"I'll have the Asshole with a side of Rude Remarks, please..."

Last night we went out to dinner with a few friends.  The food was great, the company was wonderful, the waitress was on her A Game, but there was just one issue:  the one asshole at our table.  I guess I have to give him an introduction of sorts before I ramble on about him.

So, a good friend of mine has a pretty serious boyfriend named Frank.  Frank is about twice our age, currently unemployed and going back to school, a trained chef, and a proclaimed "know it all."  He ends up being incredibly awkward anytime he comes along with a group of us because 1) most of the rest of us are pretty silly and random, 2) he has absolutely nothing in common with any of us, 3) his contributions to conversations usually involve explaining how we are wrong or misinformed, making a "joke" involving weapons, or making comments like, "I saw them in concert back in '89."  You also can't go out to eat with this man because he will explain how your food was made incorrectly, how the establishment is not following some procedure correctly, or how the waitstaff is not doing something to deserve a decent tip.

So, back to last night:  We went to Ruby Tuesday, which happens to be one of my favorite restaurants for many reasons.  I have always had good experiences there, and everything on the menu is good.  Frank's opinion, though?  Terrible all around (of course).

It all started when the waitress came out to apologize to my husband.  He had ordered something with lobster, but she had not been informed they were out of lobster.  So, like any logical person, my husband says, "I will just have this other dish instead.  Thank you."  But, our wonderful little guest would not let the waitress off so easy.  "Are you out of lobster tail, too?  Well, then why can't your chef improvise and make this man's dish?  If you were truly a good restaurant, you would give your customers what they order." 

From that point, everything else was just icing on his cake.  The end result was his complaint to the manager, his food being free, and his girlfriend apologizing to all of us while he was not at the table.  What the heck, dude?!

We ended up leaving the waitress a great tip, as did our other friends.  There was nothing wrong with the experience we had.  And, as someone who has never worked in the food industry but has plenty of family (both blood and in-laws) who has worked in the food industry, I feel that he was just being a complete jerk.

The point of this story?  Mostly to rant because I am still livid that this guy is always such a jerk, but also to point out that people should really think before they act.  It is not the fault of the waitress that they were out of lobster, nor is it the fault of the cashier at Wal-Mart that they are remodeling and moving product around.  So treat people with respect and kindness and the world would be a better place.  The end.