Children.

[RetailWorkhorse]

EricKai, I honestly can't decide if that's funny as hell or really, really, sad. :\

[mikoyan29]

Well I'd be a bit miffed if it had been named after thugs, myself.

But since it was named after a type of drink, it's a little silly to get miffed over the name.

Although they should have done a bit more research on it before releasing it as a St Patrick's Day special...

^-.-^

So if they made a drink called Crystal Night and then named an ice cream after that, would it be acceptable?

Although the name black and tan doesn't bug me as much as the KGB one...but then again people have no problem with smiling Mao statues either...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Uhh, children. I thought I'd be able to purge the memory of yesterday, but alas I can't now. Damn you.

Yesterday the walk-in clinic had the Easter Bunny stop by. This was heavily advertised locally via newspaper ads and bag stuffers (those annoying little flyers advertising upcoming sales and whatnot that are slipped into your bag), and there was a heavy turnout of parents with their children, waiting patiently and not-so-patiently to get their picture taken with a low-level walk-in clinic lackey in a bunny suit, for the low low price of absolutely free.

They set up shop right down one of the main aisles, so woe unto you if you had to get down that aisle with a carryout. That crowd wouldn't let you through for anything. And the children's screams and whines reverberated through the store, into the receiving office where my supervisor was trying to get some work done.

She asked me "Can't you do something about those screaming kids?" "Don't you think I've tried?" was my reply.

Oh yeah, and there was the one little girl who managed to dump a big metal rack full of bags of Reese's Pieces onto herself and commence wailing. Miraculously, she was not hurt and the parents didn't get all YOU HURT MY WIDDLE BABY I'LL SUE YOU I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS. There was a big plastic gift-card holder on the top of that rack, that shattered into several sharp pieces upon impact with the floor.

And people wonder why I am in no hurry to have children. I don't have the patience for them, and I don't want to wind up like this one guy locally, who was arrested for child abuse when he rammed his son's head into the corner of a wall because he wouldn't eat his dinner, and the kid had to go to the hospital to have his head stapled shut.

[Andara Bledin]

So if they made a drink called Crystal Night and then named an ice cream after that, would it be acceptable?

Straw man. The drink was named before the group, so it's not like the drink was named for the group.

^-.-^

[Rapscallion]

I think Mikoyan is more referring to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_night

Rapscallion

[Jester]

Ditto that! And might I mention Green Apple ice cream sounds lovely, but Guiness?

Sounds awesome! I would love to try it!

Since it was a large-party booking, did you at least get a halfway decent tip?

Nope.

Say what? What kind of fucked up management doesn't automatically put a gratuity on a table of 20, most of them kids? Your bosses need a stiff whack upside the noggin, if you ask me.

(Ben & Jerry's used to make a Black and Tan ice cream, but stopped after people thought it was named for the brutal gang in the Irish revolution.)

More proof that people are, to use one of my favorite phrases, fucking idiots.

For the record, the drink predates the gang by about 30 years or so. (The earliest recorded instance of the drink was 1889, the gang came along in the 1920's, if you were wondering.)

Any place that sells Guinness ice cream would have my patronage.

Word. And ditto. And hell yes. Etc.

WTF? Apparently these children have never been taught how to eat at the table. I guarrantee you that my 4 year old nephew could be taken to pretty much any restaurant and he would sit there and quietly and politely eat his food without any of it ending up where it shouldn't.

With you or his parents, yes. With 14 other kids? I wouldn't bet on it. Nothing against your nephew or his upbringing, but kids in a group are not always indicative of how the individual kids would behave.

there are some restaurant chains that actually have a corporate policy against automatic gratuity.

And yet more proof that some people are, again, fucking idiots. Whoever instituted that policy at those chains has clearly never worked the front lines. I am very glad I do not work for such a chain. I am also very glad that I never have or will work for such an outfit. I have nothing but contempt for such brainless suits. Fuck them, fuck the horse they rode in on, and fuck the person who sold them that horse to begin with.

Although they should have done a bit more research on it before releasing it as a St Patrick's Day special...

I don't see why, since the drink is very much associated with St. Patrick's Day.

She asked me "Can't you do something about those screaming kids?"

"Not without shooting the bunny, boss."

[Esoterica]

Say what? What kind of fucked up management doesn't automatically put a gratuity on a table of 20, most of them kids? Your bosses need a stiff whack upside the noggin, if you ask me.

1. They were friends of my managers. (The two people in management are married.) So, the treat-them-like-royalty-to-the-point-where-you're-kneeling-down-as-a-footstool behaviour is a requirement.

2. They didn't prepay (although they pre-ordered), so no way of making them pay a gratuity. And I also have to agree with my manager, when they aren't taking up enough space to prevent any other customers from using that area/make us turn away customers, we can't insist on a deposit really. We're rarely full enough on an afternoon (except Sunday) for that to be an issue.

[MaseMan]

What? A prepay isn't the issue here (unless I'm totally misunderstanding something). Most restaurants will have a policy of saying "A X% gratuity is required for parties of X or more." It then gets printed right on their bill.

[Jester]

They were friends of my managers.

As friends of management, I understand why management did not put a gratuity on the bill.

I do NOT understand, however, why said friends didn't know to tip well, especially with the havoc created by the kids. I also do NOT understand why management didn't make a point of saying to their friends, "hey, take care of this, since we're taking care of you."

Idiots all around.

[Magpie]

Guinness ice cream is amazing. (Ben & Jerry's used to make a Black and Tan ice cream, but stopped after people thought it was named for the brutal gang in the Irish revolution.)

Mmmmm. Black and tan. (And I don't even like lager.)

Ben and Jerry's Black and Tan ice cream combined real cream stout swirled in with chocolate ice cream, and topped off with a foamy stout ice cream head. Delicious.

... shouldn't it have been flavoured like a black and tan? I personally think that's a horribly misleading name.

With you or his parents, yes. With 14 other kids? I wouldn't bet on it. Nothing against your nephew or his upbringing, but kids in a group are not always indicative of how the individual kids would behave.

What, you mean like Dickens' group of 20 children, each behaving more as if they were 20 children themselves?

[zzapp the witch]

When I was still single, and having a horrid time of it as far as finding a guy with teeth and a job, that could read; I just really needed to get out of the house, but felt like a dork going out to a fancy place by myself. So I washed and combed and dressed my 3 kids (3, 5, and 7 at the time) and told them they were my special dates to a fancy dinner. We went to a very posh Italian restaurant I like to take dates to (they know me there, so if something goes sour, I feel safe).

All 3 were perfect angels, much different than the usual hellions they are, they used the correct utensils (with coaching) and my 3 year old even put her napkin on her lap so she *could be a lady like Mommy.* I tell you what, it was a big chance taking my kids out, untried like that, and if they had gotten out of line I probably would have thrown money on the table and bundled them out to the car in tears. I was just so DESPERATE to have a reason to treat myself and get out of the house.

When we were all done, I had planned on buying ice cream on the way home as a dessert/reward, but the waitresses beat me to it, and brought out ice cream for the kids, free of charge because they were the best behaved kids they'd ever had in there, (and I got a slice of Death by Chocolate). I did leave there in tears, but they were the good kind.

[Esoterica]

What? A prepay isn't the issue here (unless I'm totally misunderstanding something). Most restaurants will have a policy of saying "A X% gratuity is required for parties of X or more." It then gets printed right on their bill.

Here we have to have giant signs everywhere stating that a party above a certain amount of people means that we charge gratuity, or we can't do it. Needless to say, we don't have those signs because Management thinks it's tacky. If customers prepay, (because they've pre-ordered) we can negotiate a gratuity payment as well. Otherwise, we have to rely on the customer to tip nicely.

[Lots42]

I would have been in trouble for the rest of my life if I behaved like those rotten kids.

[PepperElf]

guinness ice cream?


ooo which kid tried that one?
and hell i wanna try it now!

[chainedbarista]

Somehow, the kids have managed to fill a wine glass with Gravy and Peas. One half pint glass has actually been turned upside down and had a pile of peas smushed onto the top. All the other glasses that had been the kid's glasses or near the kids have a mixture of peas, sausages, mashed potato, unidentifiable bits of chewed meat....you get the picture...in them. The table is smeared in mashed potato and crushed peas. We are forced to get a dustpan and brush out for the things that have been dropped on the floor (and smushed into the carpet) and are actually too big to be hoovered up...

seriously? my mom would have had our asses for doing that; we were little devils, but we knew better than to act like this in a restaurant.

zapp: your kids are soo cute! i wish there were more like them when i go out, but...