Tales from the Pit - Pain or just plain crazy?

Earlier tonight, there was a customer who came back from a week ago. His mannerism and voice oddly reminded me of those prospectors who sought for gold during the 19th century mining eras and also from those films set in the Old West. I could tell that he worked for the city and judging by the state of his attire, I determined that he was likely a power plant worker. He was a wiry fellow, rather loud at times and possibly drinking beforehand

He came in, greeted me and proceeded to stare at the menu, his eyes furrowed in deep concentration. The dirt and grime on his eyebrows gave him the appearance of a orangutan who had just woken up. After resuming eye contact with me, he began his order.

"You guys sell ribs?"

"Yes, sir. We sell slabs and pork rib plates."

"You know, I'll take that rib plate of yours."

"All right, a number four it is."

"How many ribs do you get with that?"

"You get three ribs, sir."

"Only THREE ribs?!" He exclaimed, his face in disbelief.

I could easily tell that he felt that wasn't enough for him to eat. The plate came with 3 long end ribs, potato salad, beans, bread, pickles, onions, and BBQ sauce. It's a MEAL! He stared at the menu for 30 seconds and then stared at me, attempting to speak. Yet nothing came form his mouth really.

"Well, never mind. Thanks anyway." He walked out, muttering to himself something about "money" and "ribs."

The last time he came in was exactly like this. Only he got a menu the first time and walked out, only to come back later. We also had this exact same conversation over pork ribs as well yet that time, he decided to order something else. This time, he didn't. Needless to say, I couldn't really determine if I thought he was just mean or simply confusing.