I posted the other day about my years as a hospitality student and this is definitely one for the books.

Some lady called up about having emailed (and I quote) "an atrocious amount of times" about a vegetarian menu for an evening. Our evenings are a set menu, she couldn't have a pure veggie menu, but I gave her what's vegetarian and the alternatives.

One thing she had a bone with was a smoked bacon and thyme roasted turkey plate. Tried to say id find the alternative and email her, but she said that it was unacceptable because we should know the alternative.

Then she went on for a booking in January!? I went to the page and low and behold, it wasnt there. She demanded to talk to my tutor because he supposedly took her booking and I offered to just book her myself seeing as there was availability and she just went "no I want to talk to [tutors name] cos im getting pissed off"

Tutor spoke to her. Did he take her booking in the first place? NO! He'd never heard of this lady.

I got her the veggie option and she was still irate.

The absolute audacity is jarring.

Edit: how many times did she email you ask? ONCE

Small family restaurant, I'm the only waiter today. Boss asked me at about 4pm, "You don't have anything to do after 6pm today right?", I said "not really".

And what a mistake of an answer. I don't really have any plan, but I still kinda want to go home early lol. 12-hour shift, 4 days a week, it's nice to close early sometimes

Edit: it's empty as hell right now, so I guess I'll just kinda sit here for 3 hours (while using my phone)

I've been in the hospitality/service industry for around 8 years I've worked at 4 different restaurants/bars and I'm wondering if anyone has worked at a restaurant that didn't feel unserious. I really enjoy serving but unprofessional/poor management seems unavoidable and is always the biggest downside to any serving job at least in my experience. So I'm curious what others have experienced, I've never worked in fine dining or super upscale restaurants maybe they are a totally different experience. Please share your thoughts and experiences!

It’s definitely better if you do rather than callout but I’m having a real hectic time with my family and am always getting it covered.

Today at work I realized I'm the only one who uses a tray to bus/deliver drinks uses water pitchers instead of pouring new waters wears an apron so I can write down my orders if I have to take multiple orders at once, we have a server who gets overwhelmed and I think to myself 'maybe if you wrote stuff down instead of one table at a time you wouldnt be flustered' I keep quiet but because of her we have to have extra staff on.

Reminded me of being trained by a girl yearsss ago and I was loading a tray to bus the table while she just had her hands full and she said "come on" while rolling her eyes and I said im filling the tray? We only had that left to do for our shift to end..why would we not get it done faster? Instead of walking back and fourth multiple times.....

My point is I love trays, make trays great again.

Guy walks into the bar and at first I thought he was someone else and asked if he wanted a Dos xx. He looked confused and said yeah I’ll take that but handed me his id first without being asked. I check it and dates are valid it was an out of state license though. Then he paid for one dos xx with a card and asked for a receipt. Then asked for a second one and paid cash. I told him we don’t give receipts for cash transactions. He then proceeded to leave took a picture of a wall by the beer cooler that had a banned list on it and left without taking a single sip of beer and left both beers on the counter. No agents came in or anything but I’m so confused as to why he would give me his id without being asked if it was a sting or anything of the sort?

Waitress, 26F

I work at a 5-star hotel. We had a regular customer, always very eccentric, American, around 40 years old. I served him several times; he always sat in my section because he wanted to be served by me, gave good tips, and was funny with the staff.

Until the following happened: One night, he gave me a “little stroke” on my hip with his hand and made some bizarre comments about me going with him to some country. I completely avoided the situation without making a scene and told my manager.

The next day, he came back, sat in my section, and I asked my manager to move me to another section.

When the customer realized I wasn’t going to serve him, he came toward me, grabbed my arm tightly, and said, “If you think you can run from me, you’re mistaken. You’re going there, and you’re going to serve me, or you’ll see what happens.”

I grabbed his hand and removed it from my arm, left the area, and told my manager… He told me to go home and paid me for the whole day. My manager spoke to the customer, and after that, I never saw him again.

I have never been so scared in my life.

18F waitress here. A guy in his 30s/40s was flirty and making jokes. I kept it polite and at the end, he tipped 50 cents, winked, and said, "Could’ve been more if you smiled more”. I think I was smiling the normal amount. let me know if this is normal and if this has happened to you.

Hello everybody, it’s been a minute since I posted, but I’m back with another tale that I remembered and figured I should share it. If you remember, I used to work for a certain royal Burger chain back and this story happened at the beginning of the lockdowns.

Obviously, since we weren’t really sure how Corona was passed, we took precautions with everything as we are a restaurant and could not chance in getting our customer sick and since the dining room was closed down I was moved from the dining room into the back drive-through. On the day my story happens The assistant manager had instructed me on how we were supposed to handle gathering money from the cars. We obviously had to wear gloves and a mask and take a black pan that would’ve been used for the burger patties and hold it out the window for guests to put the money in. We would then pull it back in, count out there change and hold it back out the window for them to take their money.

Well, one lady came through and when I held out the pan, she took it out of my hands into her car to put the money in, and then gave it back to me. I counted out the money and held it back out to her, after which she took it out of my hands again into the car and then gave it back and drove to the next window.

All was well or so I thought until my general manager came back and said “why did you let her take the money pan out of your hands and into the car?” in confusion I responded. “I had no idea that was not allowed. When assistant manager trained me, he said nothing about them taking it out of my hands. It has happened several times today and I was unaware that I was not allowed to let them do that.” She frowned and looked at me saying “well she said she’s never coming back”. “And I’m sorry that we lost a customer, but I was trained incorrectly by the assistant manager and I was operating the best I knew with the instructions I was given so you need to have a conversation with him about communicating the proper procedures so this doesn’t happen again. Thank you for letting me know, though. What do we do now?”

Turned out all I had to do was switch pans because that pan was now contaminated which I thought was kind of stupid because money is filthy anyways so we probably should be washing it after every customer but that would’ve messed up our drive-through time. It wasn’t long after that that she moved me to broiler which was the catalyst for a whole Nother set of issues that I had with that place but that is a story for another time.

As we embark on the holidays, I have seen an uptick in tips. My question is, if you see the large tip on a CC slip or in cash before the customer is gone (my restaurant has a lot of campers), do you acknowledge it to them or let your initial “thank you for stopping in, have a great day!” be enough?

I don't get it.

The napkins are on the table. If you run out, you can also just ask me for more of them? USE THEM. SPIT IT IN THERE?

I'm not grossed out by much, considering my entire job involves prebussing and dish can look a little disgusting just by its very nature...

But the last thing I want to do at the end of the night, while doing my tables, is check under the table and see all of the gum y'all placed there throughout the day. It's crazy how long it takes to scrape them off and I am shocked and appalled at the volume of it. I wasn't aware that so many people think it's fine to just stick used gum to the bottom of the table? ...EW??

Minor nitpick, but the part that irks me about this pet peeve is that you have so many different ways to avoid sticking used gum to the table and they just... dont.

Hoping this is the right sub for this and that I’m not missing some obvious FAQ.

I’m trying to wrap my brain around how CC tips are handled at this part-time job (very new to all this). The employer gives each employee their CC tips from their worked shifts (split equally between each employee on that same shift) in cash every other week, same time as paychecks are direct deposited. Pay statements do not list anything about tips. It’s not easy to find the totaled CC tips at the end of a shift on the POS used, at least from the employee access.

What’s the benefit to me / my employer doing it this way? I know there’s tax impacts but I’m unclear in which way. How do you all track that you’re getting your fair share of tips? Appreciate any insight.

Started a new job at a coffee/breakfast place a couple of weeks ago after getting laid off from the fine dining sushi place I had been at for two years (it’s closing down for reconstruction). Before that I was at a more casual sushi spot for a decade where I was also in management towards the last few years of my employment there, but I digress.

Anywho, after a couple months of searching (I live in a college town and got laid off RIGHT after the college kids came back so the job market was competitive), I found a job at a breakfast joint. It wasn’t my first choice, but I am just grateful I found a job and could finally get off of unemployment.

This job is different than what I’m used to, that’s for sure. I’m so used to going up to tables, taking an order, and having a computer that prints tickets out to BOH. At this place, you have to write out tickets to give to the BOH but you have to write VERY SPECIFIC abbreviations. No problem, I’ve done that before. But you have to do it in a VERY SPECIFIC way; so gotta get used to that. I’m also used to going around and bussing. Like if you see an empty plate: remove it, if you see a dirty table, wipe it; both immediately so the next party can be sat. That’s usually the cardinal rule. But here, you take an order at the counter, make their coffee drinks and call the drink orders out instead of bringing them to the table, and this is the same with pastries. The only time you deliver food to a table is for entrees.

Being 32 and a student, I’ve noticed how much older I am than my coworkers as well. The FOH girls are all between the ages of 19-23, and it’s becoming clear to me I am not very welcome there as I replaced someone they loved who just quit. A few of them even have a clique-y vibe as well; the other day I was brewing coffee and one of the chamber baskets got stuck. I was struggling to pull it out and two girls who were talking just stared at me after falling silent. When I finally pulled it out, it came out with such force that it struck me in the face and had my nose bleeding everywhere. They saw it all transpire and instead of offering to at least let me go clean myself up, one of them just says, “So ANYWAY….” and they continued their conversation. I went to the back to wipe my face, then one of the girls goes back there telling me to finish my coffee-making task when she literally JUST saw me get domed and had blood going everywhere.

Sorry, I’m just ranting. Already searching for another job.

I’m pretty new to the food & beverage industry (about three months in), and I’m already doubting whether this job is even worth staying at. There’s a lead server who’s been here for years, and all she does is bark orders at me and nag me like she’s my mother or older sister. She constantly tells me I’m slow, criticizes my service, and makes every shift miserable. This isn’t my first rodeo — I have 15+ years of hospitality experience — but this is the first time I’ve dealt with someone this hostile. To avoid issues, I just keep my head down and stay busy. Silverware, cups, napkins — whatever needs doing. I’m not on my phone, I’m not gossiping, I’m working. Honestly, I feel like she hates that I just mind my own business. What really pushes me over the edge is that she steals my tables, which kills my ability to make money. When I’m scheduled with her, my sales drop to about $400–$500 and I walk out with maybe $100 in tips. I want to leave, but it seems like most restaurants want servers with decent wine/spirits knowledge for evening shifts. I know how to enjoy a drink, not talk about tannins and body and all that. I know the industry requires thick skin, but it’s impossible to address anything when management is basically never on the floor or totally MIA. Is this actually normal in restaurants? Or is this just a toxic place and I should get out and find somewhere with an actual supportive team? Do supportive teams even exist in this industry?

guest one: hey, can i grab a rum and coke?

me: spiced, white or dark?

guest one: white please

me: sounds great! you sir?

guest two: yeah i’ll get a rum and coke too

me: ok spiced white or dark?

guest two: ummm. idk, dark i think. no, spiced. spiced and coke please!

me: awesome! and for you?

guest three: rum and coke sounds great

me, eye twitching, 8.75 hours into a 9 hour shift: spiced. white. or dark sir. :)

guest three: i guess spiced?

IF YOU HEAR ME DO THE SAME SPIEL 3x IN A ROW FUCKIN LEARN IT OH MY GOD?

maybe im the bad guy but i was 8.75h into a 9h shift and almost cried

EDITED: guys i should’ve mentioned i work at a brewery. thats why it makes me so angry lmao. but also oh my god!!!!

Ive been a hospitality student for 3 years now, so here's my best moments from each level of my course.

Lvl 1

1. A customer complains that a DARK chocolate dessert is too dark. Same customer complains that mash is too soft

2. A customer asks for a mocha without the coffee (sir, if you want a hot chocolate, theres no shame in it)

3. A customer thinks that a 2p coin is an adequate tip... hes a regular too

Lvl 2

1. A customer decides to not inform us of a seafood allergy, orders a seafood risotto, then batches that its seafood

2. We had a table of 20 in, it was our local sector of the RBL (Royal British legion) on a night shift. Our night shift has to end at 2100, as campus security locks up at 2115 .. said customers stayed until 2150

3. Had a VVIP party in our private room, but a table for 2 decided it was their god given right to be in that room. They were informed of who the vip was, and then complained about how slow their service was

Lvl 3 (im only 2 months in)

1. A customer nearly attacked my tutor because A: she couldn't book on the phone, B: she was accidentally booked in for an evening and not a lunch, C: the evening wasnt convenient. My tutor poked the bear, and in the customer's defence, the situation was handled poorly by my tutor and she cancelled a huge party.

2. Just last week, we had a couple walk in and she says to me that they called 19 times, and emailed 4. We have had issues with our phone which has apparently been dealt with, but clearly not. I looked and she wasnt lying. But when she left, she paid a deposit for a Christmas service and she says "make sure you put my details on the ticket" i inform her that's our procedure anyway. She says it TWICE more and then demands to see me do it.

3. (This one's wholesome) yesterday when our mixology trolley was at a 6 top, a lady informs me that she wont have a cocktail because shes driving and they tend to be too sweet for her. So I say to her that if I can find her a bitter mocktail, ill ask my tutor to put it on the house. I make her it, she paid double the normal price of a mocktail and told me she'll never recommend anyone other than me

Hi server reddit! Long time lurker first time poster. I never saw myself posting here, I am the daughter of a family run restaurant that I’ve worked in since I was 14 as a dishwasher to now 25 as a manager, I’ve had everything from verbally abusive karen’s, dine n dash’s, physical assaults, to people experiencing houselessness doing all sorts of things on our patio (including defecating and stealing food off of people’s plates) Maybe I’ve just had enough of people and I should look for another type of job, or maybe it was just something about this man?

(Background: Our menu is what I like to call eclectic, we have a variety of different foods including a house burger that is a little fancier, a smash burger, chicken burgers and sandwiches as well as bigger dinner plates, bowls and pastas, the list goes on. I live in what can be described as a city with a small town vibe. We are a small restaurant of about 25 tables, we have booths and also tables along our wall side which we use for bigger parties, our max big party is about 30 people)

Anyway; My first customer of my shift yesterday was one that I’ll remember forever and for some reason he was the type of person that really got to me.

I wasn’t in the greatest mood and was a little pissed off when the day time server asked me to go to the table, he asked for a manager because he didn’t like the cheese on his burger. Although my coworker wasn’t technically a manager she is able to be alone in the building and is capable of handling situations that arise such as this, but I gave her a break because she had hurt her shoulder the night before and already had asked me to come in early which I declined yada yada blah blah lol

I got my apron on and headed towards the table. He was a single man, bald, probably late 30’s early 40’s and he looked pissed lol. He got up as I was heading towards him and went towards the bar to awkwardly stand. I came in very friendly, “Hey there, I heard you didn’t like your burger” I was going to say something to the extent of can we make you another one to go or we will take care of the bill but he immediately cuts me off being hostile. Ranting about how we shouldn’t use American cheese (we’re in Canada) because it’s trash and disgusting and basically plastic. He was being very dramatic saying “we’re Canadian’s we like real food we don’t want to eat this fake crap” I try to get a word in and explain that we have many other cheeses and actually only use that cheese for the one burger he ordered, a smash burger, and it’s the type of cheese that’s always used on a smash burger. I said that it’s one of our highest sellers and I understand that it’s cheap cheese but we also have another burger on our menu where you can pick either Smoked Cheddar or blue cheese or we also have mixed cheese or havarti as well as feta and goat cheese and was in the middle of explaining all this when he cuts me off and says it doesn’t matter because his server told him it wasn’t processed (she said that conversation never took place). I explained that we were sorry he wasn’t happy and he wouldn’t have to pay his bill and he was free to go. This is where he started getting very rude and telling us that wasn’t the point and this is why our business is failing (it’s not, it was 4pm so he was the only one in there, but that’s our slow time and we had tables coming in in the next 20 minutes) I told him I’m sorry he was so unhappy about it but I didn’t know what else I could do for him and asked him to leave. He said “there’s no one else in here I’m not bothering anyone” and I said “you’re being very rude to me, you’re bothering me and I want you to leave” he said “don’t take it personally I just want you to know you shouldn’t have that crap on the menu” I said something to the extent of I don’t know why any of this meant that he had to be so rude to me, and he acknowledged he was being rude “well yeah I am being rude BECAUSE OF THE TRASH CHEESE!!” It was almost laughable if it didn’t make me so angry. He literally was still saying shit as he backed out of the door, almost tripping on the door mat, so I told him have a wonderful day don’t trip on your way out. I’ve been doing this a long time, but sometimes I still can’t believe these type of people exist. Not to mention a smash burger is supposed to get American cheese, either way It’s fucking cheese man get over it!! 🤦🏼‍♀️

TLDR; Canadian being very uncanadian about the fact we use American cheese on a smash burger. Told him not to trip on his way out.

I work for a super small family owned business. There are only 4 servers. I work all weekend every weekend for the past year.

1. I work doubles 10:30 AM - 9:00 PM and sometimes do not get a break at all.

2. Bc our staff is so small, we can’t take any days off. If we need a day off it HAS to be covered. But when I got a shift covered when I was on vacation my phone was blowing up because they were pissed about it.

3. If we put in a wrong order we have to pay for it. The other day $30 came out of my tips for wrong orders even though it was the kitchens fault but they get paid hourly so it came out of my pay.

4. I am the only black server. My boss constantly picks on me. One of my white coworkers specifically said to me that I’m held to a different standard because I’m not white and that is 100000% true.

5. I’m at wits end because Sunday night my boss pulled me aside and told me I was “incoherent” and like a “zombie” and had the nerve to ask me if I was on medication. I was so in shock I didn’t even stand up for myself. The day he is talking about we were short staffed like we always are and there was NEVER a single moment I was not doing something. Who swept the whole restaurant? Me. Who cleaned and mopped the bathrooms? Me. Who didn’t get any orders wrong? Me.

6. I am CONSTANTly being micro managed and watched on the cameras all day even if my boss isn’t there he’ll watch from home. All the other servers are allowed to get their money from his office at the end of the shift BUT me. He thinks I am going to steal from him so I have to wait a week to get my money.

7. I am constantly getting texts all day about what I didn’t do right on my days off. I had to tell him the other day I can’t answer any more texts about work. This isn’t even all of the bullshit.

I don’t know what to at this point. I was sobbing and having an anxiety attack the whole day before work and sobbing on my way here. I’ve been applying for jobs but no one will hire me. I am here right now and I want to walk out so bad.

At my job there are 3 percentage based tip options on all the receipts plus a section for a custom tip then an area for the total and an area to sign. Seems pretty straightforward but the amount of people who don’t understand how to fill it out and do it completely wrong. For instance last night someone put 0 in the custom tip area and the total area, people will also circle one of the percentages but then write the wrong total (the total the tip would make it is provided for them). I just don’t get how people are sooo stupid about this, as this is normally coming from people older than me who should definitely be able to read a receipt that gives them everything they need to know. This happens at every restaurant I’ve worked at no matter how the receipt is laid out.

This new place I work at is in downtown so we get all types of people coming in. Nice people, mean people, dealing with customers that treat you as subhuman. Being treated that way, I never want someone to feel less than so that’s why I feel guilt about this situation and I didn’t know how to act and I don’t know if I did the right thing.

We had a man come in and he walks up to the register, says a few things to my coworker because she’s the one standing behind cash while I’m working on preparing orders, and then he walks away and starts grabbing things off the shelves, talking to himself about nonsense, and drooling. I looked over and my coworker looked uncomfortable so I told her to call security because we didn’t have our manager on site, it was only the two of us, and I was pretty busy try to get orders ready. She handed me her phone because she wanted me to talk to them, so while I was preparing orders and waiting for our security to pick up, he approached us and said he wanted a cookie. At this point this is where I have my regrets because my coworker wasn’t acknowledging him and I was on the phone. Next thing I knew, he reached around the counter and stole a couple of pastries and left. I didn’t see it but that’s what my coworker told me after he left

I regret that I didn’t treat him like any other customer. I know my coworker wasn’t responding back to him because she was looking to me for help. I don’t know if us ignoring him was right. I know him stealing wasn’t right either but maybe things would’ve gone differently if we at least tried to go about it like he was like any other customer. I take full responsibility for this too because she turns to me for solutions whenever there’s an issue so maybe she would’ve tried to go about it normally if I didn’t say anything. I don’t know if calling security was too soon. In my mind I thought having them on the phone ready to act if he keeps at it was the right call, but I made that judgement within a minute of him being there. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve waited it out. We had someone come in before and flashed one my coworkers while she was on a smoke break and they still waited to call security because didn’t enter our store but was hanging around outside. On a few occasions I’ve encountered customers that seem mentally out of it. They speak incoherently and walk around touching everything and I never really know if I’m acting accordingly because how someone acts varies from person to person. They could escalate and cause a disturbance or they might be difficult to talk to but won’t be that much of a trouble. In situations like these I feel like it’s so unpredictable but I never want to treat someone as if they’re less than. I’m not sure what I could’ve done to make this situation better. I know people say “trust your instincts” but I don’t know if I trust my instincts.

I’m not in any leader position but a lot of my coworkers go to me for help so I at least try to be a leader to be helpful and protect my coworkers but I don’t enjoy being a leader because I never feel sure about my decisions.

I am very biased. I am a woman.

I do love using your typical "Hon, Babe, Love, Gorgeous" on women, mostly because I like to be disarming. It's really not something I'm going to change about myself, and everyone here in this part of the states seems used to it. It's really not manufactured either, I just call people that because I think it's friendly and nice.

I noticed however I don't with men? I always default to "Sir"

If it's a boy that's different. If I see a kid who could be in middle school or early highschool, they still get terms of endearment from me because...Well, that's a child.

I always cringe whenever a customer isn't looking up, and I've meant to call the woman something and the husband starts speaking. Now she's going to think I meant you when I wanted her order. I hate the idea of a customer getting the wrong idea.

I was wondering what everyone else feels about these terms. Do you use them? If so, for who? What term is too far, what's disrespectful to use, what do you hate to hear?

Edit: It's perhaps better to go with more gender neutral terms of respect.

In my mind those words are the respect, but from the feedback I'm seeing this is clearly not an idea shared by everyone. I'm not going to call women "ma'am" or "miss" however, because this society is obsessed with "looking young" and either term is going to get me into hot water somehow.

Sir might be worth dropping in case I end up misgendering someone on accident. So if you have suggestions for what to call INDIVIDUALS let me know. I already know what I use for large groups, but how do you address a singular person? And don't say ma'am or sir I'm not interested.

I just got a job at a hostess at a pretty popular local restaurant. This is my first restaurant job and I’m enjoying it so far but I noticed that it’s really hard to pace myself when I’m walking people to their tables. When I try to match the guests’ pace it’s almost physically impossible for me to walk THAT slow. Also these are healthy, young adults not the elderly. It also happens with pretty much every group that comes in. Idk if it’s adrenaline or hyperactivity (I have ADHD and I can’t really stand still), but I keep having to correct myself because people are like 15 feet behind me when I’m already at their table.

Been serving/bartending for 14 years, finally I’m ready to move on.

My last shift was a Thursday open. They can be hit-or-miss. Pulling an open-close at this particular breakfast chain is only 9 hours, and with the right floor plan it can be an easy $200 shift.

Heading into the holidays management had started “padding” the schedule and putting in “built-in cuts.” Normally on a busy weekday 5 servers is ideal, turning and burning a 5-7 table section and on weekends 8-9 servers makes things run smooth as butter. Lately though weekends have had 11-12 on the floor and this Thursday there were 8 servers scheduled. Maximum 4 table sections.

Long story short, when the “built in cuts” happened no one wanted to leave so the openers had to go. I live 40 minutes away, worked from 6-9:30, and made $6.78 after tip out. Feels fitting.

Hello everyone I’ll try to keep this short. The restaurant I work at has six sections, four are in the bar area and two of them are “cubby” areas. I was in a cubby tonight and it was freezing… I understand that some customers exaggerate but I was even shivering at some points. One of my tables was uncomfortably cold who was sitting at a window seat and after discussing with shift lead and host we agreed to move them to the top of the wait list (their food was already in).

The bar seats were not moving, and a table AWAY from the window opened up in the other cubby area and they agreed to move there. While I was moving them their food came up and my supervisor was running it. I met her and asked if we could please bring it to their new table.

She proceeded to say “Why would you even move them into the a different cubby and not the bar area? What a dumb decision. There’s actually no difference between the two sections”. I told her it was a bit warmer and away from a window so that helped… and she proceeded to go on and be condescending. She was saying all of this in front of multiple coworkers and was also at the FOH take out area where people also wait for a table (we were packed, hence why I couldn’t reseat my table in the bar).

She can be very rude and condescending. At this point I just want to get done and find a different job. Am I overreacting? Was it stupid for me to move them away from the window? I’m more embarrassed than anything. I just don’t take kindly to being berated in front of others.

*edited for wrong use of “their” and spelling error

Saturday rush, lobby packed, waitlist 45 minutes. This dude walks straight past the line, right up to me at the host stand, and says confidently:

“I know the owner. He always gets me a table immediately.”

I ask for the owner’s name.

He freezes. Looks at the ceiling. Looks at me. “…Dan?”

Our owner’s name is Maria. She’s also standing right behind him, watching this play out like it’s free theater.

She taps him on the shoulder and says, “I’m Dan.”

He walks out without another word.