This is a story about an unusual incident that took place at the restaurant where I work as an administrator. One day, the restaurant’s doors opened, and two elderly people walked in—a tiny grandmother and her equally short and frail grandfather. Upon entering, they warmly greeted everyone present: me, the bartender, the waiters—in short, all the staff in the dining area. Their friendliness won over absolutely everyone, including me. By chance, it was Yura—a young yet already quite experienced waiter—who happened to serve this couple.
Yura confidently approached their table, handing each guest a menu. While he waited for them to decide on their order, the grandmother noticed a tattoo on the waiter’s neck and quietly muttered something. I couldn’t catch her words, but from Yura’s expression I immediately realized he wasn’t pleased. After taking their order, Yura returned to the waiter station to ring up the dishes.
“Yura, did something happen?” I asked. “Yeah, they kind of offended me,” he replied. “They said something like, ‘What’s with today’s youth—only drug addicts and criminals with tattoos,’ and the grandfather even backed them up.” “Because of the tattoo?” I clarified. “Probably. Although, of course, I didn’t show my outrage, right?” said Yura. “But they didn’t say anything overly rude, so you’re reacting like this?” I expressed my surprise. “Yes, but the older generation always seems to have some sort of grievance against young people!” he exclaimed. “It’s just a generational difference, different views, different standards…” I tried to calm him. “In any case, I decided to teach them a lesson,” admitted Yura. “They wanted to order draniki with sour cream, but I suggested draniki with caviar. That way, I’d teach them a lesson and get a percentage from the sale.” “Didn’t they realize that we were talking about red caviar?” I asked. “I don’t know, but they agreed. And I deliberately didn’t clarify that it was red caviar or mention the price of the dish,” he answered. “Yura, you can’t do that. It’s our job! Why are you getting so worked up?” I said sternly. “Do as you see fit, but if I’m called, I’ll be objective.”
The elderly couple’s order included the following items:
Draniki with red caviar (2 servings) — 1100 rubles
Green tea (1 teapot) — 200 rubles
For comparison: regular draniki with sour cream would have cost only 420 rubles for two servings. I decided not to reprimand Yura since the guests had the opportunity to review the menu on their own, and assessing a visitor’s financial situation is not part of our duties.
A few minutes later, Yura brought the green tea to the table along with complimentary cookies that accompany every hot beverage. Here is how he described the episode himself:
“Here’s your tea. The draniki will be ready in just about a minute,” the waiter announced. “Why did you bring the tea before the food?” the grandmother protested. “So that it has time to infuse by the time the dishes are served,” Yura explained. “Well, what can you do with today’s youth, nothing can be proven anyway,” the grandfather concluded the conversation.
To be fair, the draniki were delivered incredibly fast—about 2-3 minutes. However, this did not soothe the guests’ displeasure: “Now we can finally start eating, instead of just drinking tea,” the grandfather grumbled.
The dishes disappeared from the plates with surprising speed. The elderly man called out to Yura in a hoarse voice. The waiter printed a receipt for 1300 rubles and headed to the table. Seeing the amount, the grandfather was bewildered:
“Why is the price so high? We ordered regular draniki for 210 rubles!” “You ordered draniki with red caviar,” Yura explained. “You imposed them on us! Why did you hide the actual price?” “Maybe you should call the administrator?” suggested the waiter.
Yura turned to me for help. Sensing a difficult conversation ahead, I approached the table: “Hello, I’m Gratchya, the restaurant’s administrator. How can I help?” “Your employee imposed unnecessary dishes on us without even warning us about the price. We don’t have that kind of money!” “And the tea was brought too early!” added the grandmother. “You had a menu with all the prices. You could have studied it on your own or asked the waiter for the price. But I will definitely discuss the issue of serving tea early with Yura.” “We planned to spend no more than 700 rubles!”
After a brief moment of thought, I decided to accommodate the guests and issued a new bill with a 30% discount. Explaining that I couldn’t lower the price any further, I handed them the updated receipt. After the grandfather’s discontented grumbling, he said: “Alright, bring the payment terminal. We’ll pay with a pensioners’ card.”
After the settlement, the couple left the restaurant. Right before the most interesting part of the story, I want to ask you: would you have accommodated the guests or insisted on full payment?
When the visitors left, I reprimanded Yura for serving the tea too early and his decision to “teach the guests a lesson” with an expensive order. However, the final twist of the story turned out to be quite unexpected: these “poor” pensioners left the restaurant in a luxurious RANGE ROVER.
The mother-in-law caught her sly son-in-law red-handed. “So, our fellow sure is quick!” she thought—he manages to both stuff his stomach and find time to relax with his girlfriend.
Her husband never found out that our children weren’t his; I kept silent all my life until…
