caproven

Embarrassing restaurant orders

I've read the post Decline of civilization by GLÖNK - idk if that's a name or the blog title but we'll treat it as a name :)

I too despise embarrassing restaurant orders and menu items. I'm no regular consumer of caffeine and never visit cafes, yet I certainly recall online banter around Starbuck's sizing scheme tall, grande, venti, etc. Cue an (oh god I'm getting old) 18 year old YouTube video Small is Tall.

Ordering a venti cup of joe doesn't shame the establishment, and if I had to guess the employees probably don't care either. The customer alone is left using irregular language and feeling goofy - I might call this "asymmetric embarrassment".

Taking it a step further we have "symmetric embarrassment" where the customer and employees are potentially embarrassed. For this we're talking cases such as the "fussy hussy" example GLÖNK provided. Bad Daddy's menu is RIFE with questionable menu items, hell even the restaurant name is questionable.

Telling my waiter I'd like a "bad ass burger" does not, in fact, make me feel like a bad ass. I'm not sure if that was their goal or not.

The first case I recall genuine embarrassment from reading was the menu item "chickichanga" from First Watch. That term sounds appalling stupid. Shame on you First Watch for being so silly.

As for me, I'll have the chickichanga.

Like what? How can you face a waiter/waitress and state that with a straight face? Animosity toward a restaurant for making me say silly words, or making me "un-sillify" my order, does not encourage me to return.

So yes, I will agree this is a sign of declining civilization.