MovieChat Forums > Return to Me (2000) Discussion > Swiss Water

Swiss Water

posted 16 years ago by donnamartingraduate
19 replies | jump to latest

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but this is my favorite scene (one of my favorites) in the movie. Although I am not a waitress, I thought what Grace did was great. That loud mouthed bitch deserved the tap water! she treated Grace like crap. I work as a bank teller, and when people start screaming at me, and treating me like a second class citizen, I do what I can to get them the hell out of my window. If someone treats me with dignity and respect, they get treated with dignity and respect in return. I don't understand why some people feel the need to diss waitstaff. Don't they know what they can do to your food? Or in this case water??!!

"You lint licker!" ~~ Orbit gum commercial

[–] grumpybear_22 16 years ago

I know what you mean...I was a waitress at Pizza Hut...when I was a teen...I actually made a family of 10 walk up and leave..."they couldn't believe the horrible wait staff" all I did was treat them, the way they treated me...

daveramsey.com "Best thing to ever happen to us" Are you weird too?

[–] donnamartingraduate 16 years ago

Good for you! I think everyone should work with the public sometime during their lives. There is a lady at the bank that is such a bitch. She treats everyone badly. She is one of those women who probably married right out of school and started a family. Probably never worked a day in her life. (what I mean by work, is drawing a paycheck) But then there are the people who know you by name and always say hello. So you get the good with the bad.

"You lint licker!" ~~ Orbit gum commercial

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] BarronsGirl 15 years ago

They are awful. When the one says that she wants to call up the manager and "get that smart ass fired." I found myself thinking, "Psh, good luck with that bitch." As a part time receptionist I deal with people who expect me to be all-knowing of the ongoings of my work place and when I don't, they get impatient. So I definitely try not to be THAT kind of customer when I go places.

"Yes...No...To get to the other side...1.772..."

[–] Val-El 15 years ago

Her and her friend were just status seeking, money grubbing trollops

Actually, her friend was rather nice. Sure do agree with you about Marcia though!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Val-El 14 years ago

Actually,
the friend asked the question "Do you own it?" and you NEVER got a chance to see her reaction.!
After the doctor said he designed it the waterlady dismissed him out of hand.
In fact, Bob was uncomfortable with waterlady right from the start and he forgot her name but he remembered the other one's name.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] MystMoonstruck 14 years ago

To consider taking vengeance through their food and beverage is one of the most horrid things I've heard of! Anyone who would do that is such a low human being! You are in a job in which you can expect to have to take a lot of harsh treatment. That's the time to show what a GOOD human being you are! I cannot get over this attitude about people wanting to contaminate food and drink when serving people! Shame on you for even thinking of it!

I have been a waitress many years in my life, and I have endured harsh words and treatment. I even was bitten on the arm once! Never did I think of doing something as vengeance! It's part of the job, just as every job has its downside and bad moments. Whether a waiter, waitress or cook/chef, there is NO excuse for contamination/tampering! I mentioned this to my aunt who has always been a waitress (many decades), and she was shocked beyond words; and, this is a woman rarely at a loss for words. She said, "They TRUST us!" It doesn't matter how badly you are treated; it's no excuse to sink to their level. Besides, harsh words do not equal being nasty with their sustenance.

Be a civilized human being! No doubt you have mistreated employees elsewhere, whether at a restaurant or in a store. How would you feel if they sought vengeance against you in some way?

It's not something to even joke about. It's a notion that should be stamped out.

~~MystMoonstruck~~

[–] donnamartingraduate 14 years ago

I agree with what you're saying. But in the movie, Grace did not tamper with the womans water too much. She just gave her tap water. Now, if she spit in the water, that would be another story. God Bless you for what you do. Waitstaff puts up with way too much abuse.

"But you ain't got no legs Lt. Dan" ~Forrest Gump

[–] MystMoonstruck 14 years ago

Even that was wrong. She charged her for it, meaning she stole money from them since she dumped the good stuff for nasty old tap water. Actually, when I wrote that, I hadn't gotten to the scene of the woman's trickery with water. That really peeved me! Minnie Driver has sort of a low score with me because of "Beautiful" and "Good Will Hunting" though I understand separating actress and characters. I like her as the diva in "Phantom of the Opera". Having her play that trick... That's like a thumbs-up to waitstaff out in the world, let alone the horrendous examples in other movies.

No matter how angry or upset I would be, I never let it affect my service. I've had a lot of different jobs, depending on the economy: bookstore clerk, factory worker, high school English teacher, proofreader/Quality Control, copyeditor at city newspaper, and more. I tried to make sure that I never took out anything on others though it was extremely difficult at times. I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until I was 30something, but I always sensed that I needed to "mind my tongue". As you can see, I tend to step up on the soapbox.

Again: Any tampering is absolutely wrong. I've stopped waitresses from giving regular coffee to aggravating customers who wanted decaf. I told them that this could be a matter of health, especially pertaining to the heart. It's human decency at stake. To not "get back" proves that you are better than the ones who are less-than-perfect customers.

~~MystMoonstruck~~

[–] donnamartingraduate 14 years ago

I agree with what you said about the coffee thing...but harmless payback is just that. Harmless. The general public needs to be much more kind to service people. In fact, I think it should be a requirement for kids to graduate high school, with some kind of public service. It teaches them how to deal with all different kinds of people. I work as a bank teller, and put up with my share of abuse. You would not believe, how mean people get when you ask for a drivers license with a transaction, or about a bank product or service. I have been a teller for 22 years. Banking has changed SO MUCH!! I loathe the selling aspect of my job. I sold shoes at Sears during high school. I did the selling thing, and I didn't like it. But the big-wigs high on the food chain, don't want to listen to what their tellers have to say. All they see is $$ signs.
I really get angry when some bitch is screaming at the kid behind the counter at McDonalds, because the order was wrong, rendering the kid to tears. There is no need for that. People need to calm down. It's just food...and it's easily rectified. There is no need to make someone cry.

"But you ain't got no legs Lt. Dan" ~Forrest Gump

[–] Van-Fro 13 years ago

1. You do not know that she charged for it.
2. What kind of harm could come from Evian vs. tap water?

[–] aaq22 12 years ago

If youbwere horrified by that scene don't ever watch the movie Waiting... Lol

[–] BayouWhoDatGirl 12 years ago

Wasn't the bottle of water Dasani or Aquafina? Those brands are tap water.

Spinning... because knitting isn't weird enough.

[–] JohnECash 13 years ago

How did she treat Grace like crap? She didn't scream at her or anything. She just asked for a certain type of water in a nice, respectful manner.

[–] babychicken 12 years ago

Watch the scene again. Before Grace even opened her mouth the woman ordered "Water. Bottled. No tap water. And no Swiss Water, either. I got so sick off of Swiss water once." ect. in a very hateful tone. She even said something like "Write it down." and turned to her friend and said "I hate it when they don't write it down" and Grace said she got it, and when she left Marcia said something like "Can you believe that?" She was awful to Grace, and Grace did nothing to provoke it. Very spoiled society type, as if Grace was beneath her.

What Grace did was not wrong in any way. The woman didn't say she could not have tap water for any reason other than she didn't want it, she didn't had problems with tap water making her sick, or that she had to stay away from iron or whatever. We don't know if she was charged for it or not, but Grace did give Robert food when he left on the house, and that would have cost them more.

[–] bpoz 12 years ago

Nice, respectful manner??

Why do I suspect your post was tongue in cheek? :-)

The woman was rude and demanding and insulted the restaurant without ever having been there or even trying the food before passing judgment. As well as implying that the waitress would get the order wrong when she'd given no indication she was incapable of performing her duties.

[–] uscmd 12 years ago

Personally, I think the loud mouth, obnoxious lady was lucky to get off with only tap water. I've had friends that work in restaurants tell me stories of spitting in, or adding "secret sauce" to really bad diners food or beverage.

Consider that, the next time you are about to be mean to your server.

Its true.....what goes around, comes around. Karma. What we put out, into the universe comes back to us.