Accidents & Mishaps
ALMOST BRAINED BY A CRASHING CHANDELIER
This is a combo: dinner AND holiday from hell story. When I was 11 years old we
went to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. This was in New Jersey and we went
to a famous inn with roots back to the revolutionary war. My parents,
grandmother, and three siblings were seated in the "ballroom" at a round table
for 8 (like the kind at a wedding). We ordered and soon enough our food arrived.
About 2 minutes after the food was served, I heard screams from a nearby table.
Almost instantly, a giant iron chandelier crashed onto our table! The amazing
thing was that the huge arms of the chandelier landed between all the people at
our table. It had fallen from a 20-25 foot high ceiling and landed just right on
the table so that none of us were hit. People all around us were taking pictures
and the management hustled us out to the lobby to see if we were alright. Then
they actually asked us if we wanted to be reseated! Needless to say, we went
home. Scrambled eggs and toast was the entree that year. We never went back to
that "historic inn." This was back in the day when lawsuits were not as
prevalent as they are today, and we just considered ourselves lucky not to have
been brained by the chandelier! 10/07
MALODOROUS
MUSSELS IN MAINE
My wife, Karen, and I were vacationing in Camden,
Maine where we ate at a nearby seafood
restaurant. The place was packed, but we were able
to get a table. Karen ordered a big bowl of mussels
steamed with butter and wine. When the waitress
delivered the mussels to our table, we could smell a
feted aroma emanating from the bowl. Karen ate
a mussel and became nauseated. The waitress said
that they served steamed mussels all of the time
without any complaint. After a bit of coaxing, the perturbed waitress started to carry the bowl away
from the table. The bowl slipped out of her hands
and the contents spilled onto Karen's jacket,
clothes, purse and camera. Karen stood up and
screamed. The restaurant became silent as all eyes
fell on our table. Fortunately she wasn’t burned,
but Karen's clothes were stained and she stank. The
restaurant agreed to have the jacket and clothes
professionally cleaned and gave us a coupon for a
future meal. However, the stains never came out, and
we had to endure a lingering aroma of rancid mussels
on Karen's purse and camera case throughout the rest
of our trip. 01/07
Signed, Steamed
JUGGLING CHEF
My wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law ate at one of those Japanese
restaurants where the chef prepares food on a grill in front of you. The chef
was showing off his juggling skills in front of us and others who were sitting
at the table. He'd toss large wooden salt and pepper shakers into the air,
quickly catching them and throwing them back up. He got a little too exuberant
in his juggling performance, losing control of one of the shakers. The shaker
flew directly towards my father-in-law who was holding a glass of water in front
of him. The shaker smashed the glass, scattering shards of glass and drenching
the table. Miraculously, my father-in-law wasn't injured. I remember back in the
days when chefs at these restaurants used to twirl knives! I imagine that the
practice was stopped after lawsuits from injuries resulted in skyrocketing
insurance costs. 01/07
Signed, Shaken
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