I’ve always liked Kapampangan food. I never had bad things to say about any Kapampangan restaurants until recently, during the TriNoMa Blogger Food Tour. I cannot speak for the other bloggers who were in my group, but I will speak based on my own experience. I have been working for a service industry for more than three years now and I know that customers should be treated well, if not that well, at least they must be treated with some dignity and respect.

Inside the Cabalen branch at TriNoMa, I felt like my dignity was trampled upon by no less than their manager named Anne. At least that’s what she told me she was. The blogger food tour was supposed to be fun and the participants were expected to learn more about the restaurants, their food and the whole dining experience. So I was expecting that all the partner establishments of the tour were gonna treat us well. I did not want special treatment, all I wanted was decent treatment.

In most of the establishments that we went to during the tour, the managers and staff welcomed us with smiles on their faces and they were very accommodating. I noticed that some of them went the extra mile just so we would feel special (and probably write good stuff about them). And yes, if you treat us well and we truly, honestly love what you offer, we will write good stuff about you.

But we will not write good stuff about Cabalen. The experience was so bad I wanted to make a scene. However, thanks to the previous restaurants we’ve visited, my stomach was no longer grumbling and the bugnuting bakla in me decided to keep cool.

I have never been treated so badly in an establishment the way I was treated, by no less than the manager, in Cabalen. Here’s what transpired based on my own recollection:

When we went in, we were welcomed by an almost-empty restaurant with no wait staff nor other staff i sight. I saw a woman at a table on a corner with what seemed like tons of paperwork. She saw me and the other bloggers I was with but she stayed put until I called her attention with a courteous smile and a friendly “hi.”. When the woman finally approached me, I told her courteously that we were there for the Blogger Food Tour.

She gave me a look and replied with a very dismissive “ok.” She proceeded to the buffet table full of what seemed like very delectable dishes. I knew they were good since I have dined at Cabalen (not the TriNoMa branch) on more than one occasion in my lifetime. In a very unfriendly tone, the woman quipped: “You can only taste 3 dishes: kare-kare, lechon and sisig.” I told her that was fine with me and initially thought that she was leading me to the area where all the three dishes were placed. But to my dismay, I only recognized the kare-kare and didn’t see the lechon nor the sisig anywhere near it. I politely asked her where the lechon and sisig were and she led me to the corner close to the kitchen door.

Noticing that she was quite beleaguered (or should I say bewildered?), I tried engaging her in conversation. My experience working with bar and restaurant owners and staff has taught me that sometimes, even if you are the customer, it is okay to make the first move and start something. I wanted to know more about the store and the food they served us. I wanted her to tell me, like how the other managers of the other establishments told me, why their food is the best and why they have been in business for a long time.

But she didn’t. Instead, I felt an air of arrogance, as if she was telling me that she was too important to be bothered by people who were there just for the free food. I let it pass. Strike two, I said to myself. I asked for her name , and she said it was Ann (or Anne?). I told her I presumed she was the manager to which she replied in the affirmative. I thought that was the end of it and that strike three wouldn’t come.

But no! She did a third strike. The only people who knew that only three dishes were part of the blogger food tour were I and some of the bloggers who went in together with me. Those who came in after we have started eating were not welcomed nor given an orientation about the dishes. There were numerous dishes on display at the buffet table, so it was natural for someone to try out the things that look the most appealing to them. I overheard her talking rudely to some of the bloggers, saying that only three dishes were part of the tour. Some of those who have already gotten items not part of the three had to put the food back onto the serving plates. The others, after some discussion, were allowed to consume the food they have already put on their plates.

This may seem very trivial but I was really offended by how I and the others were treated. I felt like I was dirt. I felt like a beggar being shooed away and told that beggars can’t be choosers. I am not a beggar as I’m sure the other bloggers aren’t. i know some of them are students and some of them are professionals. I will not use a personal attack on her even if she treated my person so badly. I felt really low. Parang tinapakan at inginudngod sa putik ang aking pagkatao. I wanted to confront her but I did not want to make a scene. Such unprofessional behavior should never be displayed in front of customers. We may have eaten for free, but that does not give her the right to treat us the way she did.

After consuming the minimal amount of food on my plate, I headed to La Maison where I was treated in a completely different way. Ann should learn a lesson or two from the management of La Maison who were very welcoming, accommodating and professional. They engaged us in conversation and made sure we enjoyed not only the food but the whole experience of dining with them. it was at that point when I wanted to go back to Cabalen and offer to pay for what we consumed — free or not.

But my other self reminded me to just keep it cool and let it go. Besides, I can always blog about it!

May this serve as a lesson for those working in the service industry: That no matter what type of customers you have, that even if they are dining for free, and even if they do not look as if they are able to pay for the food or cannot afford your food, treat them with respect and never trample on their dignity. I hope that Ann learns a lesson from this and I hope her superiors will give her proper coaching and train her well. I am not calling for a boycott of the establishment and it is not my intention to get her fired. All I want is for her to learn her lesson and gain more professional experience in her capacity as a manager.

But above it all, I just want to be treated with respect. Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?

[LinkLove will be updated every so often]

Read related blog entries from around the blogosphere:

1. Bakla Goes to the Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
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3. Live Blogging During the Trinoma Food Tour
4. Restaurants at Trinoma
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