Douchebaggery at the host stand.

Twice in the last week we've had customers who were just plain obnoxious from the moment they walked in the door.

The first happened during a lunch shift, when one of the hosts didn't show up. That left Dumb, who's a very sweet girl but doesn't always pay attention, on her own. Unpredictably, the place filled up and went on a wait on a day when we had minimal staff coverage--it was only a Tuesday lunch! Everything just went downhill--long ticket times, screwed up orders, huge waits for tables, etc. People were impatient and rude waiting for tables, servers were pissed about when they were getting sat, and Dumb was just about at breaking point. S had called the next person on the list, had two menus in her hand, and was peering around trying to see which table was open (she knew one was, because somebody had hollered at her). A middle-aged couple comes in the door, and the man walks right up to her--no pause--and pushes past the people she was trying to seat.

"Well, are you going to put our name on the list or just stand there all day!" he snarls at the poor girl. She patiently told him she'd be right back after she sat this couple, at which point he turned to his wife and said "She just doesn't know what she's doing at all, does she!" Keep in mind this girl is about four foot five and 90 pounds, she looks like she's twelve, and this big grizzly old jackass is talking to his wife as if our hostess was a dog or something who couldn't understand him.

Well, she just burst in to tears. Someone saw and came and helped her, but she had to go to the bathroom for a few minutes to calm down. And our manager at this point? Oh, GM was in the office, having a text message fight with her boyfriend and crying. Awesome.

Not two days later, in the middle of a surprisingly hectic Thursday dinner rush a table of two had someone join them. They asked to move across the aisle to the booth that had just opened up, so naturally we accommodated them.

A few minutes later, Pennsyltucky used the walkies to summon GM to the front, where she was thoroughly bitched out by some high-strung middle-aged woman.

"Those people are at our table!" she screeched, gesturing at the guests who had moved. "We've been waiting and they just moved and took it!" The entire lobby was packed at this time, and GM tried to politely explain to this nutcase why the other guests were sitting at the booth. "But he said it was ours! He said we could have it!" The woman pointed at Pennsyltucky. "He promised!"

This woman just could not understand that they weren't even at the top of the wait list--and that people already sitting had priority. She just kept going on and on about how it was "their" table, and how "he promised" and that they were going to leave. GM told her she could either wait for another booth or leave, but the guests already seated took priority.

After bitching and making a scene some more, the woman finally dragged her husband out the door. Naturally, she was threatening to call "the manager" the next day--GM hoped she would, since, you know, she is the manager. I'm just glad the woman left, I'm sure she'd've been a horror to wait on!

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