Ok, a couple'a stories here... — 2 years ago
Story #1:
Not too long ago, a good friend of mine went here and had a meal with some other friends. He had this cell phone that allowed him to draw things. He decided to draw a rather controversial symbol surrounded by hearts. My friend in question would never, ever support the sentiment behind the symbol, nor would I—we’ve been to each other’s pads, and we’ve been friends for years, and we’re simply not about that at all. Anyway, as he leaves Beth’s, he forgets his cell phone there, with the drawing visible to whoever was working there who saved it. Perhaps a bit awkward..
However, hooo boy, the trouble my friend got in when he tried to get his phone back. In a nutshell, Beth’s Cafe staff pretty much had a preconception about what my friend was, based on that little cell phone drawing. My friend explained that it was just a drawing and nothing more. Beth’s cafe apparently kept on lashing out the insults. They had made up their mind that my friend was what they thought he was, and they weren’t going to give him his cell phone back at all, no matter what he said.
This is really uncool. It’s one thing for a restaurant to refuse to service anyone they want, because that’s their right. It’s another to find out after the fact, and then refuse to give back a former patron’s property upon his/her request. That becomes theft after that. It doesn’t matter what the restaurant thinks of the patron at that point.
The ironic thing was that my friend and I are very much politically in sync with Beth’s Cafe staff, at least inducing from this incident, but the stubbornness of Beth’s Cafe in this instance just prevents me from wanting to help them out anymore. This was beneath high school level tactics, really.
Story #2 (which is definitely funnier and caused no hard feelings at all):
Around four years ago, many friends of mine descend up Beth’s for an late-night meal after a house party. One of our friends is very drunk… drunk to the point of.. well, let’s just say that the staff had to provide him a bucket. I was lucky enough to have to sit next to him. Everytime the staff walked by, they all happily cheered “it’s BUCKET BOY!” Of course, all of us were LOLing.
At one point, one of the waitresses decides to make a “public announcement”. She yells out loud, “May I have your attention, please! In honor of Bucket Boy, we’ve decided to dedicate a very special song… we hope you will all enjoy it” and dashes off.
The song that comes on the very vintage seven-inch vinyl jukebox is the Tommorrowland version (i.e. disco version) of “Zippity-do-dah”. My friends and I lose it. Bucketboy loses it even more, but in a different way. Definitely an unforgettable moment.
THE MORAL:
Oh yeah, well first the food. Well, Beth’s is very much a 24-hour greasy-spoon dining experience and is proud of it. A single omelette can contain a single carton of eggs if you wish. So, if you can deal with that, then dig in!
But I’d advise that you never leave your cell phone behind there, especially if it contains any controversial imagery, because you may never get it back.
Also, I wouldn’t go there if you’re that drunk. :)
