Waitress slammed for secretly serving alcohol-free drinks to a woman she believed was pregnant
A WAITRESS has been slammed for secretly serving alcohol-free cocktails to a woman she believed was pregnant.
The server brought several rounds of virgin drinks to the customer over the course of her shift - despite her ordering booze.
She claimed to have overheard the customer discussing being pregnant to her pals.
And she then coaxed the bartender into mixing only virgin cocktails for the woman without telling her.
That's despite her never confirming that the customer was actually pregnant.
The waitress told her story on Reddit - where she was only identified by her username YouGottaStopThat.
She wrote: "I have waited tables for the last three years.
"During my shift last night, a group of four women in their late 20s came in.
"They were a pleasure to have as customers.
"They ordered four of our house cocktails to start with and then went over the menu for their entrees.
I went to the bartender and asked him to make one of them a virgin cocktail
“When I was on my way back to their booth with the drinks on a tray, I walked by the backside and overheard one of them talking about how she was 14 weeks along.
“When I rounded back, they were talking about the same topic and it was clear to me that she was pregnant.
“About five minutes later, they called me over again and asked for another round.
“At this point, I started getting concerned, but I took the order and cheerfully said I'd be right back.
"This time, I went to the bartender and asked him to make one of them a virgin cocktail.
"He was confused but since he's a good friend of mine, I told him to just trust me.”
Harming the unborn: What is Foetal Alcohol Syndrome?
FOETAL Alcohol Syndrome is the name for a series of mental and physical problems caused to a baby in the womb by the mother's drinking during pregnancy.
Alcohol in the mother's blood passes to her baby through the placenta - which the baby struggles to process.
This means it can damage cells in their brain, spinal cord and other parts of their body.
It can also disrupt their development in the womb.
A baby exposed to alcohol in the womb may have:
- A head that's smaller than average
- Poor growth
- Distinctive facial features
- Movement and co-ordination problems
- Learning difficulties
- Mood, attention or behavioural problems
- Organ problems
- Hearing and vision problems
Source: NHS
The group then continued ordering drinks - with the waiter secretly serving virgin cocktails to the apparently pregnant woman.
She added: “A few cocktails later (hers strictly virgin) they started getting rowdy, and Mrs. Pregnant Woman was also getting into it.
“I figured that since she didn't notice, things were OK.
"The problem came when I took them their check, and they asked to split the bill at the register.
"When Mrs. Pregnant Woman got to the counter, I saw her cocktails were marked with (virgin).
"My bartender had edited each in the system for inventory.
“It was too late for me to edit them back, so I just had her pay, hoping that she wouldn't look at the receipt.”
DEMANDED TIP BACK
Initially, the customers didn't notice the different drinks and they left generous tips.
But the allegedly pregnant woman returned to the restaurant minutes later to ask why "virgin" appeared next to her drinks on the receipt.
The waitress added: "I fessed up that it meant non-alcoholic.
"She 'blank stared' me for a few seconds and then asked if she had ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail.
"I said no, but told her that I assumed she wanted one seeing as she was pregnant.”
The woman then demanded her part of the tip back and spoke to the manager - who then blasted the employee.
My manager took me into her office and literally shrieked at me until hoarse
She added: "My manager took me into her office and literally shrieked at me until hoarse.”
“I stood my ground and told her that I'm not going to be responsible for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome."
The waitress now fears she could face discrimination charges and is considering quitting her job.
Reddit users agreed that a pregnant woman should not be drinking alcohol - but slammed the waitress for not serving what the customer ordered.
And they were baffled that the server didn't confirm if the woman really was expecting.
One angry reader wrote: "She could have been telling a story about something else completely that happened when she WAS 14 weeks along (‘so, there I was in the middle of a board meeting, I'm 14 weeks pregnant and sick as a dog’)".
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
Another replied: "The response is to tell her that you are not comfortable serving alcohol to someone that is pregnant and go ask your manager to take over the situation."
And a third wrote: “While it was a good thing to not serve her alcohol they should have sucked it up and said it to their face that she wasn't going to be served.
“Right to refuse service and all that but they handled it very poorly.”
Drinking mums: Countries with the most boozing during pregnancy
TOP 5 countries for alcohol consumption at any point during pregnancy are:
1. Ireland: 60.4%
2. Belarus: 46.6%
3. Denmark: 45.8%
4. UK: 41.3%
5. Russia: 36.5%
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