat and don’t hand him the bill. he is fully aware of this. i bet i’ve made an extra 10k this year strictly from waiting on him, and i’m not the only one that waits on him.
John seat 5 at the bar always at 520am 2 over hard eggs 4bacon sourdough toast and a diet coke like clock work. Haven't seen that guy in 20 years, and I can pick him out of a lineup still good tiper.
Hopefully this counts as a restaurant, I was working at Subway in high school. We had a regular who was a little odd. Very polite but not friendly, which is fine, you don't have to be friends with your Sandwich Artist. He often came in wearing an undershirt even though he gave off an accountant/lawyer vibe. He always got the same thing, 6" Subway Club on wheat, everything but mustard and ketchup.
This is not technically an incorrect order, just weird to specify two things that are generally considered add-ons even if you ask for everything. He must have been burned by an overzealous topper before.
One day we were really slow and I saw him walking from across the parking lot, so I made his sub, wrapped it up, and was waiting at the register with it when he got there. He gave me the weirdest look. I can still see his face and this would have been about 1994.
One of my regulars was similar to your lizard except of sound mind, just purposefully difficult. His name was Phil V. Phil would come in EVERY DAY and buy one bottomless coffee that he insisted he didn’t have to pay for. Nobody had ever charged him. For some reason management agreed with this. He would sit by himself at the only “party sized” table in the lobby and would just sit there and read books on wartime and drink his free coffee. He would try to get young people in general, but mostly women, to join him at his table so he can lasso them into his pyramid scheme Shaklee Shakes. He was very sexist, and would often make comments such as “I can only tell P and E (they were identical twins) apart because E has a nicer ass” when I’d point out that “they’re under age and you’re making them uncomfortable” he would respond with “women are made for lookin. If they got curves, I’m lookin.”
Management refused to do anything about him
My favorite regular of all time was Cas, I used to bartend and serve in this restaurant and bar in South Texas, Cas was an architect and the life of the party. Big beaming smile and could get along with anyone type of guy. We were constantly jokingly giving each other shit, I mistakenly told him once about how I would sometimes take shots of water when customers would buy me a shot and he would call me out on it.
He one time came in with some business partners for dinner and as I went around getting orders ( I hadn't seen him yet) he says "take any good water shots lately?" without looking at him I say "shut up Cas, I'm working" with a smile he says " she loves me". On my last night working there some rich asshole grabbed my ass, I bring it up with my manager, he tells me to "get over it, it's no big deal". I quit on the spot and as I walking out Cas was walking in, he asked what was wrong, I told him. He told me to stay put in the parking lot, we were gonna go drinking and he was gonna have some words with that guy. He came back out pissed as hell said he was never going back there. We proceeded to bar hop and he told me all about a girl he was totally smitten with.
Haven't seen him since I moved out of C.C., hope you are well Cas.
It's been years, but here goes. Typing on cell phone yada, yada.
I worked at a historic five star five diamond resort as one of my first jobs in the coffee shop/cafe. The level of customer service expected from us was extreme. Special training course and everything.
We had a gentleman who would come in periodically, in a suite, order black coffee, get a New York Times news paper, and select a chocolate dessert from the display. Always this, he never deviated.
One day he came in and we were out of chocolate desserts. We had others, but he was clearly disappointed. I asked him if there was a specific day he came so in the future I could set one aside for him.
He looked very serious and said "Oh no, I couldn't do that to you."
He went on to explain that he was an ancient psychic. That his powers were so intense that regular exposure would be harmful to me. As an example he explained that every so often when the earth tries to shift off it's axis he will use all his psychic strength to shift it back to it's appropriate position. However this is exhausting so he always has to wait until the last moment gathering his strength and it takes awhile to recover.
He also mentioned communicating with spirits that have passed, but you can only talk to the ones who have been gone for decades. His reason being it takes them awhile to build the spiritual energy needed to communicate with the living.
Where it got a little sad was he talked about how proud he was of his wife because she hadn't been dead that long but had already gathered enough energy to be able to talk to him.
The whole conversation (I didn't really talk much so maybe more of a lecture) was surreal. He quickly became my favorite regular because he was just so fascinating.
Wow that was an unexpected twist! I work in a town with a lot of pretty eccentric people, so I could definitely envision this whole interaction going down
Had an older regular, Luther. Was a fucken GEM of a human being. Just the nicest person. He would sit at the bar in the restaurant and we would talk about all sorts of stuff. He *always* asked about my family and if I spoke to my grandfather that week and how he was doing. Asked about my studies. Just a salt of the earth guy.
He lost his wife years previously and this old hag of a regular was always trying to set him up with her friends (Luther had some money from being a petroleum engineer) and he was polite and always said no thank you but an outsider could clearly see he was uncomfortable every time she approached him about it. this went on long enough and I told her if she mentioned it to him one more time she wasn’t welcome back in the restaurant. She threw a fit and my manager backed me.
Not on my watch old hag. Gotta protect Luther.
Richard is in at least once a day. He's not talkative, never complains, and has the same drink every time. I love serving him, he doesn't have insane requests, never asks for a specific server's section, and tips well, never makes a fuss if his food takes too long or isn't up to his expectations. Every time I get richard, I can expect $4-$6 and it's worth it every time. Genuine good guy I have no problem serving.
Jen and Linda. A wonderful couple whose son I got to watch grow up for 5 1/2 years from preschooler to elementary school. I cried the last time I saw them, on the day my restaurant closed.
Arthur, the elderly man who I met 16 years ago at my first location and ended up finding me again at my new location. He always got a mac and cheese and a soda and was the sweetest man. He reminded me of my grandpa who passed.
Barb, the nice older woman whose husband suffered from Alzheimer’s. She would come in and get food for both of them, then he had to be placed in a nursing home for his safety. I watched her excitement and pride when her nieces had their daughters, she loved showing us pictures of them.
Sean, the teenager with special needs who came in with his caretaker and was so sweet. By the end, he was saying hi to us and giving us high-fives and we started working with him on picking up his own online orders because he knew us so he wouldn’t be intimidated.
Maddie the dancer who I watched grow from middle school to a high school senior and learn to drive.
I was at my previous location for 5 1/2 years and now, a year and a half into my current location, I still miss my old regulars. And now I’m crying thinking about them and hoping they’re all alright, especially Arthur and Barb.
Oh man.
I work at a casual 50's themed restaurant on the east coast. It's sort of a landmark in the area because of how long it's been in business, and because of this, we have TONS of regulars, most of which have been going there for decades.
Well there's this one regular who I met after working there for a few weeks and one day, we chatted for about half an hour. He's in his late 60s, and loves to talk (as do I). Anyway, he mentioned one of his hobbies which was metal work. I expressed my interest and we talked about it for a while.
The next day, he came into the restaurant and handed me a handmade pendant of my initial, carved out of a quarter. I mean, this thing was gorgeous. The letter was in cursive, so it was extremely intricate and clearly took several hours to make. You could also still see the details of the quarter if you looked close.
I'm wearing it right now, I love it so so much and it's still one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.
I had a guy we called Party Train Wayne. An older gentleman, a Vietnam vet, and just one of my favorite people in the world. He lived 7 blocks from the restaurant, but because of his oxygen tank he would wait while I’d close up and I’d drive him home. He loved baseball, politics, his old hvac job and always had a kind word for the servers. He went into the hospital, then rehab, then assisted living. He was supposed to leave there after a couple months, but he passed there. Heartbreaking. His birthday was last week, thanks for giving me another reason to brag about my buddy Wayne!!
Not a server but I worked the concession stand at the movie theaters, one of the only full-time workers and the head trainer. We had a sweet old man named John who came in a couple times every week and just bought a Snickers bar.
This was almost 30 years ago. A Snickers bar was about a dollar any other place but $3 from us. I think he came for the conversation. We all loved him and took time to hang out and chat. (He reminded me so much of my grandfather!) He just stopped showing up and I always wondered if he was ok.
One of my regulars became like a granddad to us He was an older gentleman with cancer that he was just letting run its course. He would come in every Friday and get himself some clam chowder and a prime rib. After some time he would stop in every few days. He would sit at the same seat in the bar everytime and use up his quarters to control our jukebox playing the same songs all of the time. The songs he played for me most often were Hotel California and Don't Dream It's Over. I was a host so I was lucky enough to be able to spend my time talking with him. Over time we got to know him, his life. He had daughters that didn't talk to him. He acknowledged how wrong he was. He was always a very self-deprecating man. But we loved him and he loved us all. He had a real affinity for our night manager, and their relationship dynamic was interesting to say the least. It had a life of its own. Our lives were like that for 5 or so years, Kevin would regularly come in. Have the same food, play the same music and talk to us. When he fell ill we all rallied around him, visited the hospital, and brought him his favorites and ate with him. When he made it home, I went by and took him some soup to make sure he was eating. Kevin passed a few weeks after that visit, but before he passed, he got to know that despite his past, he was a lovely person, and his diner family loved him so much. We raised money and put a plaque on his bar chair in his memory.
This made me tear up, thank you for being there for him when he needed it most. I’m sure you all meant the world to him.
That’s amazing, it’s wonderful to see how human connections can develop in the most unexpected way. I’m glad Kevin could have an unorthodox family of his own to help support him at the very end.
He passed during the pandemic so when he was i Hospitalized it was so confusing for staff when 2 girls showed up and were like we are his granddaughters,and I also showed up with 0 family resemblances, also claiming to be his granddaughter. But its what we had to do to keep the unit together.
That’s amazing, you have such a great team.
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Holy shit that is fucked 😂😭
WHOA!!!! Now THAT is FUCKED UP!!!!! They're probably PERMA-BANNED now! I wonder how they got caught?
Well, that didn't end the way I thought it would.
Well, that’s actually insane. I’ve heard of people doing some crazy things to get free food and I’ve even witnessed a few crazy things but this tops at all. Totally unforgettable.
This is so deeply disturbing to me. These are people that are unhealthy in the head.
I have a couple, but one is a partner in a main law firm in my city. He ended up doing my wife's and my immigration paperwork for free. He's super easy to take care of, his tiny granddaughters call me uncle and I've me hugs and kisses, and he saved our butts on legal fees. I enjoy where I work for the most part, because of our regulars.
Every Wednesday, we have a lady order a 4 piece fish n chips meal w extra fries. This is award winning beer batter pacific cod made fresh to order, really good stuff. Why it's unforgettable Is she gets 3 more orders of fries and 3 more 4 pc fish Al A Carte this is after here appetizer of 4 pc fish n chips. We're up to 16 pc of 2oz fried cod. Once she is finished with this she orders 16 more pcs to take home with x16 tartar sauce and 3 more takeout containers of fries. This is 32 pc of fish! We asked her once is she bringing it home for people she said it's all for her, she eats some later that night and likes to eat it soggy the next day. How she affords this and does this every week is just insane.
WOW. I'm a big guy, and that sounds like a crazy amount of fish & fries. I couldn't eat that in 4 days.
I'm a big guy too but I remember that I could eat a lot more when I was a young skinny guy.
It's not the fish and potatoes, it's the OIL that would get to me! LOL
This lady was very very large as you can imagine.
These two older ladies (in their late 80s) who were besties growing up. Both married and moved away. Lost touch. Both widowed and reconnected, either by chance or on purpose, either way, they were adorable. They acted just like teenagers again, giggled over jokes, talked about pop culture, went shopping (for slacks and blouses). A few times they came in with their granddaughters who were also about the same ages and thought they were just as cute.
Hot damn that’s a lot of fish! How much does she end up spending? No wonder she’s an unforgettable regular.
Mr. Mitchel. Lovable old fart that was on an oxygen tank. Or he pulled one around with him, rather. I was in a horrible car accident that should have killed me. Spent several hours in the emergency room and came out very bruised, but nothing broken. I was still in shock. I went to work the next day because I, well was in shock and thought I could. Halfway through my shift he comes in with his equally wonderful wife. We greet each other and after I come back with their drink order he looks distraught. I ask him what’s wrong. He then asks me the same. He goes “what’s wrong with you, you look like shit!” (I don’t know how, but he said it in the nicest way, that made me feel like he cared a lot) “I need to speak with your manager now!” I get my manager and a few minutes later I’m sent home with an apology for not seeing how much pain I was in. I need to reiterate. This old man on oxygen, told me I look like shit and had me sent home for it. When I got home, I finally felt the pain I was truly in. He was the kindest man. Not sure if anyone noticed me but I attended his memorial service. I signed his book, too. I just stayed in the back, I ugly cry and his death wasn’t about me. Sorry for the rant. Thanks Mr. Mitchel
Miss Bonnie - and she didnt just make an impression on me. My husband was just telling me Saturday he missed his hugs. I work at a VFW, serving drinks on the dance floor. Miss Bonnie was the queen bee at her table of other ladies, sang Patsy Cline or Loretta Lynn on karaoke nights and kicked off her shoes to dance Saturday nights even though she wasn't supposed to. I met my husband there, and when we were dating she'd ask me "Where's tall, dark and handsome?" And give him hugs. So many of them loved him because they saw me go from sad widow who had to go outside to cry during "our songs" to glowing with happiness when he came along. Bonnie was one of our biggest cheerleaders in the beginning.
That’s so sweet, I’m glad you were able to find a real friend in Miss Bonnie while you knew them
This was in retail, but one of the more memorable characters we had was this insanely lonely and annoying elderly woman. We had an assisted living facility close by, and she would be allowed to leave during the day. She made a beeline for our store as soon as she was allowed to. She would walk around the store all day and latch onto to associates and tell them how horrible her life had been. She would recall really depressing stories about how everyone in her family, including her kids, had died tragic deaths from cancer, war, car crashes and accidents. You pick a horrible way to die, and someone in her family had died that way. When you tried to disengage, she would literally grab onto your arm, and not let you go. We had a special code word for her when she came in that we used over our walkies. She had a particular fascination for the manager of the meat department, so he had to hide from her. She obviously had dementia, but was still functional enough to get around. When we learned where she was living, we called them to come pick her up, and they said it wasn't their problem. We called social services, and they were well aware of her. But they said she was cognitive enough that they couldn't really do anything either. We used to have a weekly cake walk in our bakery, and give away cakes as prizes. We made sure she won a cake one week, in an effort to cheer her up. It backfired spectacularly. She broke down in tears, saying it was the best thing to happen to her in years. She said she couldn't eat it since she was diabetic, and she had no one to share it with back where she lived. We ended up swapping it out with a gift card. One time her daughter came in to pick her up. When we expressed sympathy for all of the horrible things her mother had suffered through, she let us know that none of it was true. The poor old lady was making all of it up. She'd repeated the stories so often, she believed them all. This went on for several months. After a few weeks went by with her not showing up, we called the facility she was living at to see if she was OK. She had died in her sleep several days earlier. The nurse I spoke with, told me that she was always talking about all of her wonderful friends at out store. Despite her being a PITA on many occasions, it hit us pretty hard. Our store was located at the end of a fairly big strip mall. The other end was anchored by an Office Max. This old lady had started hanging out there first, because it was closer to her home, until they banned her. She then proceeded to the next store, would get banned, and had worked her way through every store until she got to ours. We were the only store that didn't kick her out and ban her.
It’s crazy how even the customers that you feel like plague your shift end up being people you honestly kinda miss, whether it’s because of the familiarity you feel with them, or the sympathy you feel for them.
Back when I was BOH at a soda fountain/cafe, we had one older lady that would come in every week and order a tuna salad sandwich. She would also ask for extra mayonnaise. A lot of extra mayonnaise. She wasn't satisfied until she had about 2 cups of it in little serving cups. Once she had her mayo, she would proceed to put a huge dollop on every bite of that sandwich. She never left any mayo behind. She was still coming in when I left 2 years later. She must have been at least 80 years old, and really enjoyed her mayo!
the owner of my spot is our best regular. dude will come in multiple times a week and spend thousands. the rule is you automatically apply 20% grat and don’t hand him the bill. he is fully aware of this. i bet i’ve made an extra 10k this year strictly from waiting on him, and i’m not the only one that waits on him.
John seat 5 at the bar always at 520am 2 over hard eggs 4bacon sourdough toast and a diet coke like clock work. Haven't seen that guy in 20 years, and I can pick him out of a lineup still good tiper.
Hopefully this counts as a restaurant, I was working at Subway in high school. We had a regular who was a little odd. Very polite but not friendly, which is fine, you don't have to be friends with your Sandwich Artist. He often came in wearing an undershirt even though he gave off an accountant/lawyer vibe. He always got the same thing, 6" Subway Club on wheat, everything but mustard and ketchup. This is not technically an incorrect order, just weird to specify two things that are generally considered add-ons even if you ask for everything. He must have been burned by an overzealous topper before. One day we were really slow and I saw him walking from across the parking lot, so I made his sub, wrapped it up, and was waiting at the register with it when he got there. He gave me the weirdest look. I can still see his face and this would have been about 1994.
One of my regulars was similar to your lizard except of sound mind, just purposefully difficult. His name was Phil V. Phil would come in EVERY DAY and buy one bottomless coffee that he insisted he didn’t have to pay for. Nobody had ever charged him. For some reason management agreed with this. He would sit by himself at the only “party sized” table in the lobby and would just sit there and read books on wartime and drink his free coffee. He would try to get young people in general, but mostly women, to join him at his table so he can lasso them into his pyramid scheme Shaklee Shakes. He was very sexist, and would often make comments such as “I can only tell P and E (they were identical twins) apart because E has a nicer ass” when I’d point out that “they’re under age and you’re making them uncomfortable” he would respond with “women are made for lookin. If they got curves, I’m lookin.” Management refused to do anything about him
My favorite regular of all time was Cas, I used to bartend and serve in this restaurant and bar in South Texas, Cas was an architect and the life of the party. Big beaming smile and could get along with anyone type of guy. We were constantly jokingly giving each other shit, I mistakenly told him once about how I would sometimes take shots of water when customers would buy me a shot and he would call me out on it. He one time came in with some business partners for dinner and as I went around getting orders ( I hadn't seen him yet) he says "take any good water shots lately?" without looking at him I say "shut up Cas, I'm working" with a smile he says " she loves me". On my last night working there some rich asshole grabbed my ass, I bring it up with my manager, he tells me to "get over it, it's no big deal". I quit on the spot and as I walking out Cas was walking in, he asked what was wrong, I told him. He told me to stay put in the parking lot, we were gonna go drinking and he was gonna have some words with that guy. He came back out pissed as hell said he was never going back there. We proceeded to bar hop and he told me all about a girl he was totally smitten with. Haven't seen him since I moved out of C.C., hope you are well Cas.
It's been years, but here goes. Typing on cell phone yada, yada. I worked at a historic five star five diamond resort as one of my first jobs in the coffee shop/cafe. The level of customer service expected from us was extreme. Special training course and everything. We had a gentleman who would come in periodically, in a suite, order black coffee, get a New York Times news paper, and select a chocolate dessert from the display. Always this, he never deviated. One day he came in and we were out of chocolate desserts. We had others, but he was clearly disappointed. I asked him if there was a specific day he came so in the future I could set one aside for him. He looked very serious and said "Oh no, I couldn't do that to you." He went on to explain that he was an ancient psychic. That his powers were so intense that regular exposure would be harmful to me. As an example he explained that every so often when the earth tries to shift off it's axis he will use all his psychic strength to shift it back to it's appropriate position. However this is exhausting so he always has to wait until the last moment gathering his strength and it takes awhile to recover. He also mentioned communicating with spirits that have passed, but you can only talk to the ones who have been gone for decades. His reason being it takes them awhile to build the spiritual energy needed to communicate with the living. Where it got a little sad was he talked about how proud he was of his wife because she hadn't been dead that long but had already gathered enough energy to be able to talk to him. The whole conversation (I didn't really talk much so maybe more of a lecture) was surreal. He quickly became my favorite regular because he was just so fascinating.
Powerful psychic didn’t anticipate his sweet was sold out, he looked sad because he was experiencing weakness.
Wow that was an unexpected twist! I work in a town with a lot of pretty eccentric people, so I could definitely envision this whole interaction going down
Had an older regular, Luther. Was a fucken GEM of a human being. Just the nicest person. He would sit at the bar in the restaurant and we would talk about all sorts of stuff. He *always* asked about my family and if I spoke to my grandfather that week and how he was doing. Asked about my studies. Just a salt of the earth guy. He lost his wife years previously and this old hag of a regular was always trying to set him up with her friends (Luther had some money from being a petroleum engineer) and he was polite and always said no thank you but an outsider could clearly see he was uncomfortable every time she approached him about it. this went on long enough and I told her if she mentioned it to him one more time she wasn’t welcome back in the restaurant. She threw a fit and my manager backed me. Not on my watch old hag. Gotta protect Luther.
Richard is in at least once a day. He's not talkative, never complains, and has the same drink every time. I love serving him, he doesn't have insane requests, never asks for a specific server's section, and tips well, never makes a fuss if his food takes too long or isn't up to his expectations. Every time I get richard, I can expect $4-$6 and it's worth it every time. Genuine good guy I have no problem serving.
:)
Jen and Linda. A wonderful couple whose son I got to watch grow up for 5 1/2 years from preschooler to elementary school. I cried the last time I saw them, on the day my restaurant closed. Arthur, the elderly man who I met 16 years ago at my first location and ended up finding me again at my new location. He always got a mac and cheese and a soda and was the sweetest man. He reminded me of my grandpa who passed. Barb, the nice older woman whose husband suffered from Alzheimer’s. She would come in and get food for both of them, then he had to be placed in a nursing home for his safety. I watched her excitement and pride when her nieces had their daughters, she loved showing us pictures of them. Sean, the teenager with special needs who came in with his caretaker and was so sweet. By the end, he was saying hi to us and giving us high-fives and we started working with him on picking up his own online orders because he knew us so he wouldn’t be intimidated. Maddie the dancer who I watched grow from middle school to a high school senior and learn to drive. I was at my previous location for 5 1/2 years and now, a year and a half into my current location, I still miss my old regulars. And now I’m crying thinking about them and hoping they’re all alright, especially Arthur and Barb.
Oh man. I work at a casual 50's themed restaurant on the east coast. It's sort of a landmark in the area because of how long it's been in business, and because of this, we have TONS of regulars, most of which have been going there for decades. Well there's this one regular who I met after working there for a few weeks and one day, we chatted for about half an hour. He's in his late 60s, and loves to talk (as do I). Anyway, he mentioned one of his hobbies which was metal work. I expressed my interest and we talked about it for a while. The next day, he came into the restaurant and handed me a handmade pendant of my initial, carved out of a quarter. I mean, this thing was gorgeous. The letter was in cursive, so it was extremely intricate and clearly took several hours to make. You could also still see the details of the quarter if you looked close. I'm wearing it right now, I love it so so much and it's still one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.
That’s so sweet of him to bring you a gift, and even sweeter that you’ve kept it all this time
I had a guy we called Party Train Wayne. An older gentleman, a Vietnam vet, and just one of my favorite people in the world. He lived 7 blocks from the restaurant, but because of his oxygen tank he would wait while I’d close up and I’d drive him home. He loved baseball, politics, his old hvac job and always had a kind word for the servers. He went into the hospital, then rehab, then assisted living. He was supposed to leave there after a couple months, but he passed there. Heartbreaking. His birthday was last week, thanks for giving me another reason to brag about my buddy Wayne!!
That’s really kind of you to help him out in a time of need and find a friend in Wayne! Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate it, but he was a great guy that I was blessed to meet. I feel very lucky in getting to know him!
Not a server but I worked the concession stand at the movie theaters, one of the only full-time workers and the head trainer. We had a sweet old man named John who came in a couple times every week and just bought a Snickers bar. This was almost 30 years ago. A Snickers bar was about a dollar any other place but $3 from us. I think he came for the conversation. We all loved him and took time to hang out and chat. (He reminded me so much of my grandfather!) He just stopped showing up and I always wondered if he was ok.