My worst job? it was a sick joke
After wading through the huge response to our "worst job ever" competition (Caterer, 27 May), we have chosen a winner. Congratulations Amy Shantil Carney, front-of-house manager at Mezzo in London, who writes: "I once worked on a boat that made day trips up the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, visiting local wineries. One woman came along with her husband and was ploughing into the wine at a rate of knots. She was drunk by 11am and after lunch locked herself in one of the toilets and wouldn't come out - mostly because she was vomiting copiously. Her husband showed supreme indifference, telling me to 'sort it out' myself. I ended up having to go in there. This lady was covered, I mean COVERED, as were the walls, the floor, even the ceiling! I had to half carry her out on deck, covering my uniform and holding her sticky hands, while she cried and puked for another hour. Then I got to clean the toilets. Hurrah! I've kind of gone off boats now." Now that's what we call customer care. Amy, a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne is on its way to you.
Work those buns
Those burger boffins at McDonald's have come up with an innovative new way to combat obesity. The fast-food giant is giving away free music tracks to encourage rotund consumers to dance off their excess pounds. Customers who buy a Big Mac meal will be given an access code that can be used to download a free MP3 music track from the Sony Connect website. The scheme, already launched in the USA, will be launched in Europe next month.
The great turkish turn-on
A hotel on Turkey's south coast is hoping to put an end to rooms with dismal car park views by revolving the entire building so the scenery changes constantly. The Turkish hotel group behind the ambitious project, Marmara, has outlined plans to build the 200-bedroom hotel in Antalya. A bed of compressed water will support the property and ensure it keeps revolving. Marmara sales manager Aylin Renda revealed plans for the project at this month's Travel Turkey 2004 exhibition in Istanbul. Renda said guests would have a sea view at certain times of the day, and a mountain view at others.