'What else did she think dirty meant?': Woman orders two Dirty Shirley Temples, yells at server when she learns what that means

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 23, 2023 4:00 PM EDT

This lady is either not very bright or she just got herself two free drinks. In other words, she might actually be the brightest of them all. 

 

According to the Redditor, a server came up to OP in a panic frantically asking what they thought a "dirty Shirley Temple" meant. Of course, OP said that was a boozy Shirley Temple, but evidently, the lady who ordered the drink didn't know and threw a fit. What do we think she meant? Dirty as in she wanted a dirty glass? Dirty as in she wanted olive juice in it (gross)? 

 

We're of the mindset that this woman knew exactly what she was ordering. She just wanted to get free drinks out of this… and honestly, it's all kind of iconic. If this is true, we admire the commitment to the bit. Keep scrolling below for the full story. For more, here are some other tales from your server!

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  • 01
    Martini glass - "What else did she think dirty meant? A dirty glass?!"
    via Michael Cummins
  • 02
    Font - "I didn't order alcohol in my dirty drink!" Long Hello, it's me again. Back with another story from my job. I'd been meaning to get this one out here, but I kept forgetting. have many more stories about my workplace, but this one is really sticking with me.
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 03
    Font - As some of you may remember, I work as a hostess at a country club. Often times, when I am not busy, I'll help the servers with bussing and table turnovers. And other times, servers will take a short break to come up and chat with me (I.e. complain about a particularly irritating/nasty customer).
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 04
    Font - This particular night, about two months ago, nothing really special was happening. It was a little busy, but it wasn't insane. A normal weeknight, I suppose. Imagine my surprise when one of my servers (20NB) jogs past my stand to the offices. I shrugged it off, thinking they might have some food in the kitchen they needed to get out. Nothing too uncommon, but this server usually doesn't run like that.
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 05
    Font - Five minutes later, they comes back and leans an arm on the stand, sighing. "OP, what do you think of when I say "Dirty Shirley Temple"?" "Uh, a Shirley Temple with alcohol in it. Why?" "That's what I thought, too!" They whisper scream to me. Oh boy, what kind of crooked has been brought upon us this time? "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what happened?"
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 06
    Font - "The lady in the middle booth asked me for a 'dirty Shirley Temple'. I asked her twice if she really meant she wanted it dirty. She drank two of them, but now she doesn't want to pay for the drinks because she didn't order alcohol in it." Record scratch. Blue screen. Television snow from the 90s. Somehow, I managed to snap myself out. "What else did she think dirty meant? A dirty glass?!"
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 07
    Font - "I don't know, OP, but did I mess up?" At this point, they're upset because they thought they ruined someone's AA or something. "No way, that lady is in her 40s, minimum. Even if she didn't know that dirty meant alcohol, she would have either tasted it or figured it out after the second drink."
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 08
    Font - I don't remember much more because we had to get back to work, though I did go back and take another look at this lady just to be sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. They were not, she was greying at the temples. The lady ended up getting the drinks comped (I guess she put up a big enough fuss to management), but this is truly one of the more baffling things we've come across. The server is still annoyed by this story, too. I mean, it was two shots of vodka that she essentially got
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 09
    Font - Tank-Pilot74 - 13 hr. ago She knew exactly what she was doing 1.0k Reply Share
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 10
    Font - A_Roka 13 hr. ago. edited 13 hr. ago . Yeah, she wouldn't have used the term "dirty" otherwise. Thats an experienced drinker right there 445 Reply Share
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 11
    Font - cabird78 12 hr. ago Dirty tactics from a dirty drinker. T 184 Reply
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 12
    Font - omgitskells 13 hr. ago I'm trying to do some mental gymnastics to guess what she could have possibly wanted if she wasn't lying (but she was lying). She couldn't possibly have wanted olive juice in a Shirley Temple? That would be nasty! In the barista world, "dirty" means adding espresso to a non-coffee beverage, like a dirty chai latte, but that would also be nasty in a Shirley Temple. Wow. 336 Reply Share
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 13
    Font - as Puppyprofessor 13 hr. ago I didn't know dirty Shirley temples were a thing. Love them as a kid gonna try a dirty one now that I'm over 21. 118 Reply Share
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 14
    Font - Muufffins 13 hr. ago Did you ever figure out what the customer actually wanted? ↑ 42 Reply Share Nezrite 13 hr. ago Free drinks, apparently. 153 Reply Share
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 15
    Smile - rose_buds 11 hr. ago . My manager calls a Dirty Shirley a Judy Garland. Dark, but hilarious.
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 16
    Font - Ok-Perspective-4538. 13 hr. ago edited 9 hr. ago Even if she meant olive juice like a dirty martini, how do you not notice the absence of olive juice in the first one?
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1
  • 17
    Font - AshDenver 13 hr. ago . Dirty, to me, means you added olive juice to a Shirley temple and I gagged.
    via u/ThePathUntaken 1

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