I eat at the Outback Steakhouse, Taipei Asia World, on the corner of Dunhua and Nanking in Taipei, three or four times a month. I normally order a lunch set. Sometimes, I change the offered beverage (which is coffee, tea or a cola) for a beer. I pay a little more money for that, but figure it's worth it, especially on a long and tiring Friday. In the past, the waiter or waitress has said I could proceed in such a manner. I say: "Give me a cold Foster's draft to get me home" and they bring it round, adding NT$40 to my bill. Today, when I ordered Outback's fish and chips set, I asked the waitress if I could get a beer instead of a soda, and pay the difference.
To my surprise, my waitress told me "It's impossible" or "I won't help you." Actually, she was speaking Chinese and she said: 沒有辦法. This means what I have just said. Then she made an excuse that Outback Taiwan has a new menu, so it's strictly 沒有辦法 on requests for service.
I don't agree that if you're a waiter or waitress, you should say 沒有辦法 because, frankly speaking, it's very bad service. So, I simply got up and said to the waitress: 我不喜歡沒有辦法的餐館 or "I don't like restaurants that affirm providing a normal dose of service is quite impossible." Then I went next door and ate lunch at IKEA. I ordered roast beef and mashed potatoes, with mushroom gravy. I also had a bottle of Swedish beer.
To my surprise, my waitress told me "It's impossible" or "I won't help you." Actually, she was speaking Chinese and she said: 沒有辦法. This means what I have just said. Then she made an excuse that Outback Taiwan has a new menu, so it's strictly 沒有辦法 on requests for service.
I don't agree that if you're a waiter or waitress, you should say 沒有辦法 because, frankly speaking, it's very bad service. So, I simply got up and said to the waitress: 我不喜歡沒有辦法的餐館 or "I don't like restaurants that affirm providing a normal dose of service is quite impossible." Then I went next door and ate lunch at IKEA. I ordered roast beef and mashed potatoes, with mushroom gravy. I also had a bottle of Swedish beer.
I have decided to start outing companies providing 沒有辦法 service. Here's my first out.
