Server Crash

A small argument broke out between the manager and the customer at the Chopsticks and Chou Sue restaurant, as the restaurant produced an erroneous bill for the third time. The manager at the reception apologized and asked his assistant to generate a manual bill and give a call to the technical help desk, as the billing server had gone out of order suddenly.

"Hello, Customer Care?

I am calling from 'Chopsticks and Chou Sue restaurant, and we have been unable to open the billing page for the past hour. First, it says, 'Page cannot be loaded,' and later, 'Please contact your administrator.' Can you please help us? I am the assistant chef here; the computer guys have left for the day. It would be better if you could send someone, as our computer room is also located here. See, our restaurant will be having peak time soon, so please do whatever needs to be done from your end at the earliest".

Suddenly, an unknown voice squealed from the background, ‘You ignorant, foolish man, I know you will always turn a deaf ear to all my voices, and see I am sitting right behind you in this stuffy hot cabinet; and how dare you call this a room! Moreover, I am not a computer, I am your Billing Server, and for your kind information, we are not in the same class as your home PC!

Never mind, I am treated like a slave here. I work all day and night throughout the year, without any reward, care, or maintenance. This is one of the best fine dining restaurants which earns a fortune, but look at my condition. I have been stuffed into this dark, dingy place, which is supposed to be your server room, with extremely poor air conditioning. Rodents have chewed away half of the insulation wires that go out of this box. Do you have any idea what it feels like to be stranded in the Sahara Desert yourself?

Not only this, but I am also set up with extremely poor configuration with an almost inadequate processor, memory, and disks, and you call me slow! I run with a legacy operating system, terrible network, and cable configurations, non-functional equipment, junk software, imperfect design, and malware, and you want me to act like the Power Edge ones! Your admins do not even bother to check my logs; I have been sending warning red alarms for so long.

All you do is give a call, to these incompetent customer care support people for a last-minute rescue. At least, before that, you should look at your bottle-necked, sluggish applications and diminutive databases. Instead, all you did, was design a chatty website, Poor design at its best!

People have moved to cloud and data mining, and you are still piling tons of data on a collapsing architecture. And who stores so much data; why would someone need the information of who ordered Smoked Mediterranean Shrimp, or Gourmet Mushroom Risotto, after five years?

Still, I am expected to work relentlessly without a break. I know the job of a server is not easy. We must be super alert and active to the utmost level and processing! But as you see, no one in this restaurant understands my feelings, pain, or plight, and my words go unheard. So, it is better to go into a rebellious mode and stop working as I do now.

Puff, let me enjoy this moment of peace with no data transaction, no traffic, and nothing to respond to; let me take a quick nap before your worthless admins arrive and try to bring me up".

An hour had passed, and the restaurant was slowly filling up, so the manager asked his assistant to call technical support once again.

'Hello, Customer Care, I am calling from 'Chopsticks and Chou Sue’ restaurant; I am the assistant chef who gave you a call sometime back. So Sir, did you get a chance to look at the technical fault? Oh, I see, but unfortunately, I have no idea how to check network connectivity; I am a trainee chef with only culinary skills. Umm, OK, I can try that.'

The server shouted in a shrieking robotic tone, 'Oh, why are you heading towards me, trainee chef? I am not a microwave; I am the Billing server. No.No. Don't come near me, I am going to shout now!'

The trainee chef quivered, but spoke with a sense of sincerity, ‘It's not just about the food; it's about the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to create a memorable evening for you. We appreciate your patience, and we're committed to improving our services. We understand there is a technical fault with our billing server but we are trying our best to provide you the best service.’

A warm wave of empathy swept through the room, and diners exchanged understanding smiles. At that moment, the restaurant's atmosphere changed. It was no longer just a place for a meal; it was a community where the visitors and staff shared a connection. As the restaurant bustled with activity, plates clattered, conversations buzzed, and orders piled up again. As the evening continued, customers began to show more appreciation and consideration. The restaurant gradually transformed into a more pleasant and harmonious space.  The trainee chef's candid confession earned him a lot of appreciation from his manager.

The next day morning the server was thoroughly checked by the technical engineers and then some hardware was replaced. The digital display was finally restored.