The vegetarian meal

There were several waitresses in a big restaurant. Many people were eating and the waitresses were very, very busy. A gentleman sat down to eat. He was a vegetarian. After looking at the menu he asked the waitress, “Do you have any vegetarian dishes?”

She answered, “Yes, we do have vegetarian food.”

So he ordered a vegetable salad, green peas and a few other things — all vegetables. It hardly came to three dollars’ worth.

The waitress was so brilliant; she was not bringing the order. If it had been a big order, she would have served the man sooner. But this small order was taking so much time. The man was getting annoyed. The people who ate meat were all getting their orders — even those who came into the restaurant after him. But his order was not coming.

Finally the man said, “All right,” and started reading the newspaper and enjoying himself. All of a sudden the waitress came and put the food on the table. The man was engrossed in something very interesting in the newspaper, and he didn’t notice the food. So the waitress came and said, “Previously you were insisting that I bring the food more quickly. Now why are you not eating?”

The man said, “I am so sorry.” The newspaper had been covering the food. When the man put down the newspaper, he saw that it was all meat. He started looking for his waitress, and with greatest difficulty he found her. He was mad. He said, “I told you to give me vegetables. Now you have given me meat. I never eat meat.”

The waitress said, “Please don’t shout. I will rectify it. Let me see my order pad and find where I made the mistake. Your table is number 42. Let me see what I have written down for table 42.”

On the page for table 42 she quickly wrote down all the meat items that she had brought him and said, “Look, these are the things you ordered.” She went to the manager and said, “This man first asked me for vegetarian food. Then all of a sudden he changed his mind and asked for meat dishes. I wrote them down. Now that I have brought the meat dishes, he has changed his mind and he is insisting on the first order.”

The customer got furious. He threw a twenty dollar bill on the table and left the restaurant.