Wall of Shame!!!!

The absolute lowest on my list ever....

Jake & Rips, in Granada, MS. In August, 2004, I began a journy that would take me through 8 months in Louisiana and Mississippi. Due to the nature of my job at the time, I grew to despise fast-food - yes, a necessity at times, but avoided whenever possible.

I had been in the car, exluding a brief stop to tour Graceland, for about 21 hours - sleep, too! I saw a billboard for a BBQ and seafood restaurant - sounded great to me. After all, I was getting closer to the Gulf Coast. I arrived at the restaurant at around 3:45 pm. I was seated immediately, the server took my order. Fried crawfish tails - that should make me a happy girl! I got my drink within minutes of my order being taken, and the salad followed very quickly. Then, someone different delivered my crawfish tails - I had arrived shortly before shift change and my server (the "through" server) had passed me on to the next shift. Not a problem - I know the feeling of wanting to get out of there, and sometimes, it's worth giving up the tip.

Before I had a chance to taste the crawfish, another server came by, refilled my drink and asked how everything was. And then disappeared. I finished eating, smoked a cigarette and still - not a sign of anyone. Another party came in, was seated behind me and miraculously, my server appeared. I tried to flag her down as she came past and I got "I'll be right back." She took their order and went the other direction. When she brought their drinks back, she started to walk right by me again and I stopped her. "I really need my bill - I need to get on the road." "Oh."

Then, something amazing happened. I watched my server sit down at a table across the room and begin to put on her makeup. Without bringing me my bill. I saw her hand something to another server, then THAT server dropped off my bill.

I found an unused cocktail napkin on the table and the note I left read "I apologize for being so rude as to patronize your business. It will not happen again."

I then walked up to the front (since she had not bothered to come by to pick up my payment) and flagged her down so I could pay my bill. The eye-rolling as I asked her for my receipt confirmed to me that I was nothing more than an inconvenience.

Oh - and the meal? The salad was shredded iceberg, with a couple of tomato wedges thrown on and the crawfish tails? Mass-produced breaded, frozen blobs dropped in the deep fryer.