Social Bullies

I honestly marvel at the audacity of some people to pass judgment on others, moreso because these people think they're much better than others because: they're rich/they socialize with the "right" people/they think they're beautiful. These ultra-judgmental individuals have no qualms about flaunting their brand-name possessions, and will do anything to name-drop as often as they possibly can. They're not afraid to air their comments, which are often on the negative side (except when they're talking about themselves/their possessions). Those who dare to air comments/points of view on the contrary should prepare themselves to feel the wrath of these social bullies - and be bombarded once again with their seemingly astounding display of wealth.

Too bad for these bullies, brand names (and in general, money) don't automatically equate to class. Yes, we all have our own points of view, and we all have the freedom to air them - but feeling high and mighty, and much more superior to others while doing so is just plain wrong.

Bad Service Can Ruin a Good Restaurant

I'm sorry to say that I've totally neglected this blog; those who know me will understand, given the events that happened a couple of months ago - specifically the death of my Mama (which warrants a separate blog entry) and how the whole family has coped so far. This post, however, is for my sister's experience last night at a posh, much-talked-about restaurant south of the Metro - and the bad experience they had because of really bad (read: snooty!) service they were given.

I'll just paste the post I also wrote on one of the forums I belong to:

My sis and bro-in-law, who work for one of the Big Three petroleum companies in the Philippines, had a chance to try Antonio's (in Tagaytay) last night. They were with their colleagues, 18 lahat sila na kumain in Antonio's. They were disappointed because the service was quite bad! The server assigned to them was really snooty (feeling ba nya porke he's working for a high-end establishment e clients are beneath him na?), and here are examples of his bad attitude:


-- One of sis' colleagues did not receive a serving of bread; when they asked (politely) the server, he apparently said in a snooty way - "Eh kasi naman, yung bread yung nasa right side. So dapat hindi siya ang walang bread" or something to that effect. Bottom line was, he was actually blaming the clients! --


-- Main course items arrived; the one given to bro-in-law wasn't the one he ordered (of course he'll remember what he ordered in the first place di ba?). Server said, "Hindi ba ito ang order nyo?" and proceeded on insisting on it for a while. BIL nicely insisted that he ordered a different item...after a while, nabigay din sa kanya yung correct main dish.


Come dessert time, funny because yung nabigay kay bro in law seemed to lack presentation, compared to the others. Siguro napagdiskitahan na sya (though sis said he was actually very nice, maybe because he was in such a good mood). While everyone had some sort of ice cream/gelato with a sprinkling of pistachios on top, kay BIL parang latak na very small nuts ang inilagay.The whole group was still good-natured about it, even joking that "Hindi lang galit ang meron sila for you, poot na ito!" :p


The good thing was that last night, most of the group seemed to be in a very good mood - they were celebrating the birthdays of two of their colleagues, and most of them were I guess just enjoying their time away from work. Kaya tinawanan na lang nila ang actions ni "Koya" (the server) -- or else, the restaurant would've gotten a really big complaint from that big group of diners.

Bottom line? I don't think this is a good image for Antonio's - having snooty servers/staff, that is. People are paying really good money to go to their place, and this is what they're treated like? My sis' group was a big one, and the business they brought in was considerable -- what would've happened if the snooty server was assigned to a small group of friends, or even a couple celebrating a milestone? Would he be much snootier? Or would he be more thankful that he had to deal with "just" a couple of people, as opposed to a large group?

I asked my sister if he considered Antonio's worth revisiting, and she said no - mainly because of the really BAD SERVICE they encountered last night. And I agree wholeheartedly - no matter how good the food is, or how well-known the restaurant is - it's just not worth going to if the staff treats paying customers like something they've scraped from the bottom of their shoes.