The phantom drink… By which I am not refering to the demon drink – that I can quite happilydeal with. Instead its the extra drink I received in a round last night which I could have sworn I had not ordered. A small discussion with the barmaid ensued, and she was a barmaid who we had generally been keeping on-side (well Tim had managed to charm her anyway – which is an interesting thing to watch in itself). I had not ordered the cider, I said – though admitted that the round was identical to one I got two hours previously which had involved the appley brew. Barmaid (bar manager possibly) then applied the sucker punch which was unbeatable: “I’m sober and you’ve been drinking all night”. Except I had not – definately – ordered that cider.
Anyway the customer is always right and she did not charge me for the pint, but I walked away apologising and trying to remember. I am not a forgetful drunk, and yet she was a thoroughly competant barmaid. In suppose the main reason to recount this story is to warn you if it ever happens to you, and also to show that whilst the customer is always right, in a pub that can take on slightly more argumentative proportions.