phrase – here the client is king…
We say that all the time in the US, but here the sentence continues to say “ mais surtout ne croyez pas que le patron fera la reine.” “But certainly don’t think that the server will act as the queen.” I’ve already covered the prickly topic of French service, but seeing the expression written out like that sums it up perfectly.
Last week I was having a leisurely lunch (as they mostly are) with a friend. Leisure time was over though and after waiting 20 minutes for my beloved café gourmand, I signalled to the waiter as if to say “Where is the coffee?” “C’arrive!” he practically shouted at me “It’s coming!” I am no longer intimidated by waiters as I was when I first arrived. I have recovered from the sting of abandonment I used to feel if I wasn’t ready to place my order when they first came to the table leading them to huff away and not return until tracked down. I wanted to reply to him “So is Christmas!”, but it doesn’t pack the same punch in French so instead I just mumbled something about needing to leave.
The French like a good confrontation so rather than end it there, he walked over to the table to confirm that I ordered a café gourmand and throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes tisked that it takes time to prepare. I order café gourmands every where I find them and trust me, I’ve never had to wait 20 minutes for them.
Anyway, it finally arrived – not one of the better ones I might add. There was a brownie like wedge next to a slice of tart of some sort. So it was not worth the wait or the attitude, but the trouble is there’s no recourse. You can’t deduct the already included tip so all I could think of was to simply not say good bye upon leaving. Take that!
No comments:
Post a Comment