Should Have Written It On A Napkin

, , , | Right | September 27, 2018

(Our restaurant is on the roadside towards Amsterdam Airport, so we get many different customers, from everywhere around the world. One day, I am on hall duty. While walking around and cleaning up, a customer tries to get my attention.)

Me: “Yes, sir?”

(The customer mutters something in a foreign language I do not recognise, let alone understand.)

Me: *switching to English* “Sorry, sir, I don’t understand.”

(The customer just repeated the foreign word, while making gestures towards his plate of food. I reckoned he wanted napkins, so I brought him some, but the guy seemed really irritated when I brought them. He repeated the word again. Since I totally did not understand what he was saying, I came up with several items, like cutlery and even another, empty plate. Every time I showed up with something, the man rolled his eyes as if I was stupid and repeated his request, getting more and more annoyed in the process. Finally, I understood that he wanted to take his leftovers away and I got him a bag for that. The customer mumbled something that sounded like a “thank you” in his language, despite not looking happy. Now, I can understand that he didn’t speak Dutch. It’s also not a crime not to speak English. I even didn’t mind him trying to communicate like this, but why was he acting like I was stupid for not speaking his language, while he obviously didn’t learn any foreign tongue at all?)

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