Service Matters, yo.

Contracts happened. Whatever. Who knows how it went? Not me. Could be good, could be bad. Probably was fine. One more. A matter of hours. Big study day tomorrow. Moving on.

After the exam I went to Chef Geoffs for Jason's birthday dinner. Happy birthday Jason. Everyone else seemed to have a good time. And it was nice people-wise. However the establishment itself was terrible. I was told that it is known for their burgers, so I got one. A $12 burger. Alright, that's fine, but I hope it's a really good burger. Cooked just right with fantastic toppings and delicious fries. It wasn't. In fact, it was served to me cold, like it had been sitting out waiting for the server to bring it to the table for 10 minutes, which I am sure was the case. That was a lovely thing to be served. After I realized this I wanted to ask if I could at least get warm fries, but the waitress didn't bother to come back over for another ten minutes. I finally flagged her down and asked for new fries and ended up sending the entire thing back. I felt bad, I don't think I've ever sent food back before. I'm always terrified of getting spit in my food, and also it's usually not that big a deal. But I wanted a nice meal after my final, it's a fairly reputable restaurant, and it was a $12 burger. I think I deserved a warm plate at least.
When talking to the waitress I tried as hard as possible to be polite. I channeled Matt Hope talking to people in the service industry, thought happy thoughts, and put on my polite voice. Rachel said it was good and I wasn't mean. So sending back food went as well as is possible I suppose. Of course my food came back to me after everyone was pretty much done eating already. That was fantastic too.
There were further service problems though. Notably when they brought out the food they did the "auction." "Who had the sausage Pizza? Who had the tuna burger?" etc. That's not professional - you should know who ordered what. Also, Rachel's food came out three minutes later than everyone else's, so we all ended up sitting there with food in front of us, not eating, politely waiting until she was served as well. Finally, the wait staff couldn't have cared less whether or not we had any problems. Jason's request for extra ketchup was treated as more of an inconvenience than anything else. While these gripes may seem silly, it is a fairly nice restaurant and one would expect them to be a little more professional, particularly for the prices they have. Also, I think that service matters - you pay for the service when you eat at a restaurant. That's why I didn't go to McDonalds for a hamburger (though they probably would have brought me a fresher one).
Finally, once I did get my food I only ate half of it because I got a stomach ache. Of course. Then when I wanted to take the rest home they gave me a "do it yourself" kit of an aluminum tin and a cover. Have fun scraping it in yourself. Classy joint, that one. I do not believe I will be re-patronizing it any time soon.

Now to learn Civil Procedure...