It was the best of wines, it was the wurst of wines
To thank all the instructors on the IFC and OWI course, a gala dinner was arranged with free flowing wine and food. It started off as expected with the extensive wine selection being hammered at a terrific pace. The food not so. An hour in and the crusty bread arrived. After this Russian Roulette bread, which involved the risk of breaking teeth choosing yesterdays slice, we waited some more. Further wine was consumed and after an hour and half the starters arrived.
More wine and stimulating conversations and time just flew by. Except several people were suffering malnutrition by this stage. Questions were asked on the source of the food, if the selection from the menu required a tin opener or the hunting down chicken of the drain/kennel. More wine and the questions began in earnest; so Maitre d’hotel, that food so elegantly described on your abridged menu, where is it?
“If several of the guests do not receive food, their blood sugar levels drop and they start talking gibberish, these grey haired gentleman in particular. Others leave suddenly for ferries after a panicked look at their watch - Merde, bye… We even have a Member who will spontaneously urinate in unusual locations. Some need to be back in their high security nursing homes by curfew, others loose the use of their limbs and eventually bodily functions. Now whilst we are a carefree and amicable bunch, 3 hours of drinking and a few bites of a nouveau cuisine prawn is likely to result in a high level of intoxication. So My good man, when is the food coming? And Knock of the poor French accent, I am Canadian and do not like it. Look at her, she is fixated on sausage, and it is all your fault. No we don't want more crusty bread or a selection of pumped beer. Ou est le food? You even have me at it now. Is that French time, or are you making it up as you go along?”
Photo Credit: CrisR... Vintage place with vintage photos... and lack of photo skills!
We left. Luckily we were able to satisfy several people with sausage, but the wine had taken its toll. Despite the service from hell, we had a great night and adapted to the situation with more alcohol and some of Germany’s finest Wurst. Thank you instructors for organizing the training and thank you Nicky for organizing a fantastic evening.