Barmaid fired for ‘intruding’ into patron’s nyama choma meal

A barmaid who was fond of inviting herself to feast on patrons’ nyama choma at a popular entertainment joint in Nyeri County was recently fired after a client refused to settle the full bill.

The lady was unceremoniously relieved of her duties after the customer caused a ruckus, claiming he had not enjoyed his roast meat. The customer said he was only ready to pay half the bill and called the barmaid to share the bill with him, seeing as she had also enjoyed the meal.

The man had swaggered into the establishment, which serves both roast meat and beer and made an order of a quarter kilo of roast meat. 

It is alleged that the barmaid had the habit of befriending drinking patrons known to regularly order meat at the pub, and had been sating her appetite on their delicious nyama choma.

The ‘management’ of the eatery frowns upon such behaviour, and constantly warns its staff, including the “chefs”, against inconveniencing customers in whatever way.

So news that a customer had complained that almost more than half of his nyama choma had been eaten by the barmaid, rubbed the ‘management’ the wrong way. They reacted in fury and immediately sent the bar maid packing.

“Nii ona ndingikorwo ndaria nyama nanga tucunji twiri. Thani yakithambio ta kubucia kwa ritho (I think I have not taken more than two pieces. Within a split second the whole plate had been swept clean),” complained the customer, arousing  uproarious laughter in the bar.

So greedily

Asked about the allegations levelled against her, the barmaid claimed she had been welcomed to the table by the customer.

“Akiwe unjirire ndimuteithiririe kuria (He is the one who invited me to help him eat the meat),” she claimed, causing another  round of laughter in the packed bar.

But the customer denied welcoming the barmaid to his table, and instead claimed the latter had intruded into his table by making unwarranted contributions to his conversations with other patrons.

“Is it that you do not feed your workers well? She ate so greedily. I was left wondering when she last had a meal!” teased the customer.

Other customers at the bar got sucked into the conversation and started making derogatory statements on other barmaids who had the same habit.

Urgent meeting

One claimed he had even stopped buying meat at the bar, fearing he might end up eating nothing, thanks to the barmaids’ habit of raiding one’s platter with impunity.

Piqued by the humiliation she had suffered in the packed bar, the troubled barmaid pleaded with the ‘management’ to deduct the bill from her salary at the end of the month.

Unfortunately, the ‘management’ would hear none of it. They fired her.

Before normal operations resumed, the ‘management’ called all the bartenders and “chefs” for an urgent meeting where stern warnings were issued.

Bartenders were warned against coning patrons and “chefs” against “tasting” clients’ food, something they are allegedly fond of, for it compromises the quantity of food.