Mama Tiger

We have a really small, cute diner about 3 minutes from our house. We have been going there pretty regularly for a few years now. We knew everyone who worked there by name and they knew us. We even knew the regular customers. In fact, I gave one a birthday gift last month and got one from her on my birthday. It is just a cozy, homey place that made me feel like Norm from "Cheers" when I walked in because everyone knew our names.

Last week, we discovered it had been sold (without warning!) and was being remodeled by the new owners. Today, we went in to check it out. There is new carpeting, new booths, new paneling and eventually there will be new menus. Clearly, there is also new staff. Our waitress was a nice woman who apologized frequently and profusely for the fact that, since they didn't have a fryer yet and had just started grocery shopping, they only had about half of what was on the menu. We dealt with that. We dealt with their awkwardness, their lack of some of the ingredients we asked for and the smaller size of the portions. After all, everyone is new at least once in their lifetimes and we know how tough it can be. We even dealt with the fact that they didn't have a credit card machine installed yet and only took cash, meaning we had to leave and go to the bank, get cash and come back and pay our bill. Joseph and I are pretty mellow people.

However, if you want to get under my skin . . . . if you want to see Tami get bitchy, give one of her kids a hard time.

After we ran to the bank, leaving the kids to finish their food, the young teenage worker (daughter of the waitress) proceeded to tell Coryn that his hair needed to be styled, it was wrong for his soft, round head and she thought he was a girl.

Excuse me? At what point did she think she could say personal things to him like that? He shrugged it off but we all know what the ego of a 14 year old male is like, especially when a teenager female is the one talking. I was really annoyed. That was just out of place and wrong.

So I went back into the restaurant. And I went up to the mother, and I laid my hand on hers. I told her, "mother to mother", that those comments were inappropriate and she should talk to her daughter about how easily feelings can be hurt. I told her that I was upset and didn't want this to ever happen again. She reassured me she would talk to her daughter and, in fact, was already doing so by the time I walked out the door.

As a consumer, I can be patient and understanding. But as Mother Tiger, do NOT piss me off. Those hands of mine are hiding a pretty sharp set of claws and I am not afraid to use them if necessary.

Grrrrrrrrr.