Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Doppelgänger Manuel from Fawlty Towers

Over the Easter weekend we stayed in a nice hotel along the Rhine River in Germany. The hotel was "prima" and full to the hilt on both nights we were there. That is the reason that our Dutch friends and Hub and I decided to eat at a restaurant in the village instead of at the hotel buffet.

The restaurant in the village was a good choice. So good, in fact, that we went back for Easter dinner on Sunday. But I am not going to tell you about the HUGE American size portions of meat and food served there. I want to tell about the funny waiter.

I am still not sure if the thin, dark-haired waiter was German or some other nationality. Remember, I do not speak German. So he could have been speaking with a strong Slavic accent for all I know. Anyway, we all agreed that his manners (or lack of them) reminded us of the crazy Spanish waiter on the 1970-80's Fawlty Towers television show.

The first evening "Herr Manuel" seated us at a table that was still dirty from the previous guests. After slinging around the crumb covered cloth placemats, he threw down a few knives and forks in front of the four of us. Then he took our order and came back every two minutes to see if everything was in order. Picking up the finished plates was even humorous, since he expected help from us, but wanted to direct traffic.

From the look on his face, the tip left on the table Saturday evening was quite disappointing. So I wasn't too surprised at his rudeness on the following evening.

As Sunday was a holiday, we decided to make reservations for our holiday meal. Actually that was not necessary (I noticed later), but better safe than sorry.

We arrived at our appointed time of 7:30 pm, and we were seated at the same large table as the previous night by our "favorite" clumsy waiter. This evening he seemed to have it more together until he leaned over our friend's elderly mother and elbowed her in the head. Instead of backing away, he seemed to push closer and more awkwardly. Our friend ended up shielding her mom from the pushy arms, elbows, and water bottles.

For the rest of the evening, we all tried to keep our distance from "Herr Klutz."

No comments: