The Poet Laureate

My friend and I popped into the Poet Laureate, Poundbury, Dorchester, to
catch up over a light lunch earlier today. When our jacket potatoes arrived
my friend had difficulty cutting through the skin of hers, which we guessed
had been overcooked in the microwave, so she asked a passing waitress for a
steak knife. We were kindly offered a replacement meal; we thanked her but
declined as we didn¡¦t want to cause any inconvenience. The steak knife was
a help and she was able to eat the centre of the potato, just leaving the
two shrivelled ends. As a throwaway comment I joked to her that it would
have been nice if they decided to charge us for just half of the potato
since only half of it was edible! Nonetheless we enjoyed the meal and
catching up with each other¡¦s news. While I was still eating, the publican
approached our table and asked my friend if everything was ok with her meal.
She replied, ¡§Well, if I¡¦m honest, the skin was a little tough but
otherwise it was fine, thanks¡¨. He took the plate and said, ¡§Well, we¡¦ll
get you another one then¡¨, to which we replied that we had already been
offered a replacement but couldn¡¦t stay longer. His voice changed and he
retorted gruffly, ¡§Well, we¡¦ll give you what you want, then!¡¨ We were
startled by his sudden change of character and tone of voice. ¡§Sorry?¡¨ we
said, puzzled. ¡§We¡¦ll give you what you want - a free meal! My chef said
she heard you saying that you weren¡¦t going to pay for your meal!¡¨ My
friend and I were left shocked at his accusation. We explained that as the
skin was a bit tough we had simply requested a sharper knife. He just
repeated a third time, ¡§Well, we¡¦ll give you what you want, you won¡¦t be
coming back, will you!¡¨ This left us feeling upset, intimidated and
unwelcome in front of all the other customers. I lost my appetite to finish
my meal so we made our way to the bar to settle our bill. We asked to talk
to the publican to set the record straight: that we did not come in with the
intention of having a free meal and that we were upset and hurt to have been
spoken to so rudely when we had caused no offence. The waitress behind the
till piped up, ¡§We get people like you in all the time!¡¨ I replied,
¡§Sorry? Like us?¡¨, bemused. ¡§Yeah, people trying to get a free meal!¡¨ My
friend and I, by now feeling totally victimised in front of even more
customers, explained again that it was not our intention at all, that the
skin was tough but other than that the meal was fine and that we were happy
to pay for it. We added that we did, however, object to having our meal
ruined by being rudely accused of something we did not even say! The
waitress retorted, ¡§Well, we have people being rude to us all the time!¡¨
We reasoned with her that, yes, unfortunately there are some rude customers
but not once had we been rude. We wanted to show that they were wrong in
labelling us opportunists trying our luck to get a free meal; we said that
we had eaten several meals in there before, only to be told that they had
never seen us before - to imply that we were lying! I found it unbelievable
that the staff had the audacity to take out their frustration with past
customers on us, and accuse us of something so deceitful. As two Catholic
professional people working in the teaching profession, we were utterly
disgusted at our treatment. Nobody deserves to be treated in such a way!
And, no, we won¡¦t be going back!