What use are teapots without lids?
What kind of random question is this? Well let me tell you a story. Yesterday I went to lunch with my parents . We went to a bar where the lunchtime food is OK. Fine dining it ain’t but OK for a quick bite in a nice atmosphere.
We ordered our food and the oldies decided to have a cup of tea while they were waiting. The waitress arrived and delivered the cups, saucers and 2 individual pots of tea – with no lids. It was so odd that we took a moment to think and by that time she had disappeared.
When the food arrived we mentioned the lack of lids. We were told that ” we don’t have enough lids because they keep getting stolen..”
You know when sometimes what you are told is so patently absurd that you don’t know how to respond. Well this was one of those times. For my overseas readers you also have to bear in mind that we don’t really do complaining well here in the UK ( possibly even less so on Scotland) which is bizarre I know and for that very reason we get what we deserve.
They could not deliver the sandwich Mum had ordered – but the option she got was actually better. My food was fine. Dad’s meal was inedible.
Of course I should have demanded our money back ( we had to pay in advance at the time of the order – another unusual British practice!) . Instead I thought about what that experience told me about that business
- how could any manager put out tea in pots without lids. If they really did have a shortage when was it first noticed – surely not yesterday morning. If there was a run on tea – then how else could they have served it? Many places just provide a teabag in a mug nowadays anyway – and that would have been so much better
- what conversation did the manager have with the staff about what to tell the customers? Is it the fault of the waitress that they had to think of their own excuse – and that that excuse was truly awful?
- The staff might have been new ( the young man who took my order told me it was his first day) so what kind of supervision support were they given?
The final word has to go the the young lady who came to clear our plates away. She asked – as I am sure she was told to – if everything was OK with our meal . I told her what was wrong with it – and she smiled sweetly and said ” so apart from that you enjoyed it”?
How must she feel at the end of her working day?
Yeah, there’s definitely a communication problem here! Sorta reminds me of the old joke, “So other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”
But bein’ American, and of course, a Texan, I don’t get the significance of no lid, though. Does it not brew without one or sumpin’?
lol. I’ve had meals and service resembling this but the idea of stolen teapot lids is a new one. Now I’m envisioning a collector’s wall lined with teapot lids from every dive within walking distance. When friends come over a brief tour of Britain is accomplished by pointing towards each decorative topper.
What a terrible experience! And the last sentence of the young lady shows that they don’t listen to what you’re saying – it is just a formal question!
Good story.
Interesting that you used the word ‘complain’ to simply pass feedback and ask for a correction to the service you had requested?
To me complain means to insist on the other person accepting they have done wrong and to provide compensation – neither of which is of any interest to me when what I want is a palatable sandwich and a pot of tea that is notexposed to the dirt flying around the air or open to the elements and likely to go cold quickly.
On my EasyJet experience, I found the ground staff slid from ‘plane delayed’ to ‘it’s not my fault’ (protecting themselves personally from taking the blame) with no service delivery in between. They seemed to have no comprehension that passengers just want to know what time they will get home, info about trains running after midnight at the airport they fly to every day, and info about refreshments in the airport they fly from everyday. None of which seems unreasonable to me!
I had drafted a post too about the shoddy training (and implicit abuse of young adults) but was too tired to edit it!!
Funny story though. I like the punch line. Mine ended at Luton with the Pursar smiling broadly and saying, it seems we have to apologise to you once again. Please do relax in your seats. It seems the steps are broken. We will let you know when we can disembark. Whereupon the passengers began to giggle.
LOL- it was definitely that sort of moment.
The old traditional way of making tea is made in a teapot – left to brew before pouring into a cup. The modern way is to put a teabag in a cup of hot water and dunk it til the tea is the right strength. Teapots come with lids – and those keep the tea warm so that you can pour as you need . Hey your’re making me think about this now! But for the sheer aesthetics – the teapot is shaped to take a lid so looked “unfinished” if nothing else!
LOL -fred I have visions of a sort of “trophy cabinet” of lids. I think the lids were more likely broken/chipped/dirty but the stolen story is so much better dont you think?
You are right Ulla – that question they have been trained to ask but are not really concerned about hearing the answer! Though the young waitress did seem a bit uncomfortable and was probably considering her options..
your comment got me reaching for the dictionary Jo and according to the Concise Oxford complain – “express dissatisfaction”. The next stage is than to ask for a remedy and finally provide feedback to ensure it doesn’t happen again? That has me thinking….
Your story made me smile too!