# You're sick? Well, I'm a self-entitled bitch! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 16, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374 "2010-08-16T01:44:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/21 "2010-08-16T17:09:32Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > The issue is this other woman’s greed and rudeness, most of all in making this case while the crisis was still in progress, and somebody else was clearly suffering a lot more. > > If you read my post, I acknowledged that she was crass for having spoke up so soon. However, there is more than one issue here because even though the SEB was crass, she DID, indeed, have a valid complaint. And if you read mine, you’d see that I agree. > [@spark240](#): > > I happen to feel that restaurants _are_ responsible at a certain level for the whole experience, and that in some cases it _is_ appropriate for them to attempt to make amends even for things that aren’t strictly their fault. > [@PunditLisa](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > Of course, and _everybody_ knows that, so there’s no point to saying it. > > Maybe we should install a spark240 filter so that we know whether what we say passes your relevance test. :rolleyes: Here I think you’re misunderstanding. I’m not criticizing **Diosa** for agreeing with you and I and, I think, everyone else that it’s unpleasant to have vomiting in the vicinity of dinner. I’m saying that _because_ we all agree on that, _the woman in the OP story_ didn’t need to say it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/22 "2010-08-16T17:36:38Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Here I think you’re misunderstanding. I’m not criticizing **Diosa** for agreeing with you and I and, I think, everyone else that it’s unpleasant to have vomiting in the vicinity of dinner. I’m saying that _because_ we all agree on that, _the woman in the OP story_ didn’t need to say it. I apologize for the misunderstanding. However, I still disagree that the SEB didn’t _have_ to vocalize her distress. She was eating dinner and someone barfed in front of her. I’d say she has a right to voice her distress. My only issue with the woman is her timing. Because had she waited an appropriate amount of time and THEN not received a vociferous apology and something (from a free round of drinks up to a fully comped meal, depending on the stage of the meal), then I daresay I would have sided with her. That’s simply good PR. Even though the restaurant did nothing wrong, they are in a service industry and making their patrons happy is what will bring them back in. It reminds me of a complaint that was posted on FlyerTalk from a Delta patron who was flying on a plane with another passenger who’d brought his/her service dog. The dog had an unfortunate case of diarrhea an hour before landing. Was it Delta’s fault? No. Was it the owner’s fault? No. Was it the dog’s fault? No. It was no one’s fault. However, as the provider of the service, it would have been good PR on Delta’s part to compensate the passengers who had to endure the smell of diarrhea for an hour with SOMETHING, even if it was just an apology and free packet of peanuts. Well, maybe not peanuts. As it was, they did nothing – not even shout out an apology – and the passenger was, IMO, _justifiably_ angry. ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/23 "2010-08-16T17:55:34Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > The SRB should be ashamed of herself for her bad manners. But I do have sympathy for the patrons whose meals were ruined by having your SIL vomit in front of them. Not that that excuses the SBP’s crappy timing, but come on. Having someone vomit in front of you is disgusting, so let’s not minimize their suffering, either. > > A few weeks ago, I got horribly seasick on a night manta ray snorkel trip off Big Island. It was on a zodiak (inflatable Jacques Cousteau kinds of things) so luckily I was able to just lean over the side and hurl at will, but I felt horrible for the other patrons whose trip was being affected by my condition. Even if the depths of my wretchedness, I could still muster up enough empathy for my fellow snorkelers to apologize to them, repeatedly. And had we been somewhere like a restaurant, I’d have definitely offered to buy them a round of drinks or something. Because, you know, I’m not completely self-centered. > > P.S. I still snorkeled with the manta rays and it was still amazing, even though I hopped back into the boat in time to be sick yet again. I don’t see why you would feel bad about getting seasick, especially on a Zodiak off the Big Island; most of the other passengers ought to expect that **somebody** is going to feel queasy, to say the least. Many years ago I was teaching seamanship to Hawaiian highschoolers, and I always pointed out which side of the boat they should puke over because for sure some of them were going to do it. Just don’t barf over the windward rail. I suppose in a restaurant it’s different. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/24 "2010-08-16T18:04:49Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > Just don’t barf over the windward rail. I suppose in a restaurant it’s different. Oh yeah. In a restaurant you should ALWAYS barf over the windward rail. :rolleyes: It’s usually near the salad bar. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/25 "2010-08-16T18:06:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Oh yeah. In a restaurant you should ALWAYS barf over the windward rail. :rolleyes: > > It’s usually near the salad bar. That’s what the sneeze guard is for, right? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/26 "2010-08-16T18:12:59Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > That’s what the sneeze guard is for, right? Yeah, but I’d still be a little leary of the hummus. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/27 "2010-08-16T18:21:33Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > However, as the provider of the service, it would have been good PR on Delta’s part to compensate the passengers who had to endure the smell of diarrhea for an hour with SOMETHING, even if it was just an apology and free packet of peanuts. Well, maybe not peanuts. As it was, they did nothing – not even shout out an apology – and the passenger was, IMO, _justifiably_ angry. I agree. Delta showed contempt for their passengers and deserves castigation after the fact and a loss of business. It would have been ridiculous and rude for the passenger in question to stand up, seconds after the dog’s discomfort (while, presumably, a mortified owner and put-upon flight attendant were struggling to manage the situation as best they could) and declare, “We should all get frequent flyer miles because that dog shit!” I wouldn’t fault someone for losing patience and complaining if passengers were leaving the plane and still no apology had been made. Even so, _specifying_ compensation seems gauche. It’s a service industry’s responsibility to do what they can. I’m not really surprised by that story, though, as I would be if this story had been of a restaurant failing to offer apologies and at least token compensation after diners had patiently endured. Airlines have been treating their passengers with increasing contempt for years now, and the level of service now typical among airlines is far below that of restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/28 "2010-08-16T18:25:25Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > But I do have sympathy for the patrons whose meals were ruined by having your SIL vomit in front of them. Not that that excuses the SBP’s crappy timing, but come on. Having someone vomit in front of you is disgusting, so let’s not minimize their suffering, either. Normally I don’t find the single act of vomiting that disgusting. But when they put their hand over their mouth to try and stop it and it goes through their fingers streaking ever skyward and the colors begin to change hue and they start to sway rhythmically back and forth so that the individual streamers begin to take on the appearance of the choreographed fountains at the Bellagio… then yeah, kinda disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/29 "2010-08-16T19:28:58Z")
I’ve learned that people have very different kinds of reactions to vomit. Once, at my sister’s wedding, I sat with a bunch of co-workers when a male friend asked me to check on his drunk date who’d gone to the bathroom and never returned. I found her there, but she didn’t answer the knocks on the bathroom stall, so eventually I had to climb underneath the door and retrieve her as she’d passed out, ass still on the toilet. After we laid her on the floor, she vomited. And vomited. So that left me with the task of pulling up her underwear and wiping the vomit from her dress, her eyelashes, her hair…two things that I usually reserve for REALLY good friends. Honestly, I didn’t find wiping up the mess to be as bad as the smell – the sweet and sour smell of red wine and stomach acid was pretty revolting. The reactions of the other guests was interesting. A few jumped in to help. A few got really worried and wanted to call for an ambulance. A few stepped over her and went about their bathroom business. And more than one came in and gagged. One, my cousin, even had sympathetic vomiting. Good times, those. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/30 "2010-08-16T19:45:18Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I’ve learned that people have very different kinds of reactions to vomit. So true. So very true. I usually react by gagging. But this one time? I was on a whale watch maybe ten years ago. The seas were up a bit that day, maybe 2-4 feet. It was enough that the boat was really rocking kind of violently. I’d be walking next to a railing and suddenly get flung into a bulkhead. Walking was difficult at best. One woman was not taking it very well. At the instruction of her boyfriend, she sat astearn on the lower deck, outside. It didn’t help. She spewed over the side. Hey, there’s always one, right? OK, make that two. And by two, I mean four. And people weren’t always making it to the side. A lot of puke was on the deck. That was bad. Know what made it worse? I was on the lower deck. There was an upper deck as well. Precipitation soon started. All in all, I’d say that 75% of the passengers (and some crew) got sick. The indoors part of the lower deck looked like a war zone. People lying on the floor in puddles of other people’s spew. Vomit on the tables and chairs, and I swear, some on the ceiling. My reaction to all of this? “I’m kind of hungry. I think I’ll get a hot dog.” ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/31 "2010-08-16T20:34:16Z")
Vomit doesn’t ick me out, either, **tdn**. Your story is hysterical! But, poor pukers. Their whale trip ruined! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/32 "2010-08-16T20:40:48Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Vomit doesn’t ick me out, either, **tdn**. Your story is hysterical! But, poor pukers. Their whale trip ruined! Around here humpbacks are pretty rare. Usually I seen fin whales and nothing more. But on that day, there was not only a humpback but her calf as well. And the mother actually had her head out of the water, staring at us. That’s even rarer. That’s like once-in-a-lifetime stuff. Nobody cared. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/33 "2010-08-16T20:42:15Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Around here humpbacks are pretty rare. Usually I seen fin whales and nothing more. But on that day, there was not only a humpback but her calf as well. And the mother actually had her head out of the water, staring at us. That’s even rarer. That’s like once-in-a-lifetime stuff. She was probably thinking, “Dude, I don’t swim in your toilet, don’t puke in my home.” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/34 "2010-08-16T20:46:41Z")
I almost never get airsick, but there was this one flight coming back from Europe, that had some terrible turbulence. Anyway, one person got sick, and then another, and another, and another. It was like this huge chain reaction. I could not resist the peer pressure apparently and got sick also. Thankfully in the puke bag. I still remember the very nice European couple next to me - they didn’t speak a word of English but they were part of the 25% who weren’t throwing up, and the woman kept rubbing my back and speaking softly in her own language, trying to comfort me. I was fifteen, and I always looked young for my age - sick, she could have taken me for twelve even. Even in the midst of my sicky and my gratitude for this wonderfully nice lady I remember thinking, “How is she not getting sick, too?” As for the restaraunt, eeww. Poor Zyada. She should have been home, but I can’t really find it in my heart to blame her, because how humiliating. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/35 "2010-08-16T22:19:54Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > I think all our meals should be free, because she threw up. > > _I_ think that **Zyada** shoulda puked on her. Looks like… (removes sunglasses) …dinner was on her. YEEEAAAAAHHH!!! ---
**Author:** ![rekkah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rekkah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rekkah)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/36 "2010-08-16T23:51:02Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I’ve learned that people have very different kinds of reactions to vomit. Indeed. I’m fairly vomit phobic, to the point where I actually cope better with vomiting myself than I do with others vomiting around me. Had I been within eyesight/earshot of this scene in a restaurant, it’s safe to say my dinner would have been ruined. _However_, I’m fairly confident this woman was not as badly affected as I would be, simply because I would never in a million years have gone over to complain, because that would put me far too close to the problem. I would also never expect a restaurant to compensate me for something so far out of their control (unless it’s a food poisoning thing). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/37 "2010-08-17T00:43:03Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > > [@rjk](#): > > > > There. I feel better now. (And **Zyada** is OK, and feeling much better, thanks.) > > Give her a big {{{HUG}}} for me, please. I can’t help but notice you aren’t willing to squeeze her yourself.😉 > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > And while one can’t control barfing sometimes (I realize it just overcomes you and happens every so often), but if your wife had been feeling ill for a while, she probably should have been a little more proactive on heading to the bathroom earlier. If I’m feeling barfy at home, I’ll chance it, but if I’m in public, at the first twinge of “IMMA BARF,” I go sit by the toilet. I think the finer restaurants supply barf bags. They’ll bring a Crisco bucket if you’ll ask them. Had I been there I’d have interrupted SEB and asked to see the dessert cart. (“We’ll have the tiramisu- they say the cookies here are great but my understanding is they’ve been tossed.”) This reminds me of the episode of _Malcolm in the Middle_ when Hal and Lois have a romantic evening at a nice restaurant, each unwilling to ruin it for the other by letting them know they’re completely sick. It was kind of loke O.Henry but with vomit. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/38 "2010-08-17T00:54:43Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I’ve learned that people have very different kinds of reactions to vomit. Yep. When I was a kid we were just entering an Old Country Buffet restaurant (some of you are experiencing sympathetic puking urges just at the thought) when some kid in line ahead of turned around and puked all over my mom’s feet. She just went into the restroom, rinsed them off, and took them out to the car and put on sandals that happened to be there. We went on with our meal. A couple years ago I took the ferry from Homer, Alaska, to Kodiak. Seas were a bit rough and it seemed like half the people on board were puking constantly. The smell didn’t bother me. The sounds didn’t bother me. What got to me a little though were the people using large clear ziploc bags as their puking depository. Though jiggling bags of puke, like some kind of soup snack for consumption later eventually drove me to find a more isolated spot. But on topic, yeah, immediately chiming up loudly for a refund/discount is an overreaction. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Presidente](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@El\_Presidente](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Presidente)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/39 "2010-08-17T03:55:29Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Why should anyone be compensated? Well, unless the throwing up was a result of food poisoning - then \*\*Zyada \*\*should be the one to get the free meal. > > Why is it the restaurant’s fault that a patron got sick? Should they be screening their customers for potential illness? Should they have puke buckets stationed at more convenient spots so that any throwing up can be done more discreetly? Where does the idea come from that if you suffer any sort of discomfort in a place of business, your product should be free? If the restaurant showed negligence or was otherwise at fault, I could see it, but it’s ridiculous to try to get a free meal out of this. I dont even see how it could have been food poisoning from the restaurant. Dont symptoms from food poisoning take longer than the time it takes to sit down and eat a meal? Zy could be pregnant, something she ate earlier that day could have caused the vomiting, she might have the flu, she might have drank too much or the wrong drink, medication, for SIL to immediately assume it was food poisoning is kind of jumping the gun a bit, which I guess just adds to the OPs outrage. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374/40 "2010-08-17T04:27:41Z")
> [@El\_Presidente](#): > > > [@C3](#): > > > > Why should anyone be compensated? Well, unless the throwing up was a result of food poisoning - then \*\*Zyada \*\*should be the one to get the free meal. > > > > Why is it the restaurant’s fault that a patron got sick? Should they be screening their customers for potential illness? Should they have puke buckets stationed at more convenient spots so that any throwing up can be done more discreetly? Where does the idea come from that if you suffer any sort of discomfort in a place of business, your product should be free? If the restaurant showed negligence or was otherwise at fault, I could see it, but it’s ridiculous to try to get a free meal out of this. > > I dont even see how it could have been food poisoning from the restaurant. Dont symptoms from food poisoning take longer than the time it takes to sit down and eat a meal? Zy could be pregnant, something she ate earlier that day could have caused the vomiting, she might have the flu, she might have drank too much or the wrong drink, medication, for SIL to immediately assume it was food poisoning is kind of jumping the gun a bit, which I guess just adds to the OPs outrage. I just meant that that is the only scenario I would think justified compensation, not that I thought she was suffering food poisoning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-sick-well-im-a-self-entitled-bitch/550374.md?page=3)