Cast Iron Catastrophe
I used to work at this restaurant where we had seafood platters that were served on cast iron skillets on top of wooden planks. They were heavy to carry, needless to say. I was an experienced server and would carry those huge trays on my shoulder no problem. Well, one day, my table ordered six seafood platters, so I put them on a tray and hoisted it onto my shoulder.
At the time, I was 5’5″ and 100 lbs, so it was a lot for me. But I still got to the table without issues, with the tray over my shoulder and a tray stand in my hand. I put the tray stand down, but when I went to set the tray on top of it, I lost my balance. It was bad enough that I dropped six cast iron skillets, but then I realized where I had dropped them—right on top of this three-year-old kid, knocking him out of his seat.
Luckily he wasn’t injured; just covered in pounds of greasy fried seafood, fries, and sauce. He screamed, I screamed, and the parents screamed. It was pure chaos. Obviously, they got a free meal and a gift card. No tip for me, but I wasn’t even mad about it. I’m just glad I didn’t kill the poor toddler.