Memorable Service

Last night hubby and I went out for dinner sans kids to celebrate our wedding anniversary. He chose an excellent Italian place which takes about half and hour to drive to from where we live. By the time we got there, after taking care of various things at home when I arrived from work, it was 6:30. We looked at the menu for a little while -- this place has a fantastic variety -- plus the specials...couldn't decide easily. We hadn't seen our server but it wasn't yet an issue...until I noticed that hubby's blood sugar had started to drop. Insulin Man was getting a little shaky and his eyes seemed to be resting on the appetizer section for way too long.

I caught the attention of a bus boy and asked him if he could help locate our server. We had a visit from a waitress who told us she'd just given our waiter a heads up. When the young man arrived he was quite apologetic; they'd added tables to his section and he hadn't known. I explained that we could use some bread right away and we'd have to wait a little while until hubby was on an even keel before we could order our dinner. Not only did he bring the bread but he promised to pass by and look in on us every few minutes...which he did. He offered to comp us a couple of appetizers, and I agreed to receive a plate of mini meatballs.

About half an hour after I began feeding hubby the bite sized chunks of bread I'd dipped in the herbed oil (which I know he loves) he was fully back on the air. Our waiter came by to shake his hand and apologize again for the initial delay. Hubby gave him the "sometimes it sucks to be a diabetic" response. Hubby had been half conscious when he wolfed down most of the dish of meatballs, in a rich tomato gravy, and had then polished off the rest of the bread after I threw the chunks into the gravy. Waiter offered to bring us a second dish of meatballs, which we accepted.

Naturally, hubby was unable to finish his chicken caesar salad, and I ate only two of my delicious lobster ravioli. Waiter practically insisted that we allow him to comp us a dessert, so hubby figured some chocolate ice cream would go down nice and easy...which it indeed did. The check was only $42 including hubby's beer ("extra carbs") so hubby left the waiter a $30 tip ("I'm assuming that he helped you save a trip to the hospital"). I was pleased since I had suggested we give the waiter a twenty.

I know we often remember the lousy service but I think I will remember this experience.