Waitress Dropped a Steak Knife on My Baby's Chest

[lmariana]

We went out to dinner tonight and ate at Outback Steakhouse. Well, when the waitress (not our waitress, just another one that brings out your food and stuff) brought out the big slab of bread on the cutting board, the enormous steak knife that comes with it fell off the cutting board and headed straight for Gabe's neck. It landed on his little chest, by his armpit, blade side...not the handle. I was completely frozen in terror.

You know what the waitress did? She laughed. She didn't say more than "oops". Then when we made it very clear that her "oops" was a lot more serious, she laughed it off saying that Gabe looked fine and we were the only ones that were scared by it. Ummm, HELLO???? You could have stabbed my baby!!! Big knife! Dangerous! Defenseless child!!! Itty bitty delicate eye balls!

Needless, to say...the manager was called and heads rolled.

I was eventually able to calm down and actually enjoy our (extremely free) meal. I just could not believe how unapologetic she was. I understand that it was an accident, and accidents do happen...but if you drop a steak knife on someone's child you darn well better apologize.

Mariana
www.heinzandmariana.com
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003

[toomanystrollers]

GEEEEEZ - no apology!!!!! Outback needs to do some re-training. I'm glad to hear Gabe's ok :)

[kristine_elen]

"...but if you drop a steak knife on someone's child you darn well better apologize."

I'm sorry, but that last part did make me laugh out loud. But that is truly scary and I think I would have wanted to strangle that waitress for laughing. I agree that accidents happen, but so do apologies.

Thank goodness it turned out OK.

[papal]

What a totally useless idiotic BEEEATCH!! You should have taken the self same knife and stabbed her in her brain where it would not have hurt since it is probably empty!!!!
I am just MAD for you!
So glad Gabriel is fine.. that is super frightning.
It is one of dh's biggest fears that the waitstaff will accidently drop something hot or a plate onto dd.. he always keeps her away from the 'waiting' side... i thought he was ultra paranoid, but after hearing this, i no longer think so.

[kathsmom]

Mariana,

Oh my gosh! I cannot believe that waitress! I used to wait tables in college and I know that if I ever did something like that, I would have been apologizing all over the place, not to mention how upset with myself I would be.

Good for you calling the manager over. I am just so glad that Gabe was not injured.

[lmariana]

It's funny, because we're ultra paranoid about that too! We were sitting in a booth with Gabe in a Bumbo seat in between Heinz (hubby) and myself, and my parents across the booth. So, he was completely land-locked from any potential dangers...you'd think!

Yeah, I am SO glad that everything was okay, but I have a hard time getting those "what if" thoughts out of my head.

I love it when other people get mad for me. :)

Mariana
www.heinzandmariana.com
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003

[pritchettzoo]

O. M. G. She LAUGHED? You know she's got kids too...probably leaves them and her dogs in the car with the windows up. Holy cats. I can't believe she laughed.

I'm glad your meal was extremely free. You should have been sent home with a side of beef.

Anna

[jbowman]

I'm glad that Gabriel is ok. I hope y'all ordered dessert!

[khakismom]

Holy crap! What is wrong with some people sometimes? I'm glad Gabe is OK--how very scary!

[babymama]

That waitress must be *on crack*. It probably wasn't intentional, but it is so not-okay to laugh off nearly stabbing a baby. She's freaking disturbed.

Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[kthomp]

OMG! I cannot believe all she did was laugh! I don't know what Outback should do about it, but something has to be done about her! I know it was an accident, but man, not even a simple apology????

I'm so glad to hear that he's okay! When Ally was little and still in her carseat carrier at restaurants I would always pull the canopy over to make sure nothing fell on her. I always imagined scalding hot food... but now I'm scared of knives too!

[LD92599]

Mariana:

That stinks! Glad to hear though that Gabe is OK...but still...! We were at our favorite (ie: once a week!) pizza place last weekend and the waitress handed DS a knife! WTF? She was NOT the usual waitress...if it was our first time there we wouldn't be going back!

Laura
mom to William
3.5.2003

http://homepage.mac.com/ld14m

[JElaineB]

OMG! I'm glad Gabe is ok! I haven't experienced too many waitstaff that are really good around babies, but laughing and not apologizing after dropping a knife on him is ridiculous!

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[lrucci]

I can't believe she laughed! What was she thinking? I would have felt horrible if I were her. I'm so glad that Gabe is alright.

I am so paranoid about something falling on dd when we go out to dinner. After reading your post, I'm sure my paranoia will get worse.

Lisa
Mom to Kyleigh 7/19/03

[pixelprincess]

Woh! My heart just stopped when I read the post. I am so glad Gabe is ok. What a nincompoooop!! I can't believe she laughed and didn't apologize.

I am so paranoid of our kitchen knives since Rowan hangs out with me while I cook.,,

[new_mommy25]

OMG, I am completly aghast. That is unbelievable and unacceptable. Especially since Gabe could have grabbed the knife and sliced his palm open. I am so so sorry, I know I owuld have been freaked out and peeved too. How scary.

[momathome]

Good lord, Mariana, that is horrible! I cannot believe she did not apologize to you - hopefully she has been fired. So glad to hear tht Gabe is okay.

[Marisa6826]

Good God!

That's exactly why we keep Sophie out of the line of "food delivery". It's one of Jonathan's biggest fears after having coffee almost spilled on her.

We don't even DRINK coffee!!! It was for another nearby table.

I'm glad you let the manager have it. It really surprises me on how little some of these servers take responsibility for.

I once had my cashmere coat on the back of my chair at a baby shower (thankfully lining side out) and a waiter spilled an entire bowl of crab bisque on it. Again, the soup wasn't even for me. I bitched enough that they offered to have it cleaned. That was it. Not an apology. Nothing.

Stupid girl.

-m

[Kieransmom]

Mariana that's so horrible!!!!!!! My blood boiled just reading your post. I too wanted to ring her neck. What an idiot!!!! And to respond by laughing it off?!?!?!?!?!? I hope they fired her!

Michelle
Mommy to Kieran, born 5/9/03

[bluej]

I cannot believe she freaking laughed! That's awful! She should have been fired on the spot. Not b/c she dropped a knife on a baby (well okay, maybe b/c of that), but b/c of her reaction. Talk about poor customer service! She needs a lesson in proper reactions and responses! Glad Gabriel was okay and unharmed.

[candybomiller]

Darn waitress is lucky you didn't deck her. That's absolutely unacceptable. I'm fuming for you.

[Sarah1]

O.........M................GGGGGGGGGGG!, Mariana!!!!!!!!!!

I am SO glad you said something to the manager. He could've had a much uglier situation on his hands!

The waitress was clearly a MORON. Hopefully she won't try to become a babysitter after she loses her job at Outback :P

I'm so glad Gabe is OK.

[jubilee]

I'm so glad Gabriel is okay!! You should have been given such an apology- I can't believe it.

Once I was at Old Chicago and the waitress dropped a pizza on my lap- it wasn't a big deal, but she was almost in tears that she had done that! And I got a free pizza and a gift certificate for my trouble. I just can't believe that waitress you had...

[jasabo]

OMG!!! ???? !!! She laughed?!? Who does that?!? My husband would have seriously had to hold me back at that point.

I'm glad Gabe is ok, and that you said something to the manager too!! That is just not right - I hope she doesn't have kids or if she does, she isn't so cavalier about them. Scary.

Lisa - mom to 1 yr old twin boys

[zen_bliss]

holy cats! i always ask for an out of the way table and seat baby in a corner, out of the line of fire of busy waitstaff for exactly the 'hot coffee' reasons. they just do not have baby radar at all and think nothing of swinging a heavy tray over highchairs. i could *almost* understand a nervous giggle of sheer mortification if followed by a profuse apology. you should not have had to explain to her why it was a big deal, and for her to try to debate you about it is unthinkable. the manager should definitely have been involved, good for you. this is so horrifying and could have turned out much worse. yikes!

[jd11365]

>OMG!!! ???? !!! She laughed?!? Who does that?!? My husband
>would have seriously had to hold me back at that point.

This is EXACTLY what I would have said. This also reminds me of the Today show naming The Melting Pot ( a fondue restaurant) as their #1 place to take kids. HELLO...HOT, BOILING OIL coming over my daughter's head???

Accident or not, laughing is just not what a normal human being would do after dropping a large steak knife on a baby! Personally, I'd hammer out a letter and send it to corporate offices.

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[cinrein]

OMG!!! I'm so glad Gabe is OK! What the heck is wrong with that waitress?! I'm glad the manager had some sense.

We are always in fear of something dropping on Anna, especially when the high chair ends up right in the path of the waitstaff. Lately we've been requesting a booth a using a booster--not fun with a 17 month old! Yesterday I was the one who had food dumped on me by Anna!

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[houseof3boys]

Yowza! I'm so glad that Gabriel is okay and I couldn't imagine how I would have reacted in that situation. I think rolling heads would have been involved though and I would have completely gone off on the waitress for not being overly apologetic for something like that.

Wow.

[american_mama]

So glad you talked to the manager and got a free meal, plus hopefully an apology from him and perhaps a forced apology from the waitress. I say that because it's good to complain when something unacceptable has occurred, especially when you are a paying customer. And, there is the off chance that the waitress actually got a message about the RIGHT way to act next time.

When I was 16 and working as a waitress for the first (and only) time, I once poured a refill of Coke into someone's iced tea, and I didn't do anything except apologize (i.e. didn't replace his drink). I didn't think I was ALLOWED to give him a replacement free iced tea! I think I wanted to charge him for a replacement. I was clueless and needed a manager to tell me what the standard was.

[deborah_r]

I'm glad Gabe is OK. Shortly after taking my first flight with Kai, I heard a news story (just a few weeks ago) about a flight attendant pushing the coffee cart down the aisle and it hit something and the coffee spilled on a baby and the baby had really serious burns (can't remember the degree).

So you all might want to add this to the list of fears and keep your kids near the window or in the middle seat of the middle aisle!