Source: Not Always Right
I’m having some drinks with friends in a small, local pub. My cider comes in a very pretty, engraved glass, which I accidentally knock over and break during the evening. There was barely any drink left in it.
Me: *Waving to a waitress* “Excuse me? I broke my glass.”
Waitress: “Oh, I’ll get you a new pint.”
Me: “No, I’d just like a towel or something to clean this up; I don’t want to get small bits of glass everywhere.”
Waitress: “Don’t worry; I’ll get you a new pint. On the house.”
Me: “But I was already finished. I just want to clean up the mess I made.”
The waitress is looking at me somewhat dumbfounded.
Waitress: “You don’t want a new drink?”
Me: “Not necessarily. I might order one later on. I just want to clean the table.”
I do drink some more pints, and when it’s time to pay:
Me: “And how much was the glass I broke?”
Waitress: “Your pint was 3,80€.”
Me: “Yes, I had three pints, but I also broke a glass.”
The waitress looks confused.
Me: “I’d like to pay for the glass I broke. They look pretty expensive as a special edition.”
Waitress: “You want to pay… for a broken glass?”
Me: “Well, it’s a loss on your side, isn’t it? I should make up for it.”
The waitress had to go and ask the barkeeper, who’d been watching us for a while. He actually gave me one of the glasses as a gift for being a nice patron. Kind of the opposite of what I wanted to do, but I sure love my pretty pint glass!
