Restaurant refuses to sing happy bday to 6 yr old

[happyhappyhappy]

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This thread is crazy and I'd be curious to see the responses if the thread had been:

"I was going to propose to my girlfriend at our favorite restaurant. I made reservations and the hostess assured me that the waiter would deliver the ring in a champagne glass with dessert. Then when dessert arrived, there was no ring, and the waiter just shrugged and said 'we don't do that anymore, sorry'. I asked to see the manager and he said they no longer do that. Should I be pissed?"

Seriously, once the hostess confirms they're going to sing, the dad should totally expect them to sing. And, if I remember being a 6 year old kid who saw a restaurant three times a year, it was a big deal for the waiters to sing to me.

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This is about the only analogy that seems on point. Also, I don't think a comp'd dessert makes up for anything. Comping an adult when u eff up is often perfectly acceptable as an adult feels better when they get something for free. But the kid was always going to get dessert, it doesn't matter to him if his dad has to pay for it or not. And it doesn't help the dad either to comp the dessert as the money wasn't important but rather the chance to do something special that his kid wanted on the kid's birthday

I really want to believe that the other side of this debate is one big multi-troll conspiracy and it sucks that this is probably not the case

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Sorry, that analogy is no where near on point.

[iggymcfly]

OK, I replied to this thread on Page 1, then looked back at OOT, and saw it had ballooned to eight pages. I read through the first 3 pages, but I'm not going to spend an hour reading the whole thread to see if this has been addressed so here goes:

The "happy birthday" song was not a condition of the meal since multiple people had already driven to the restaurant. There's no way they were all getting up and leaving over that. If it was really that important, they would have called the restaurant ahead of time. The dad's just trying to make that into a big thing in retrospect because he wants his way here.

Also, regardless of whether the dad's at fault in his interaction with the restaurant, he's definitely at fault in terms of what he did with his son here. No 6-year old would really care that much who sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. He's just reflecting everyone around him who's making a big deal out of it and is upset by the commotion. The dad's the one who spoiled the birthday here, not the restaurant. Also, the idea that you fight tooth and nail and cause a commotion whenever some trivial thing doesn't go your way is a terrible life lesson for a young child. Just make the best of the circumstances, and don't let minor incidents ruin your day.

[RunDownHouse]

I don't agree with all the people who said that because the hostess said the kid would get a song, the restaurant is under some obligation to provide it. At the same time, its not unreasonable for the dad to expect it and be upset when its not given, but if I was the owner I'd tell the dad he'd get some sort of comp but also make it clear that there would be no song.

Also, guids took a bit of heat for saying the dad was an idiot for asking the hostess in the first place. I wouldn't go that far, but he is ignorant. Blarg's mock conversation is off because anyone who has spent any time in the food service industry wouldn't even ask the hostess in the first place, knowing she's likely some idiot high school kid. You just ask to talk to someone with some authority in the front straight away. Again, the dad isn't an idiot for asking her, just ignorant of the way things work in restaurants.

[tuq]

This thread will never die, because people will continue to post they haven't/aren't going to read the whole thread, and then proceed to write something that was already written but that they couldn't be bothered to read. Awesome. Anyway,

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guids/Blarg -

You are driving down the street, seeking out the perfect Asian Massage Parlor to celebrate an important milestone in your life.

You drive up to the first establishment, one that you've frequented previously, and ask the receptionist if you can get a happy ending. She says absolutely.

You get your little rub down, and when you ask for the whipped cream and cherry on top, she gives you the stink eye and walks out.

Now you're down for the price of the message, and your ending was decidedly not happy.

You find an authority figure, and let her know that the mouthpiece of the organization promised you'd get your just desserts. They tell you that they are trying to change their image into a respectable house of massage, and if you wanted to get a little Happy Birthday, you should check out the toothless skank in the gutter.

Are you annoyed?

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I really like this one. Closest analogy I've seen yet, and should hit close to home for most of us.

[2/325Falcon]

tuq,

Hump the furniture in the lobby of the massage place, obv.

[LetItBe]

LOL @ some people's horrible misunderstanding of agency and employee/employer relationships...

[Hopey]

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guids/Blarg -

You are driving down the street, seeking out the perfect Asian Massage Parlor to celebrate an important milestone in your life.

You drive up to the first establishment, one that you've frequented previously, and ask the receptionist if you can get a happy ending. She says absolutely.

You get your little rub down, and when you ask for the whipped cream and cherry on top, she gives you the stink eye and walks out.

Now you're down for the price of the message, and your ending was decidedly not happy.

You find an authority figure, and let her know that the mouthpiece of the organization promised you'd get your just desserts. They tell you that they are trying to change their image into a respectable house of massage, and if you wanted to get a little Happy Birthday, you should check out the toothless skank in the gutter.

Are you annoyed?

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This is the only analogy that I have appreciated in this entire thread. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Hopey]

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tuq,

Hump the furniture in the lobby of the massage place, obv.

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Cripes...I can do that at home!

[Signal777]

The massage parlor comparison works. Nice.

[DavidC]

Invite me over.

15 bucks, little man, put that [censored] in my hand...