Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for November 03, 2023

It’s not the 1990’s. No one under 60 talks on their cellphones.

worth…every…penny!

Rat could say “I can’t taste anything. Will you taste the wine for me?” After ten customers, the waiter will start to get drunk.

He should have asked how much they charge for stuffing.

Where I live, people can’t go through a check out line in a store without their lousy phone in their face.

Rat is from Ireland?

If RAT is wrong about what corkage fees are, then just what in GOD’S name are they anyway?! Dan aka…

I had to look it up, but the definition said it was for the service of handling the bottle, which is obviously ridiculous. It’s a charge for not buying the wine from the restaurant.

Dang! There are times when I’d be tempted to pay that! Maybe get a group to pitch in so it was only $5 per person!

That’s why I never go to fancy shmancy restaurants. What the f***k is a corkage fee? Are they charging for the cork too???? What’s next? Table leg fee? “Do you want four legs or three legs?” Fortunately, the places where I go to eat have just one in the middle… and it wobbles… :D

I wonder if Rat drinks Champipple?

The corkage fee does not cover “whine.”

Corkage fee, Ha! My wine has a screw top, so there.

With Rat on this one.

Corkage fees, where you pay the restaurant for the wine you brought. Because I guess it’s really costly to wash those wine glasses.

Heh, heh, heh.

Is this a common occurrence? I cannot recall seeing this in a restaurant.

“A corkage fee is the cost restaurants charge to guests who bring their own bottle of wine to a restaurant, instead of ordering from the restaurant. Restaurants use corkage fees to allow guests to bring their own wine, while also charging them a small fee to do so.” – I’ll bring my own food too and say I was just there for the free ambiance.

I don’t think that’s what a corkage is for, although I will admit that sitting next to a chatterbox is really annoying.

What the heck is a ‘corkage fee’? (Not the rat variety, but I assume there is something called that for real.)

And he’s probably talking finance, and thinks he’s impressing everyone in the restaurant.

The waiter should do that for free.

The Count would suggest smacking Stevie Wonder up side the head with a bottle of Boones Farm, Vintage Tuesday.

You all need to cut back on your meds. It’s ALL bad. AND old people are just as bad. the volume is sooo high . You’re out to dinner and NONE of you are that important(doctor maybe) that can’t sit there, WITH YOUR PHONE ON MUTE and just enjoy your meal and let everyone else do the same. text with ALL sound OFF!

Years ago, in Florida, I was dining in a very nice restaurant when some self-important little twit decided that everyone in the place should have to listen to his cell phone rant. Before I could complain to a waiter, a gentleman at another table got up, walked over to the loudmouth, and took his phone away, telling him politely that he could get it back when he was leaving.

Not only did he leave the blabbermouth speechless, but he garnered a round of applause from the rest of the restaurant patrons and staff.

The phone jerk wasn’t about to argue since the man who took his phone was about 6’ 6" tall and probably weighed close to 300 lbs.

I won’t name names, but at the time, the large gentleman played football for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

https://www.merriam-webster.Com/dictionary/corkage

Would be nice if they were :D

…gonna need a bigger cork

There were also bottle clubs, which were lounges that did not have a liquor license, but were allowed to serve you your own liquor, if you brought it in from elsewhere.

Where’s the menu?

There are plenty who watch videos or sports games at max speaker volume though.

Some waiters just don’t know their duty when they see it.

Best take I heard is that people who constantly yak on their phones really aren’t talking to anybody, they’re just trying to make people think they have friends…

Pricey, but, like me, it takes time to filter out all the darned pieces.

Would have thought Rat would have put his own cork in that A hole.

Should they charge a “corkage” fee if one brings wine in a box?

Some people sure know how to talk. I was on a cross country flight the other day, and the two guys behind me started talking as soon as they sat down, and never let up the whole flight and continued to talk while off boarding.

Silence is sadly underrated.

If their corkage fee is $30, I’d hate to think what a bottle of wine costs.

But it Should Be!!!

Put in your earplugs. Pull on your eyeshades. You know where to put the cork.

Just because you CAN take a phone call anywhere, and at any time, doesn’t mean you should.

Would be great if that were a thing.

I have to say that I’m with Rat on this one.

Thanks for letting me know there’s an English word for “descorche”. One of the most abusive practices in restaurantes South of the Rio Grande.

I know, Rat! Isn’t it confusing? Never heard of “corkage” in my sheltered life until I got to college….

I gotta say I sympathize with Rat for a change.