As someone who's worked in everything from retail to coffee shops, I have my fair share of customer nightmare stories. But ever since watching (and let's be honest, rewatching) the "Forks" episode in The Bear, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of customers fine dining workers have to put up with. So I decided to ask the BuzzFeed Community about their experiences serving the rich at high-end establishments. Here's what they had to say.
Disclaimer: These stories have not been verified. The users are supposedly speaking from their own experiences.
1. "I wasn't a server but I was chef de partie for a banquet/catering company. We would do anything and everything from weddings, corporate dinners, concerts, trade shows — you name it. One wedding stands out, namely because of the bride's grandfather. He was maybe in his late 70s/early 80s, three sheets to the wind, and an absolute pig to the female servers. He'd catcall them and refer to them as 'baby,' 'hot stuff,' or 'sweet cheeks.'"
"He was/had been a prominent real estate investor and paid for the whole thing. He ended up grabbing one of the female server's butt, and she immediately turned around and slapped him in the face full force.
The manager took her to the back for an explanation, and since there were other witnesses, the old fart was ordered to apologize and leave immediately. He refused, saying it was his money paying for it and she should learn to take a compliment. The bride called the cops on her own grandfather to make him leave."
2. "I worked at a country club when I was in college. Heard they took care of the staff, and you'd make good connections on the way. Boy, was I wrong. That was the worst job I ever had. The members would berate you, speak to you like you were 'the help,' and try to bully you into not charging them for what they ordered (it was a private club so we were expected to bend over backward but NOT steal from the club). The funny thing was that membership at the lowest tier was $90k a year, so these people could definitely afford a $12 Patrón drink."
3. "I worked at a fine dining restaurant in an area of the country that was/is a hot spot for the opioid epidemic. We would have two high-profile pharmaceutical companies host dinners in our private dining room. The minimum spend was $300 per person, meaning that no matter what, each person had to spend AT LEAST $300 on drinks and food."
"They would invite doctors and pharmacists from the area and wine and dine them, then push them to prescribe opioid painkillers to their patients. This went on for years into the epidemic.
We had to wait in the room and be on call if they needed anything. Taking the tip money felt so scummy, knowing where it came from and at what cost. I lived in a small town, too, so you would see the local doctors come in and know that they were going out and giving this to your friends and family.
The level of entitlement these pharmaceutical reps had, and their au