White Gravy... please?

So, Jared and I went out to dinner Saturday at the Cracker Barrel. I'd never been there before, but Jared had been on business once. Anyway, what an experience it was. We were seated immediately and our waiter approached to ask us for drink requests. Immediately it was apparent that he didn't have the usual confidence and poise of an experienced waiter. Five minutes went by and the manager came by to ask us if we'd been helped... yes. Jared decided to order Country Fried Shrimp with Mashed Potatoes & white gravy, fried ochra, and coleslaw. I ordered Chicken Fried Chicken with , Mashed Potatoes & white gravy, a tossed salad with ranch on the side, and applesauce (for Garrett). The waiter asked us to repeat our orders two times because he just couldn't remember - even though he was writing things down. The waiter asked us about three additional times what kind of gravy we had requested in those few moments while writing down our order. He left, then came back a few minutes later to verify once again what kind of gravy...

When our meals were brought mine was correct, except I had brown gravy on my potatoes. Jared's was all incorrect except for his fried ochra. They brought him Chicken Fried Steak (instead of shrimp), brown gravy on potatoes, and a dollop of coleslaw - seriously a one inch scoop. Fifteen minutes later, they brought Jared his corrected plate again with brown gravy and this time with no coleslaw! The manager came by to apologize and mentioned that we could order dessert for free. He noticed that no dipping sauce had been provided for Jared's shrimp and asked if he'd like some cocktail sauce. The manager seemed to finish the job of serving and refilling drinks - he brought corrected potatoes with white gravy, a side of coleslaw for Jared, etc. Jared's meal ended up being complimentary along with our Apple Dumpling dessert. So for all of that food we only paid $10 - what a deal! Luckily we were able to see the humor in the situation while we were there and just laughed the whole way through.

It became even more obvious toward the end that this must have been one of our waiter's first nights on the job. The "regular" waiters had their names stitched on their aprons... ours said "Rising Star." As we were waiting for our check I saw him approach a couple that had recently sat down to give them a glass of Dr. Pepper. The woman looked up at him and said, "We haven't ordered drinks yet." I busted up laughing. I hope he finds more success soon or is able to find something that better suits him.