Worst Customer Feedback Ever

[Jenise]

And the best response from a restaurant owner. (Btw, I can't believe the restaurant was called Kilroy's.)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/national/customer-complains-woman-having-heart-attack-ruine/npxHq/

What a stupid person - we may or may not be able to help ourselves having selfish/awful reactions but we can keep our mouths shut about them.

[Jenise]

Jeff, it tops my heretofore worst-ever, which I probably mentioned here before though not recently: the wife of a friend, a very beautiful spoiled girl less than half his age, who disliked the appearance of a highly disabled person who came into the restaurant while they were there, and who complained aloud that disabled people should have their own restaurants because she found it hard to eat while looking at them. And apropos of nothing: I wasn't there, but said friend cites this as one of the moments at which he knew the marriage wouldn't last (he should have known long before, idiot, but his ability to see clearly and mine were obviously on different timelines).

But back to Kilroy's: I can hardly imagine a human being (except above--hey, maybe it's her!) who would be in that situation and not be hugely sympathetic, however regretful and averse to one's plans. That this person managed to leave the restaurant, go home and get into a state sober enough to type that ridiculous critique without recovering any common sense whatsoever speaks volumns about her character. Or, rather, complete lack of it.

I actually had this happen to me a couple months ago: Pumpkin and I were having dinner at a restaurant when a man at a table across from us fainted in his chair. I assume there was some prior condition because they summoned paramedics etc etc etc. I'm sure some part of my lizard brain was unhappy at the disturbance but my better self simply hoped everything worked out for him.

I also had the experience of your friend, kinda sorta... alas, it was a much-younger me who shot off his mouth to a friend without realizing that the disabled person's wife was in earshot. For what it's worth, I did learn not to do that ever again.

Wow - deja vu! In the spring of 2014 I treated myself to lunch at a small cantina I wanted to experience. I had not eaten all day and it was a late lunch, which I started with one of the most imaginative margaritas I had ever drank. After eating half my food I began to experience a familiar lightheadedness that portends a fainting spell (I have this on occasion when flying longer than 2-3 hrs -- it's been diagnosed but I don't remember the name for it). I tried all the activities I knew to try to forestall the inevitable, but just as I had asked a server to help me to the restroom, I fell to the floor in a hard faint. I was out cold and only slightly came to after the paramedics were putting oxygen over my face -- then out again until the ride to the hospital -- then out again. I was more than embarrassed both for the restaurant management (who behaved heroicly and admirably in coming to my aid and trying to maintain an entertainment environment) and myself. I went back the next day to apologize to the staff and pay the bill. The manager told me not to worry about the bill (apparently I had tried to get him to open my purse and get the money for my bill during my stupor -- I don't remember this). He also asked me about myself and whether I had hurt myself when I fell or if I was going to be alright. I can't' imagine what it must have been like for the other customers of the restaurant, but I can imagine disgust (something my daughter would have expressed), but it's no fun from this side either. If I could have made it alright for everyone I would have picked up the tab for all of them to mitigate any inconvenience. I can't imagine taking to Facebook with anything other than an apology or to praise the restaurant staff for trying to maintain some festive atmosphere in light of other events. Tsk!

Not a restaurant, but while waiting for the curtain for Les Miserables on Broadway, an old guy two rows away clutched and keeled into the aisle. Heart attack. Waited thirty minutes for ER and police. He died. They wheeled him out the side door.

Audience sat fairly patiently, but as the body left the lights went down and the curtains went up. Young lady (aspiring actress) next me me said, "Oh, that's too bad." <blink> "Oh golly, I'm so excited to see this show! It's going to be great!!!"

I have to come out and say that I would certainly be disappointed if my expensive and highly anticipated New Year's Eve celebration were to be prematurely ended by someone else having a heart attack. That would in no way lessen my compassion for the person suffering the medical emergency and for the restaurant staff who were put into the position of having to try to deal with a traumatic situation. Unless a doctor rushes over from a nearby table, they're the ones who are trying to figure out whether what they need to do to make sure she stays alive until the paramedics get there. They're the ones who have to try to help her friends and relatives. That's a terrible situation for an untrained person to be thrust into (trust me on this). And even that is easier than being one of her family members who are terrified over the possibility that they've just witnessed a loved one's sudden death.

I'd be unhappy over my ruined New Year's Eve. but the last thing I'd do would be to take that out on the restaurant staff in any way, much less in public. I don't think that horrible woman should be fired from her job over this, but I do hope she's learned some sort of lesson.

[Jenise]

I have to come out and say that I would certainly be disappointed if my expensive and highly anticipated New Year's Eve celebration were to be prematurely ended by someone else having a heart attack. That would in no way lessen my compassion for the person suffering the medical emergency and for the restaurant staff

Exactly. A kind stranger in another seat and I once helped a sweet 93 year old woman to the bathroom on a flight from DC to Los Angeles where family members were waiting for her. At the start of the flight, we had volunteered to look after her during the flight. After awhile we noticed she hadn't come out. We summoned a stewardess--anyway, she died in there. Tragic, and I was so upset I cried the rest of the way to L.A., but in no way did I mistake what happened to HER and the poor family members waiting on the ground in L.A. with the police and the ambulance and all that for something that had happened to me. At no moment did I think, "this really ruined my flight." Stuff happens, and I was just a mildly involved bystander. I would never have imagined anyone else in that situation feeling any differently.

But I guess there are obviously people in this world with an outsized sense of entitlement--be it to things, attention, or a good time. And obviously this bitch be one of those. I doubt if she's learned a lesson. Someone who could write a critique like that can't take responsibility for her own actions, she'll just feel even more victimized. As for her job--she may not have her station rental get severed by the salon she works for, but she'll at least surely have the discomfiture and consequence of losing clients. And that's as it should be. If she can't look in the mirror and see herself for the lousy human being she is, maybe she'll see it in the faces of others.

And to Jo Ann--what a horrible experience for you! I love that you felt such compassion for the restaurant and the other diners.