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1. Two times when I was a kid—once at a restaurant called The Boathouse in Sarasota, Florida—my dad was mistaken for Tom Hanks. Or at least he was mistaken for someone who looked a lot like Tom Hanks during the Big era. (The two have made wildly different hairstyle choices since the late-1980s, so the resemblance has faded.) The only famous person I’ve been told I look like is former St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz, who is 28 years my senior. Though I did play a convincing Skipper one Halloween during my heavier just-after-college days. Who’s your famous doppelgänger?
2. A family friend always makes a huge fuss at restaurants when Pepsi isn’t available. (”You can’t find me a can of Pepsi back there?” he’s asked in my company at least a dozen times.) I understand people have a cola preference, but it’s unlikely the waiter was consulted on the restaurant’s choice of beverage distributor. Do you know someone who has a restaurant quirk that drives you crazy?
3. Looks like the Olympics aren’t coming to Chicago any time soon. Let’s pretend you’ve been appointed International Events Coordinator for the place you’re living now. What event or festival would be perfect for your town or city? (If one doesn’t exist, invent it.)
4. My wife, daughter and I are heading to an apple farm tomorrow, where we’ll load up on apples and cider and homemade cinnamon donuts. We’ve been going to this place for years, and it really doesn’t feel like fall until we do. What’s something you do every autumn?
[See all the previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]
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2. Do you know someone who has a restaurant quirk that drives you crazy?
My wife’s uncle has a nickname for ketchup, it is an inside joke. The humor has faded for everyone else, but whenever we go to a restaurant he asks for his nickname for ketchup. When they say they don’t have it he makes a fuss then asks for ketchup.
I am sure the waiter spits in our food whenever he pulls this.
3. What event or festival would be perfect for your town or city? (If one doesn’t exist, invent it.)
International pollution and global warming festival! Perfect for Houston! (Actually Houston’s mayor is somewhat of a reasonable environmentalist, but most of the refineries are just outside of Houston, and the small towns whose economies depend on oil laugh at his suggestions.)
posted by Witty Nickname on 10-2-2009 at 12:22 pm
1. People say I look like Fiona Apple, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
2. I personally hate it when you go to an Italian restaurant and they feel the need to explain why there is olive oil on the table instead of butter. Once at Biaggi’s, after I replied that I had not previously dined at that restaurant, the waiter launched into a 3 minute spiel about “Biaggi’s butter”, which was olive oil with a little Parmesan cheese, like they invented the idea and I had never been exposed to this crazy recipe before.
4. Autumn is all about going to Wisconsin Badgers football games!
posted by Alicia on 10-2-2009 at 12:24 pm
I’ve been told numerous times that I look a lot like King Kong Bundy (the professional wrestler) and I have to agree.
posted by Gerald on 10-2-2009 at 12:27 pm
2. Easily this question, “Is this good?” as if the waiter/waitress would say it’s bad! And even if they did, you might like it…
posted by Paul on 10-2-2009 at 12:28 pm
1. Jena Malone.
2. I hate it when waiters/waitresses bring you a free refill without asking you. I usually don’t drink more than one drink (or even half, since most restaurants give you so much) and I don’t want the new drink to go to waste.
ReCaptcha: iratest slater. Calm down, A.C.!
posted by Jenn on 10-2-2009 at 12:34 pm
1 I’ve used a program on myheritage.com (you should check it out) that analizes you face and tells you what celbrity you lookm like and most pictures tell me i look like Jamie Lyn Spears. ugh!
2 It annoys me when my sister orders extremely complicated drinks at starbucks and annoys the employees.
3 Boston would be perfect for some sort of super geeky conference. ComiCon, E3, etc.
4 I ussually go on some sort of hike every fall.
posted by Loreena on 10-2-2009 at 12:35 pm
I used to get Christian Slater a lot. Then it was Nick Lachey (good? bad? you tell me)
Now that Nick has faded a bit, it’s back to Slater.
posted by Jay on 10-2-2009 at 12:37 pm
1. People say I look like Drew Barrymore or Molly Ringwald depending on what colour my hair is that day.
2. My mom always says she wants a pound of 20’s when the waiter asks if there is anything else he can get us. When I was a waitress the favourite of my customers was “yeah, a shiny red corvette” that irritates me in general though. I work at a bank now and when I ask if theres anything else I can do they unfailingly say “put some more money in my account” or “give me the winning lottery numbers”.
3. I live in Buffalo and there is some amazing food and theatre here that is always overlooked. I want some sort of festival combining and showcasing them!
4. My birthday is Sunday and my mom is taking me and my sister to breakfast, the pumpkin farm and apple picking. This is an autumn tradition that started when I turned 23. I look forward to it all year.
posted by Shawn on 10-2-2009 at 12:38 pm
oh and when I used to wait tables about once a month, I would get the “Hi. I’m Jay and I’ll be your waiter” to which the response was “I’m and I’ll be your customer”
Charming.
posted by Jay on 10-2-2009 at 12:40 pm
1. I was told in my younger days that I looked like Shannen Doherty. No thanks.
4. Every fall, my family and I go to the seafood festival on the coast, apple-picking at the local orchard, to the county fair in the next town, and, of course, trick-or-treating. I’m sure there’s more but I live in New England and we specialize in fall so there’s a lot to do.
posted by Mother Chat on 10-2-2009 at 12:41 pm
3. I’ve said that my city regularly hosts “The World’s Worst Driver” competition and I’ve been stuck behind the winner.
posted by Ohio on 10-2-2009 at 12:41 pm
1. When I was younger, (and much, much thinner, sigh!) I looked like Pat Benatar, and played it up with my rockin’ wardrobe. I have a friend who resembles Matthew Perry – he was hounded in Las Vegas when he came to my wedding!
2. In Canada, we have the GST… my best friend’s ex-boyfriend would quibble on and on about splitting the GST tax down to the menu item… Like, 4 cents on the hash browns… I wanted to kill him. Thank God that relationship didn’t last.
3. We’re getting the Olympics. I’d like to see a festival that didn’t cost an arm and a leg…
4. Pumpkin Patch!!! Although, it is BRUTAL hauling that giant pumpkin back thru the mud… somebody needs to invent the pumpkin transport… oh and IHOP has the most dee-lishus pumpkin pancakes this time of year.
posted by Marion on 10-2-2009 at 12:50 pm
The only two celebrities I’ve ever been told I look like are Anthony Edwards (if he was a bit, uh, larger) and Chris Elliot (particularly if I’m a bit unshaven).
Can’t say I disagree with either one.
A guy in a convenience store said “You like just like that guy on television. Uh, what’s his name…”
I said, “Anthony Edwards on ER?”
He said, “No… That guy on ‘Get a Life’” (this was back when both were still on the air).
posted by Chris on 10-2-2009 at 12:53 pm
1. I’ve been told I look like a lot of people over the years (my rapidly receding hairline helps that), but the most recent is probably Billy Bob Thornton–before his plastic surgeries.
Also, apparently I have quite a few non-famous doppelgangers out there (including one who works at the Smithsonian, I was told last week).
While working at a local supermarket, I got plenty of “you look like someone I know”s, but it wasn’t until a frequent customer told me I bore a striking resemblance to her brother-in-law in MinnesotaT then she produced a photo that was a bit like looking into a mirror!! Too weird!
posted by Marty on 10-2-2009 at 12:55 pm
1. When I was teen, I was told I look like the twins in Degrassi (80s-90s series). But mostly, in my 20s, I was told I look a lot like Manon Rhéaume (hockey goaltender who played a few games in the NHL). A drunk guy at a party harassed me for half an hour for my autograph, even if I kept insisting I wasn’t her. I finally just signed my own name, he didn’t even notice.
2. My boyfriend never knows what he is going to have to drink at a restaurant. Every time, we go out to eat, he has this dumbfounded look on his face like it’s the first time anyone has ever asked him “What would you like to drink sir?” He always ends up getting beer or root beer, which makes it even funnier.
4. We try to go out to a corn maze (aka corn maize – love that play on words) every fall. The ones made with the use of a GPS device are really intricate and hard to escape.
posted by Ranger J on 10-2-2009 at 12:58 pm
2. A friend of mine always has to ask for extra sauce, be it duck sauce, ranch or even ketchup. He doesn’t even need it half the time, but his reasoning for asking is “I’m a paying customer and should get whatever I want.”
3. My hometown (Pittsburgh) has seen a lot of events recently, most notably the G20 Summit, so I can’t really think of anything.
4. There have been so many fall traditions that have come and gone in my family. Most recently, I’ve been heading up to my friend’s cabin. It’s very pretty up there.
posted by Vanessa on 10-2-2009 at 12:58 pm
1. I have been told I look like a lot of famous people but I never see it. The one I do see though is a fictional character. My friends say I look like Syndrome from the Incredibles . . .
2. I had a friend who’s mother was the worst to go to a restaurant with. If the waiter/waitress made the slightest mistake or the salad had only one cherry tomato on it she would pitch a fit. And Heaven forbid if something bigger than that ever happened. We would always try to explain to her that these people are human and it’s no big deal. Not to mention they have our food back there and it could get ugly. I would imagine she has eaten a lot of waiter spit and other dreaded things I don’t even want to imagine. What’s worse is she eats out at least three times a week.
4. Going to Carter’s Mountain Orchard and watching a high school football game. Then it’s fall.
@ Alicia: I love it when they refill me without asking. Considering I’m paying close to two bucks for something that costs them 20 cents I want to get my money’s worth. On average I drink 4 to 5 glasses of soda at dinner. Different Stokes I guess . . . .
posted by Nathan on 10-2-2009 at 1:04 pm
1. I don’t see it but some folks have said I look like Stephen King.
2. I just don’t get why all these places insist on serving “seasoned fries” – just serve them plain and I’ll put what I want on them.
3. We used to have some great downtown outdoor concert series here, but those haven’t been around for quite a while.
4. Football.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 10-2-2009 at 1:06 pm
1. People have told me in the past that I look like Sarah Jessica Parker, but I think that is more because of my big, curly, highlighted hair and obsession with cute shoes, and less because of actual resemblance.
2. I know a lot of people who do the same thing with Coke/Pepsi, but everyone I know gets upset when they have Pepsi products, because they like Coke best. I probably have the most annoying restaurant quirk, though- if you’ve seen When Harry Met Sally… I order just like Sally does, uber-specific with lots of “modifications.”
3. I live in Colorado, so obviously all the ski/snowboard events of the Winter Olympics would be a perfect fit here.
4. For me, it’s not fall until my friends and I hit a local haunted house. It always scares the crap out of me, but it’s a tradition.
posted by Alana Willis on 10-2-2009 at 1:15 pm
1. back in my younger days (and now I’m showing my age) I was told I looked like Kate from Charlie’s Angels, when I was a little older is was Tracy Ulman
2. my DH never knows what he wants and dithers around and messes around usually making the server come back at least twice and making the rest of the table twiddle their thumbs. Thanks good ness we are too broke to eat out right now! Yeah for the recession : >
posted by Hermoine on 10-2-2009 at 1:19 pm
1) With blonde hair I have been told I look like Gwenyth Paltrow, Claire Danes, and Grace Kelly. With brunette hair I’ve been told that I look like “little Grey” or Lexie Grey from Grey’s Anatomy. I take them all as compliments.
4) I don’t have any fall traditions that I follow except for the usuals, like dressing up for Halloween. However, just today I was invited to go to the Blue Jackets season opener hockey game tomorrow!
posted by K on 10-2-2009 at 1:20 pm
1) When I was a teenager, I was told that I looked like Ben Savage from “Boy Meets World”. Now, it’s a slightly older & slightly larger Shia Laboof (no idea how you spell that).
2) My grandmother sends back the silverware every time we go to a restaurant. No matter what, if it’s already on the table when she sits down, it has to go back. Having been a busboy in a previous job, this is one of the most annoying things to have to do. I spent time folding the napkin properly and placing the silverware on the table and you just assume that it’s dirty and must be replaced. This is a good way to end up waiting a while for your check or for your card to be run/change returned.
posted by Sean O. on 10-2-2009 at 1:24 pm
1. Since I was born in Japan, I get the “Mr. Miyagi” or “Arnold” from Happy Days a lot. Personally, I think I look more like an oriental Chuch Bronson. ^_^
2. My wife has a sweet tea idiosyncrisy. Drives me nuts. We go to certain restaurants just because they have sweet tea.
posted by Harold on 10-2-2009 at 1:26 pm
2) I found when I worked in a restaurant that no one likes it if you show up within about 20 minutes of closing. You will still be seated and served up until closing time, but your service will not be as good. No one wants to stick around until your done eating for what usually amounts to an extra half-hour of minimum wage pay and a five buck tip.
posted by Sean O. on 10-2-2009 at 1:28 pm
1 – Winnie Cooper from the wonder years. When I was younger and had long hair, it was definitely spot-on. Now she’s super hot and a math geek and I’m…really not.
2 – One of my good friends is the pickiest eater I know and can never leave something “as is” on a menu, unless it’s very simple. The club sandwhich can’t have this mayo because it has to have this one, and the dressing can’t be this way, and take the onions off that…it drives me NUTS! Don’t order a fancy sandwhich if you don’t want a fancy sandwhich! Gah!
4 – Every autumn I love throwing on a sweater, grabbing a pumpkin-spice latte and going for a long walk. The city seems different during the first few days of Fall and I love feeling that energy and crispness.
posted by Jenny on 10-2-2009 at 1:34 pm
1. Jodie Foster. I get this from strangers on the street!
2. My sister is, shall we say, FRUGAL. When we’re in restaurants she has a bad habit of loudly snorting or harrumphing over how everything is “too expensive!” It gets pretty embarrassing. And she’s only 25!
3. Toronto is the perfect host for International Be Snobby To Hide Your Inferiority Complex Day. People tend to behave they way they THINK big city people act, not how they actually DO act.
4. We travel to Algonquin Provincial Park three hours north of the city for nature hikes each fall. It’s beautiful-I love it.
posted by Titania on 10-2-2009 at 1:43 pm
1. I have never been mistaken for a famous person. I did that heritage thing where you add your picture and they said my closest match was Rose McGowan, but I don’t see any resemblence except for the pale skin!
2. My dad always says “it’s terrible” when the waiter/waitress comes by to ask how everything is. Sometimes he changes it up to “it’s so terrible I ate the whole thing” if he done eating when they ask.
3. I live in a nice little town in south jersey. I would say we need a dental festival since many of the local residence have “summer teeth” as in some have teeth and some don’t!
4. The annual North Wildwood (NJ) Irish Festival. It’s held the 3rd weekend after labor day weekend. It’s brisk out (usually) and the beer is flowing. After that my summer is officially over and that welcomes me to fall.
posted by Mavis on 10-2-2009 at 1:47 pm
When we go to a Chinese restaurant my husband orders Beef & Broccoli without the broccoli. He also has to ask if there any chunks of tomatoes in pasta/pizza sauces – he doesn’t want to see evidence that the product is actually made of tomatoes; and he asks if french fries/mashed potatoes are with the skins on because he won’t eat them with the skins. And I still go out to meals with him…..
posted by Suzanne on 10-2-2009 at 1:49 pm
1. I’ve been told I look like Rachel Ray. I used to work at a Barnes and Noble and this lady was buying a Rachel Ray cookbook from me. She told me that her husband loves her and since I look like her, could I sign it “Happy Birthday! Love Rachel”. Well how could I say no to that. I wonder what her story was like when her husband opened his present.
2. I remember when I was little my grandparents would always go out to dinner with us on a weekly basis. My grandpa would douse everything with pepper to the point that he would always leave the pepper shaker empty. I feel sorry for whoever had to sit at our table afterward and wanted pepper.
3. I live in a pretty small town but we do have our yearly Cherry Festival.
4. It’s not fall until we visit Oak Glen and have some homemade apple cider. I also love the cooler weather that comes along.
posted by Colene on 10-2-2009 at 1:59 pm
I’m told I look like Kevin James, the star of “The King of Queens”. I’m not as big as he is (in height or in girth), but from certain angles the resemblance is pretty good. They even have me down as “King of Queens” in the computer at my local barber shop. I have yet to exploit this resemblance for my own gain, but hopefully some day it will come in handy
posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 10-2-2009 at 2:03 pm
1. As a kid I looked exactly like Drew Barrymore did in ET – as I grew up (and hit puberty) there is still a resemblance, but its tiny.
2. My dad does the “20 pounds of $100 bills” thing. He also always orders a Pepsi, and when they only say they have coke he will sigh, roll his eyes, and say “the inferior substitute will have to do.”
4. Every halloween I watch “Abbot and Castello meet Frankenstein.” Also, I go to the PBR Finals in Vegas – both pretty much sum up the fall for me!
posted by Sarah on 10-2-2009 at 2:03 pm
1. When I was a university student, men used to come up to me in bars to tell me that I looked just like Uma Thurman. I am 5′6″, and I haven’t been under 170 pounds since I was 16 years old. This speaks to the power of booze!
2. I have a friend who puts sugar in her iced tea and then furiously stirs, clang, clang, clanging the side of the glass with the spoon. It is so loud, everyone in the room turns to look. I have suggested that Splenda disolves more easily, but she does not get the hint . . .
3. I have lived in cities where people do not make eye contact when passing, and I have lived in small towns where it is rude if you do not say “Hello” to all you pass. Where I live now, people just stare! Never a greeting or even a nod. When I go for a walk, it is my goal to get one person to smile at me. We could have a Stare Off in my town!!
posted by LadyGreyNorway on 10-2-2009 at 2:18 pm
1. I’ve been told repeatedly that I resemble Hugh Laurie from House M.D. I dcided to make a side-by-side comparison and post it. here is the link… http://theworldthroughstevenseyes.blogspot.com …Because of that, I decided that I’ll be House for Halloween this year.
2. I have a friend who won’t eat spaghetti sauce if it is chunky, or has anything in it. PLAIN spaghetti sauce, BLEH.
3. I would initiate the “Dover Boys from the Looney Tunes” festival here in Dover, DE.
4. The most superficial tradition I partake in every autumn is consuming the Pumpkin Spice Macchiato from Starbucks. What can I say? It’s DELICIOUS!
posted by Steven on 10-2-2009 at 2:19 pm
1. I’ve been told that I look like Anthony Edwards.
2. My wife always has to tell the server about our personal lives, particularly when one of our children isn’t dining with us. She’ll tell them that the other miss their sibling. Why would our server want to know that?
4. It’s not fall until my wife gets to hear me complain about closing the pool before winter comes.
posted by Eric on 10-2-2009 at 2:25 pm
1. When I was 20 I was once told I looked like Bette Midler – I didn’t take it as a compliment.
2. My brother complians in hoped of getting something for free/discounted.
3. I live in a port city and we have plent of Tall ships/Harborfest activities.
4. I love going all out on homemade Holloween costumes. I typically start planning costumes for my husband and I, months in advance.
Recapcha that sounds like a nice fall activity: Woodville chugging
posted by kay on 10-2-2009 at 2:29 pm
1. As a redhead, I have been told I look like every redheaded celebrity ever. (Molly Ringwald, Lucille Ball, Margaret from Dennis the Menace . . . ) Once, a customer told me I looked like Linda Lovelace. I asked him if that was supposed to be a compliment, he left and never returned.
2. I was a vegetarian for a decade and am allergic to everything, but my MIL still took longer to order than I did because everything needs to be on the side, or with extra something.
My own mother inspects all silverware and coffee mugs before anyone at the table uses them. If there is a woman at the table who reminds you of Monk, it’s my mom.
3. I’m from Chicago, so . . . yeah.
4. My birthday is in the fall. I know it’s fall when I’m trapsing through crunching maple leaves, and I bake a good pumpkin cheesecake, too.
posted by emily on 10-2-2009 at 2:34 pm
1. Once when I had my hair braided I had this whole family run up to me all crazy-like screaming thinking I was Alicia Keys. I think it was just the hairstyle and the glasses. The only thing on me that resembles her might be my nose.
2. Whenever I want to go celebrate and I have the cash to do so and not worry about prices my bf still always gets the cheaper things, says he is not hungry and just wants me to get him a beer on the way home. BORING!!! If I go out to celebrate I need someone to be lavish with me!
3. Woodstock or maybe a large Phish concert. I live in the country with a whole bunch of old hippies, wannabe hippies, rednecks and ravers. It would work. I promise.
4. Apple picking, always have to go to a spook walk (halloween is my fave holiday, and carve pumpkins and make pumpkin chocolate cookies with cream cheese icing..mmmmmmmm Im drooling already..
posted by Cees on 10-2-2009 at 2:34 pm
1) I don’t look like anyone but my parents and my brother. I don’t even look like my cousins or grandparents. I am happy perfectly happy with this.
2) My in-laws (father-in-law and stepmother-in-law) are EXTREMELY picky about their food service. They expect 5-star service at the local El Chico, Texas Roadhouse, or Chili’s. They actually expect to be waited on perfectly by some pimply 17-year old small town Texas kid. WTF? When they order something and it doesn’t come right away, you can actually watch them seethe and stare at the poor kid until s/he brings it (heaven forbid it’s forgotten). What makes it worse is that I used to manage a restaurant and I hate the fact that I am now related to some of “those” people – the ones that take out all their worldly frustrations on their wait staff. But… other than this quirk, they are pretty wonderful!
posted by Renis on 10-2-2009 at 2:35 pm
1. While I don’t look like anyone particularly famous, I have TONS of doppelgangers. With balding, long, brown hair and a big-ass beard, I apparently look like every professor/plant guy ever. The best was earlier in the year when this lady thought I was some guy named Gary. The odd thing is that I was on a trip a day earlier where 2 guys were named Gary (not that common a name around here). I thought maybe the universe was trying to get me to Gary, Indiana or something.
2. My mother never learned to chew with her mouth closed. So embarrassing.
posted by Kirk on 10-2-2009 at 2:35 pm
1. Alas, I look like no one so much as Gary Gnu from the Great Space Coaster.
2. Restaurant quirks? Oh my yes . . .
my mother in law will quiz the staff on the fat/calorie content of every ingredient of the dish she is considering.
I also have a friend who may or may not be allergic to pine nuts (her mother and sister are). If we go to a restaurant that is the least bit exotic, she will ask the waiter if a dish contains pine nuts, then proceed to explain that her mother and sister are allergic, and she doesn’t know if she’s allergic, but it couldn’t hurt to be safe, etc. etc. etc.
posted by Geoff on 10-2-2009 at 2:43 pm
1. I often have people walk up to me and ask me if I’m so-n-so. Never am! One person made the mistake of saying I looked like Courtney Love. Then the backpeddaling ensued. “No, wait, if she wasn’t strung out on drugs, and her hair wasn’t greasy, and she didn’t have that red lipstick on, and uh…”
2. Servers who do NOT write down your order and then mess up your food….and, restaurants that do not carry Dr. Pepper. Oh and how my husband eats eggs and toast. Eggs on fork, toast underneath, two hands go to mouth. Just put the eggs on the toast and eat it.
3. The People of Wal-Mart festival in Akron, Ohio.
4. Start b*tching about the gas bill.
posted by Jamie on 10-2-2009 at 2:47 pm
1. Vivien Leigh. Since she’s dead, that’s never been a problem, just something to smile about on a bad-hair day.
posted by RJ on 10-2-2009 at 3:02 pm
1. Winona Ryder (”I swear! I’m not shoplifting!” Tacky, I know…)
4. When I unpack the “cold weather” clothes and stow away the “warm weather” clothes, which is a tricky time of year here in Dallas (”Today’s high will be 50, but tomorrow it will be 80.”)
recaptcha: horror beach
posted by Megan on 10-2-2009 at 3:07 pm
1. I have been told I look a bit like Mandy Moore (the singer).
2.I personally don’t like when places don’t serve coke…but its not a big deal.
3. Most likely some coastal event..like shrimp catching contest or something.
4.I just like enjoying the season..doing more stuff outside…which at the moment is not alot since its still really hot. (Im from Texas, its to be expected)
posted by Chelsea on 10-2-2009 at 3:12 pm
1. I’ve been told for the past 4 years by random ppl: Jenifer Aniston. I can’t see it.
2. I waited tables during college (when the Aniston stuff started) at Outback. I saw many annoying things. Mostly what got to me was when I was yelled at for food going out wrong. I didn’t make it or carry it out to you. If you had given me 3 seconds to do a check, then I would have been on top of it. I didn’t cook your steak, buddy. Kitchens can have 30 plates in the window, they make mistakes (JAMIE.)
3. Urban Drifting? We have a lot of curvy, country roads.
4. Sit in the swing on the front porch with a beer while I watch cars go by. I do it at after I smell fall for the first time each year.
posted by Kelse on 10-2-2009 at 3:13 pm
2. First, see “Suicidal Tendencies” (don’t let the name throw you, the message was far from anihilistic), a very cool Cali punk band from the 1980s, the song is “Institutionalized”:
“All I wanted was Pepsi and she wouldn’t give it to me…just a Pepsi and she wouldn’t give it to me…all I wanted was a Pepsi and she wouldn’t give it to me….”
Oh, the worst is the check non-splitter, you know: “my app was 5.95 and yours was 6.50, so you owe 50 cents more than my ‘half’” back east I never ran into it, out west, everybody does this…yuck.
posted by cecil on 10-2-2009 at 3:25 pm
1. I frequently get told I look like 2 women. 1-Robin Tunney and 2-Julianne Moore. I most definitely have an uncanny resemblance to Robin Tunny. Julianne Moore and I look a little alike, but it’s mostly the nose.
2. I always order my drinks without ice. Some waiters/waitresses even double check “no ice?” and 60% of the time I get ice.
3. Here in Louisiana we could probably have a “worst paved road” contest and win hands down. I’m sure there are crawfish festivals and stuff instead though.
4. When the electric blanket comes out, it’s fall.
posted by Hannibal Schlechter on 10-2-2009 at 3:36 pm
1. Natalie Wood.
2. My quirk is I like Coke or Diet Pepsi, so if a restaraunt doesn’t have one, I go with the other. I originally thought about putting my ex-mil’s allergy to cheese here, but she can’t help it so it’s hardly a quirk.
3. The little town in NE has a fabulous festival in the middle of September celebrating trains and their impact here-Railfest–and it’s the bomb! The railroad even buys the tickets for the rides on Saturday night so kids can hurl n’ whirl for free.
4. Kelse: “I smell fall”..absolutely. Nothing heralds the season coming better than that wonderfully striking smell… *sigh* LOVE IT!
posted by Helenann on 10-2-2009 at 3:50 pm
@Alicia – haha, that reminds me of my time serving at Macaroni Grill and having to explain the sophistication and history of the oil/pepper combo and how, in the end, most customers asked for the butter we kept in the back. ::eye roll:: :)
2) Oh, it wouldn’t be a trip to a restaurant unless my boyfriend investigated the silverware for spots/food remains, asked if there’s onions in his meal, etc. I hate it – from my five + years in the restaurant world from high school/college, I know *not* to piss anyone off.
4) Every fall I enjoy a pumpkins spice latte from starbucks, watch “Nightmare Before Christmas” and do something “fally” (like a corn maze, apple picking, choosing pumpkins, etc). Fall’s my favorite season, so I do everything I can to celebrate it!
recaptcha: “Or crusting”. Makes you wonder what the first option was…
posted by OkieMelissa on 10-2-2009 at 4:07 pm
I’ve been told many times that I look like Sarah Jessica Parker, only not so ugly. I never know how to take that.
posted by Christina on 10-2-2009 at 4:30 pm
Well, not an ACTUAL celebrity per se, but I do resemble the model for Renoir’s ‘Sleeping Girl with a Cat’ (click my name to see the painting)
One of my two late cats resembles the one in the picture.
posted by Amy on 10-2-2009 at 4:33 pm
2. I hate it when I order a Coke and the waiter says “Diet Coke?”. I still haven’t figured out why they think they hear those two extra syllables. Or maybe they’re trying to point out that I could stand to lose a few pounds.
Also, speaking of Coke, I had this exchange with a crazy cashier at Chick-fil-A earlier today:
Me: “can I get some more Coke?”
Cashier: “What was it?”
Me: “Coke”
Cashier: “huh?”
Me: “Coke”
Cashier: “Do you mean Coca Cola?”
Me: “…”
posted by LeftyRodriguez on 10-2-2009 at 4:50 pm
1. Sandra Bullock – a compliment. Sabrina the Teenage Witch – not so much a compliment. (Apparently, it’s something about the mouth.)
2. My parents dine out with a couple regularly, and if something is wrong or missing, the man will lean back, sigh REALLY loudly, and then ask the server “What’s wrong with this picture?” He actually forces him/her to point things out until they stumble upon the issue, and then lectures them on good customer service. (This from a guy that tips 10% max.) I refuse to dine with them any further.
3. Phoenix could use a great music festival… or any good music at all, for that matter. (Country Thunder and The Warped Tour do not count.) Needless to say, I’m stoked for Festival 8 in Indio at the end of this month!!
4. Autumn in AZ means the start of the best weather of the year, and my personal favorite – fire pit season. Any given weekend night, groups of friends can be found in the back yard, fire pit burning, snuggled up in sweatshirts and wool hats (hey – it can get down into the 40s here!), tunes blasting, with libations in hand until the wee hours. I smell like a bonfire the next morning, but it is always always always worth it!
posted by Megan on 10-2-2009 at 5:02 pm
1. I’ve been compared to Anna Chlumsky ever since \My Girl\ came out. Even as adults, we still look eerily similar. I’ve also gotten comparisons to Katee Sackhoff, which being a big BSG fan works for me. I don’t mind at all resembling Starbuck. :) I’ve also been told LeAnn Rimes (don’t see that one at all), Elisha Cuthbert (don’t see that one either), and one night there was a drunk guy at a bar who kept coming up to me and telling me I looked like \that chick from Berlin\, Terri Nunn (not seeing it, either.)
2. One of my friends refuses to eat vegetables of any kind, so she orders everything sans veggies. Well, she’ll eat potatoes, but that’s it. She also doesn’t care for chicken very much. I have my own quirk, which is to make sure nothing contains apples or any apple product; it’s not so much a quirk as it is for my own well-being, though, as I’m horribly allergic to apples.
4. When I start wearing cute sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, while breathing the crisp autumn air, it’s fall!
posted by Krie on 10-2-2009 at 5:08 pm
2. I usually order Pepsi and the waiter always says “we only serve Coke”. I didn’t feel like getting the we only serve response so the other day I ordered a cola and the waiter responded “We only serve Pepsi”. Uh Pepsi is a cola.
posted by Steve M. on 10-2-2009 at 5:31 pm
1. People say I resemble Hugh Laurie, and I can see the resemblance… I first started getting comments at work after I broke my foot and didn’t use crutches, I used a cane.
2. I order Miller Lite and I get Bud Lite… happens every time:(
4. I have to agree with Megan. I too live in phoenix and I’m sooo thankful to be able to go outside without melting into a puddle of sweat… Thank goodnes its October!
recaptcha- lips’s depicts
posted by Kelly on 10-2-2009 at 8:09 pm
1. I get more and more comments that I look like Dan Aykroyd.
2. My sister-in-law will put if we choose a restaurant that doesn’t serve Coke products. Fortunately for the 8-year old in me, our favorite restaurant doesn’t serve Coke products.
3. Here in the Twin Cities there is a movement to push to be the USOC’s choice for the 2020 Olympics. Seems like a good time to take a 3-week vacation if it happens.
4. Apple picking and pumpkin carving.
posted by eric! on 10-2-2009 at 8:17 pm
2. My husband is English, and every time we eat out, it seems that the servers can’t understand him when he asks for water. We both tend to order water with dinner, even if we are also having some wine. Exchanges go like this:
Waitress: And what would you like to drink?
DH: Water, please.
Waitress: Pardon?
Maybe it’s because he pronounces the letter “T” differently. At one point we were at some chicken shack at an amusement park, and this 15-year-old clerk did not understand poor DH who just asked for “a bottled water.” After he repeated himself the clerk looked to me like I was supposed to interpret for him, so I said “a bottled water” and he immediately understood.
posted by Jaclyn McKewan on 10-2-2009 at 8:35 pm
1. I have been told by several different people I resemble Mark Ruffalo.
2. My sister acts like it is a personal insult to her every time a restaurant does not provide sweet ‘n’ low. She now carries her own in her purse.
3. I don’t live to far from Chicago and was really looking forward to the Olympics. I can’t really think of anything else right now.
4. My birthday is October 3rd and that always feels like the official beginning of fall for me.
posted by David on 10-2-2009 at 10:15 pm
@David…
Happy Birthday a day early – mine is today, along w/ Gandhi and Richard III – among others!
posted by Amy on 10-2-2009 at 10:18 pm
My ex brother-in-law was the most embarrassing person to dine with. He would grill the waiter about three different dishes
“Well, what comes with the tilapia?”
“OK. So in the rice and beans, what kind of rice is it?”
“UM> Does the chicken come grilled slightly?”
After getting the answers, he would order something totally different…that he hadn’t even asked about!!! Also he would order water and lemon and proceed to make lemonade with the free sweet and low at the table.
posted by Alicia on 10-2-2009 at 11:03 pm
1- The first thing my wife ever said to me was “How many people tell you you look like Tom Hanks?” The answer by that time was in the single digits, though.
But back in the late 70s, I wore a leather jacket and sunglasses to a party in college, and in several photos taken, I must say I looked exactly like Lou Reed. I’m pretty sure that was the zenith of me looking cool.
posted by Joe Maz on 10-3-2009 at 12:41 am
1. Many have said David Duchovny. I can see the resemblance, especially when we both have beards.
2. A friend of mine always says, after the server introduces themselves, “Hello (fill in name), I would like a (drink)”. They’re trying to be friendly but it comes across as creepy.
3. Austin, TX already has so many festivals it would be hard to find time for another. I would bring back the Blues Festival if I could though.
4. It’s Texas. Fall is when you can open a window without choking on the heat.
posted by Logan on 10-3-2009 at 1:59 am
1. No one famous but I hear “you look like someone I know/met/saw, etc.
2. I work in a restaurant so I could name a million things. Too many modifiers is probably the worst. (If you don’t like anything that comes on/with it, why order it?) A close second would be anytime someone brings a plate back and says “they didn’t know (something that is listed in description in the menu) was in this and they’re allergic”. I’m not allergic to anything but I think if I was I would check before I ate anything. I think possible hospitalization or death is worth taking the time to check.
3. I think its always National D-Bag Day here in Central Florida.
4. In Florida fall means no longer feeling like you are walking through sou wearing a wet blanket every time you go outside.
posted by Martha on 10-3-2009 at 3:38 am
1. Winona Ryder circa Reality Bites and after. Which is fine, although I don’t really see it. More commonly I get told (weekly, actually, by the old prostitute who comes into my work) that I look like \someone on TV\.
2. i feel really guilty when i go out, because i’m a pretty picky eater. so i’m often sitting there ordering something and then i give them warning, \i’m gonna be difficult, can i get this but without this and that…\
i like to think that by doing this i come across as quirky and cute as opposed to a royal pain.
4. i don’t think theres anything specific i do every autumn. except whine about how much i hate winter and i don’t want it to come.
posted by Teresa on 10-3-2009 at 10:42 am
1. I used to hear Molly Ringwald alot in the late 80’s, but now I’m like Martha. I hear that I remind someone of this person or that or I hear, “are you so and so’s sister?”
2. My husband is a Coke drinker and when the server requests to substitute Pepsi, he gets annoyed and asks for iced tea. I wish he would just ask for what type of soda products they carry up front and avoid the whole thing.
3. We have a lot of fun summer festivals in the small towns where I live and the local rodeo is always pretty cool. It’s won awards for the best small rodeo for several years in a row now.
4. We don’t really do anything for fall other than it is officially the beginning of soup season for our family. I could eat soup every day. My family tires of it around mid-November.
posted by bzzyb on 10-3-2009 at 11:04 am
1. When I was little and the Olympics were on, I had a couple people tell me I looked like Shannon Miller. Now I get Amy Poehler, Sheri O’Teri, and those facial recognition things say I look like Reese Witherspoon and Debra Messing. haha
2. I’m the one that drives everyone crazy at restaurants. I can NEVER decide on what I want, and whenever the waitress/waiter comes to the table to take the order I say “Come to me last!” and that forces me to pick something!
4. For as long as I can remember I’ve gone apple picking with my mom and my sister every fall. Now that my sister and I are grown up and have moved out I still go home and take my mom apple picking. She made me promise a few years ago that’d I’d take her apple picking every year until she can’t walk anymore. haha We always get a warm cider donut before we leave too. Then we go home and make pies and applesauce and apple crisp. And my mom make apple jelly too! It’s definitely my favorite part of fall.
posted by Kyrra on 10-3-2009 at 1:17 pm
1. I was told once in a bar in Omaha that I looked like Larry Bird. It was meant as a compliment, and I took it as such, I was a big fan of the Celts in the 80s.
2. My buddy dips his hamburger in ketchup and mustard (almost obscene amounts, instead of putting it on the hamburger itself. He also cuts his hamburger in half w/ a knife. We’re at a sports bar, eat it like a man, Chief.
4. I can’t wait until football starts and I can get 2 TVs together showing both afternoon games. Most Sundays I set my alarm for 10 am, watch 2 hours of pregame, then 6+ hours of games, a little break inbetween to catchup what I missed, and 3+ more hours of football. It’s at least a 12 hour day of football.
posted by Jonny on 10-3-2009 at 2:21 pm
2) I annoy my tablemates because I say thank you every time the server does *anything*. Takes the drink order, ‘thank you.’ Brings the ketchup, ‘thank you.’ Takes payment, ‘thank you.’
4) It’s not fall here until I turn the AC off.
posted by thegrimtuesday on 10-3-2009 at 4:39 pm
1. Rachel Ward. But this morning I looked more like Nick Nolte’s mug shot.
2. A friend unconsciously adopts the accent of people she’s speaking with. She once embarrassed herself/everyone at the table in an Indian restaurant. Big time. (O.K. it was me.)
3. Filing cabinet races in government town Ottawa, Canada.
4. I eat a great many Macintosh apples and mourn the end of summer.
posted by AMR on 10-3-2009 at 4:46 pm
1. I don’t think I look like any of them, but I’ve been stalked in stores twice by employees who thought I was a celeb.
In high school, an woman stopped me in Linens N Things insisting I was Tori Amos (my hair was that color).
A few years ago, when I had a cropped maroon pixie cut, a CVS employee confessed to following me around the aisles because she thought I was Mila Jovovich.
And a cafeteria-worker at my university greets me every day with a bright “Hello, Uma Thurman!”
All flattering, all lies.
posted by chris on 10-3-2009 at 8:24 pm
1. I’ve been told I look like a young Cybil Shepherd…
2. My Father in Law chews and talks with his mouth full of food… it’s so gross.
3. I live outside of Tallahassee Florida so I guess some sort of hippie/hunting/fishing festival would be appropriate
4. No autumn tradition… maybe opening our windows?
posted by Srh on 10-3-2009 at 9:39 pm
1.) When I was a teenager, a lot of people said I looked like Ally Sheedy. Now that both she and I are much older, not so much!
2.) I’m the picky orderer when out to eat, but mainly because of food allergies and health issues that mean not being able to eat fried foods (a good thing, in the long run) and ordering dressings on the side. I work with a woman, though, who I refuse to go out to lunch with. She is fussy and picky and derisive to servers, and then picks at her food and barely eats it, saying it’s horrible. I want to smack her with her uneaten Clubhouse sandwich.
3.) We have some neat festivals where I live — Cranberry Festival is coming up next weekend! — but one I’d love to have every day is “Keep Right Unless You’re Passing” day. Wish I knew why people on highways thought those “slow traffic keep right” signs applied to everyone but them.
4.) Bringing patio furniture indoors, planting bulbs and still mowing the damn grass well into late November (I live in southwestern BC).
posted by Beth on 10-3-2009 at 10:07 pm
2.My friend’s dad is nice, but her mom behaves so horribly at restaurants that we have actually lost count of the times she has brought waitstaff to tears. They eat out every night. The managers of every restaurant they frequent in TWO CITIES know this woman by name, and start warning new employees when she arrives. My friend’s dad is a very big tipper, out of necessity, or they would’ve been banned. I wish I were kidding.
4. There’s nothing better than sitting on our porch swing in a cozy sweater with a mug of hot apple cider, enjoying the “smell” of autumn and watching the sun set on the brilliant leaves of our two huge oaks, and then going inside to a roaring fire and screaming at the college and NFL football games. We always have a pecan pie, a pumpkin pie, homemade pumpkin bread . . . and come on, you’ve got to have dishes of candy corn pumpkins, too!
posted by Valkyrie on 10-3-2009 at 11:31 pm
@ Amy
that’s so funny, the number one comparison I’ve ever received was Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Then the movie came out with Scarlett Johansson, and now I receive undercutting comparisons to her “OMG. LIKE YOU LOOK LIKE SCARLETT JOHANSSON WITH BAD SKIN, BUT LIKE..THAT’S OKAY.”
The fact that I have a similar body also propels these comparisons, but I’d rather get no comparisons then comments about acne.
posted by Katie on 10-4-2009 at 1:55 am
1. I have gotten Halle Berry (don’t see it), Beyonce (don’t see it), and even gotten Jessica Alba (really don’t see it). Whenever someone comes up to me and says one of those, I look at them cross-eyed and laugh. Please, if I looked like them, I’d be much hotter and famous!
2. I can be a pain in the ass when it comes to coffee, since I’m lactose intolerant. So I can only order from places that carry non-dairy products. I also will order several mixed food dishes (like pankcakes, hash browns/corned beef hash, eggs, and some sort of pork alternative) for breakfast after eating
4. Any International Business Networking Conventions…Detroit needs the boost!
posted by Jen on 10-4-2009 at 4:38 pm
1)I get Chris O’donnell, scott caan,and the occasional matthew mcconauhey. Not bad company but I definitely do not do as many sit ups as these dudes.
2)I once dated this girl who had to have almost every meal specially made, nothing she ever ordered was actually on the menu. Then she would complain when it wasnt right.
3)I live in Delaware there is no reason to come here, Im moving back to NJ.
4)Fall ritual, first major college football saturday, windows open, a case of guiness, steaks on the grill with football and tunes all day.
posted by CJ on 10-4-2009 at 7:27 pm
Okay, after reading everyone else’s answers for number 1 and laughing hysterically, I feel I should say: “I get Angelina Jolie all the time!”:)
Yeah right to most of the answers on here.
posted by Cara on 10-4-2009 at 9:58 pm
2. My dad is beyond cheap — he thinks dinner should cost no more than $10 — and he’s a TERRIBLE tipper. To the point that my sister and I will “forget” something at the table so we can sneak back and add more than the 3 percent he left. When we point out that the servers make far less than minimum wage and depend on tips for income, he says “They should get a better job, then.”
posted by Karen In Japan on 10-5-2009 at 5:24 am
1. I constantly get that I look exactly like someone everyone knows. I’ve even been hugged by strangers in cases of mistaken identity. But I used to get that I looked like Patricia Arquette a lot. No one has said that in a long time, though.
2. I used to wait tables and it annoyed me when customers raved about my service, then left a 5% tip (this was in a fairly upscale restaurant). Like they think their compliments make up for the fact that I’m still broke because people are cheapskates. It was so rampant that I cringed when people told me how wonderful the service was. You could set your watch by their lousy tips.
posted by BMC on 10-5-2009 at 3:11 pm
@Cara excuse me I mean Ms Jolie.
I think if you saw me in person you would be pleasantly suprised.
posted by CJ on 10-5-2009 at 10:52 pm
1. I was called Doogie (no connection to my name) for most of high school in the early 90’s. Apparently, I looked a lot like Neal Patrick Harris. I never saw it, but would hear it on a regular basis.
posted by Tim on 10-6-2009 at 4:54 pm
1. I’ve spent about an hour of my life over the last 20 years, talking to people who think it’s amazing how much I look like Keith Hernandez (formerly of the NY Mets). My wife even had a picture of me on her desk and regularly heard ‘I didn’t know you where married to Keith Hernandez.’ I also have been told I look like Freddy Mercury of Queen.
2. My brother in law, like many others, can’t order anything in a restaurant without modifying it, or making up his own item not on the menu. We have a favorite sushi restaurant that we won’t even tell him exists, because we don’t want to take him there and embarrass ourselves.
posted by Stew on 10-8-2009 at 5:29 pm
1. I have a famous doppelganger out there she just so happens not to be a celebrity. Often times people think I am someone I am not. Usually I pretend to be that person to make them feel better.
2. My parents are very picky about restaurant seating. Usually when we go out to eat we get seated, my parents examine our seating spot, and then decide we should move to a better spot. I have to admit I have picked up the habit from them too.
3. I think Madison, WI has the International Cheese Festival, which is perfect because Wisconsin is the Dairy State.
4. Our fall tradition is to go to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard and usually some sort of haunted house.
posted by Emma on 10-16-2009 at 2:45 pm