Don't you know who I am

"Don't you know who I am. ", I heard the guy at the table next to us tell the waiter. The guy was clearly irritated. But the phrase - don't you know who I am - is something that I am rather getting used to. It seems that everybody in Delhi is a somebody. And this guy definitely thought he was. So much so, that not only the waiter knew who he was but so did the rest of us at the restaurant. As he screamed, " You know that I am the head of a large investment bank in Delhi and I am not going to take this shit... how dare you .. how dare you overcharge me. I am not going to pay for this. " And after which, he started swearing at both Manager and the staff. Wow. Ok .. the stress levels of the market are getting to everyone .. but chill man .. but we were all enjoying the tamasha that he had created. I feel sorry for the poor girl that was with him, she must have been his wife.



But the fun for all of us continued. The manager was not one to cave in and demanded payment of the bill and if the man said another "galle" (swear word) - he would call the police. Things were really getting out of hand. All of a sudden our table was swarmed with 8 -10 waiters providing air cover. We were sitting outdoors and really were enjoying a nice calm evening. But this free entertainment, was quite riveting.



Shocking to me was that the manager was just not trying to get this beligerent banker out of the restaurant as fast as he could. But he too has playing the macho male. Let it go man, let it go. I think that the bill was for what - two beers - ok .. a whole Rs 500 ( aka $10) .. and for that the manager was fighting with the banker. Poor Customer Service. And even worse training for the staff. They did not seem composed at all to handle such a situation. And so the staff continued to escalate the fun.



The manager decided to take things a step further. "You will not leave till you pay this bill and I will also report you to the POLICE. You deal with them." And then he left - telling his staff not to let this guy leave. Oh boy is all I could say. The banker clearly had anger issues - and - I would not have been surprised if he lept up at the other tables at what we were looking at.



The banker was also in no hurry to leave and was on the phone calling God knows whom. I guess the list of the other who's who of Delhi. His wife sitting prettily was just tapping away on her iPhone. I guess she was used to this by now.



It was apparent that the restaurant was at fault. The banker had ordered a Kingfisher beer which was Rs 199 but was charged for a premium beer. Ok, big deal - I guess the banker had suffered much losses and hence an extra charge was the tipping point of his rage. I am just making that up - since we are all at the edge of the seat given the financial turmoil in the market these days. India has not been immune to it. Actually, the Indian index, the Sensex, has fallen almost 40 -50% from its highs. Many, many people have lost lots and lots of money.



But I have digressed, and now the Manager is back with the Police Officer. We all at our table laugh. Ofcourse the police officer is in cohoots with the Manager - they must go through this everyday. "What is your problem?" , asks the Police Officer to the irritated banker... " Nothing", says the banker, "nothing at all, but I refuse to pay more than what is the listed price on the menu for my drink."



" But then why did you swear at the poor fellow - he was just trying to do his job"... continues the Police officer. The back and forth continues between the police officer and the banker... and now we are all intrigued - at how long will both of these continue this. The Police starts to say that he will file a report against the banker. But the banker seems unphased by this. "Go ahead," the banker replies.



But the banker then tells the Police officer "that he too will file a report." A report since it is banned to serve liquor outdoors which apparently is happening in full view of the officer, and who has not done anything about that. I guess that the banker had a trump in his cards after all.

Now , now .. I guess how much will this cost the restaurant. I doubt that they will stop serving liquor outdoors - the question is how much will they have to pay. All I have to say, is the look on the officer's face was priceless and so was the glee in the bankers eye!