I fell down in a restaurant last night.

[gatorsmom]

I just need to get this out. I'm so tired and uncomfortable at 36 weeks with twins, that most of my usual personality is subdued. But this made me mad and really upset. You know, I don't go out much as it is because I'm just fed up with all the stares and intrusive comments about my pregnancy. Frankly, it makes me very self conscious.

But, since I'm having my c/s next week and will be coming home with twins, my husband and I knew that last night would be our final hurrah for quite a while. so, he decided to take me to a really nice restaurant. It was a 4 or 5 star restaurant in downtown St. Paul. Basically, this is what happened:

Our water glasses were filled once.
My husband's steak wasn't done as he asked and the waitress waited until we were nearly done eating to see if everything was ok. My husband would have sent it back to be better cooked, but since we could never find our waitress, he just ate around the steak and filled up on the side dishes.
I finished my bottle of water and was never offered another. My husband wasn't offered another drink either.
We ordered dessert and mine wasn't warm (as promised on the menu). Not a big deal I would have sent it back to be heated (it was bread pudding- you just gotta have that heated, kwim?) but she didn't come back to our table. We couldn't even SEE her helping other diners. I tried to just pick at it til she came back when I could ask her to reheat it but I was 2/3 done with it and my husband was finished with his dessert by the time I got her attention. When she asked how it was, I said it would have been better heated. To which she replied, "oh, it wasn't? That's too bad." Um, yeah since we paid $8.50 for that dang bread pudding!!! (I didn't say that).

The manager did agree to comp the cost of my husband's entree since he didn't eat his steak. So, when the bill came, we gave the waitress a 15% tip based on the final total bill. We would have given her a tip based on what the bill would have been with my husband's entree charged on there, but we just didn't feel she did a very good job. She just never seemed particularly concerned about us.

To add injury to insult, I needed to use the restroom as we were leaving. And the only way to get there is to pass the kitchen area on a heavily traveled walkway with big floor rugs everywhere. Since I'm so pregnant I always walk slowly and carefully. but it didn't matter - the floor under one of those rugs was wet and the rug slipped out from under me. Down I went pulling a groin muscle and embarrassing me to death. My husband picked me up and I said I was ok and hurried into the bathroom and cried. I was just so embarrassed. My husband said that while he was waiting for me the waitress came up to him and made a rude comment about the tip- something about being disappointed. I came out of the bathroom and we just wanted to leave. But some assistant manager came running up to us and asked us to wait a minute. She seemed very concerned- that we wouldn't sue. She asked if she could call me a doctor. She asked i I had other children, and then she said, "oh, you've been through this before so you know what your body can handle." She gushed about the twins and went on and on about her own children (I'm sure i looked miserable at that point- why couldn't she just have shut up?) so we got up and said we wanted to leave. She said, no, just let me get the manager to talk to you. So, we are sitting there in the doorway waiting for the manager. Basically she asked the same crap: are you hurt? do you need a doctor? What happened? It would have been nice to have her offer to comp our bill SINCE IT WAS THEir WATER ON THE FLOOR THAT CAUSED ME TO SLIP. She didn't even apologize for that. She said, "I'm not the one who put the water on the floor." Stupid wench.

So, if you are ever in St. Paul, Minnesota, DO NOT EAT AT KINCAID'S.

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005
and surprise! twins due 11/07!

[Jenn98]

I would have been so upset, and I surely would have raised a bigger stink than you did - they're lucky it wasn't me! That said, I can totally understand why you just wanted to get out of there.

I fell during my second pregnancy and separated my pelvis. I'll spare the excruciating details, but I did see a chiropractor for the first time after I fell and it was amazingly helpful. I even saw her a few times after delivery to help realign (sp?) everything. All this to say that you may find yourself needing to be looked at from the fall. I hope not, but don't be afraid to if you are in pain!

And hang in there! You've done so well for so long and the end is right around the corner!!

[trumansmom]

Yikes! I would write them a letter outlining exactly what you wrote here. There is nothing okay about how *any* of them reacted. And I can't believe the nerve of that waitress! That's something that needs to be told to a manager as well.

Grrrr... I'm in the Twin Cities fairly regularly. I guess I know where I won't be going!

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04

[gatorsmom]

This might sound like a silly question, but how did you know that you separated your pelvis? Where did it hurt? I guess I'm wondering because this "pulled muscle" really does hurt but I'm wondering if I should just give it time to heal or if I should talk to my OBGYN about it in case it's something worse. The problem is, that I won't have time to see him in his office before my c/section (which is this coming Wednesday!!) Maybe I'll just wait and see how i feel.

[LarsMal]

Oh my gosh, Lisa, what a horrible night! There are so many things that suck about your last date night pre-babies. A bad food experience at a nice restaurant is always disappointing, but I cannot believe the waitress had the nerve to make a comment about her tip to your husband! Did he say anything to her? Mine wouldn't have, but if it had been me, and I was 37 weeks pg- with twins- she'd have been the one crying by the time I was done with her- the managers, too!

I hope you are feeling okay. Have your DH go out tonight and get you dinner and a sweet treat that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home. At least you know you can make it to your own bathroom safely!

Big HUGS! I hope your last few days go smoothly!

-J

[bubbaray]

Awww, that sucks!! :(

Um, however, did you go get checked?? My peri told me at that stage of my PGys, if I fell, to go into triage if after office hours (or call his office on an urgent basis if during) and get checked.

Hope you are OK.

BTW, I would have left a penny tip after that.


Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[kristenk]

Write a letter. All of the things that happened are really inexcusable. Especially the park about her not being the one who put the water on the floor. Grrrrrr...

[kozachka]

Lisa,

I am sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. You should call your doctor and let him/her know that you fell and that you hurt. You might need to see him/her earlier than Wednesday.

And as far as the restaurant goes, I would write them a letter and say how disappointed you were. Make sure to mention you still hurt from the fall that occured due to the restaurant's negligence. And if it were me, I am not sure I would have left the tip at all. You are not obliged to tip, it's something you do to that waiting staff for good or at least acceptable service. The service you got was absolutely not acceptable IMO.

Hope things go smoothly on Wednesday.

[gatorsmom]

A different manager from the restaurant called me today and apologized for 10 minutes, promised to follow up on this to make sure nothing like that ever happens again, and assured me she was going to send a gift certificate. She assured me that this terrible incident was NOT what Kincaid's was about and that none of this was excusible. She was really very kind and made me feel like someone cared. Oh well.

I think I might have to call the doctor's office on Monday because the groin pain radiates up to my stomach when I walk. Makes me a little nervous.

Thank you, you guys for all your support and kind words. I really, really appreciate it. These days are soooo hard to get through.

Lisa
mom to Gator 03
mom to Cha Cha 05
and surprise! twins 11/07

[LarsMal]

I'm glad to hear that the manager called you to try to make things right. It doesn't change the experience you had, but now you have a dinner to look forward to when you can break away from the twins for a couple hours!

Do you have an on-call doctor you can call? I know they are usually meant for "emergencies" or labor, but a fall is pretty serious, especially if you are in that much pain. There might not be a whole lot they can do besides have you meet them at the hospital for some tests, but it might give you peace of mind to at least talk to the doctor and explain the situation. I probably would've called last night, but I'm a completely neurotic freak, so maybe I'm not the one to give advice!!!

Keep us posted.