Imagine the worst thing that could happen in any situation, happening. Yup – Murphy’s Law!
According to the Murphy\’s Law Website, Murphy’s Law (”If anything can go wrong, it will”) was born at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 at North Base.
It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash.
One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.”
The contractor’s project manager kept a list of “laws” and added this one, which he called Murphy’s Law.
Well, I had my own little incident on Friday when we took friends from Edmonton of ours to dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel Restaurant Market .
We had just finished dinner, enjoying the last of our red wine and the server was bringing dessert and a cheese plate. Former sever that I am, I decided to “help out” by moving some dishes that were in the way. You have to know what happened next..RED WINE SPILL! This wasn’t all over the table, it wasn’t on me…nope! The only person it hit was my pal Randall MacDonald. Bad enough, yes…but to go one step further, he was wearing a light blazer and light pants…
Brad and I with Randall (on my left) and Darcy- Pre-Spill Smiles
I was tempted to put some white wine on the spill since that apparently acts a s a neutralizer and stain remover for red wine- but I decided I had done enough damage!
Thankfully, Randall chalked it up to “accidents happen” – but what IS the etiquette? Well, I apologized profusely and sent a note asking that he inform us should the stain not come out with dry cleaning. What else could I do? On the plus side (if there is one) it happened towards the end of the evening…but there was another complication, if my reaction/ solution was not appropriate, Randall would know…he is also a party planner and etiquette expert…argh!
Not sure if Randall and Darcy have any other tips or products at their store Call The Kettle Black (3 locations in Vancouver)…but lesson learned, white wine only for me!
Until we eat again (sans red wine!)
Dawn
Hey Dawn, you did handle this appropriately with your genuine apology and inquiries on my stain removal progress. Etiquette would dictate that you must show genuine concern and follow-up with the party concerned on progress or ability to make things right. I have admit after being attacked by the red wine in my bone coloured outfit I probably would have been shocked to have been struck a second time by my champagne!
I’m actually known for my stain removal abilities and am abit stubborn when it comes to getting them out. I haven’t met a stain whose beat me yet, so here are some tips. We often carry a product at our stores, Call The Kettle Black, called Wine Away. It is specifically designed for red wine spills ( I was actually wishing I had a can of it with me in my murse in stead of all the other junk in there
). So at the restaurant I got club soda and dosed my pants and jacket in the stuff (made for a chilly walk home). When I got home I tried several things on my pants and shirt from Javex to Spray n’ Wash, soaking them and several washings. However, the red wine just turned brown. As we have white carpets, you can imagine we’ve had several incidents on them (remember all the parties we’ve had!), so I turned to my old friend Resolve. It’s worked on our carpets and I figured I had nothing to loose as I couldn’t wear the pants/shirt like this, and it worked.
Now the coat is another thing. The specialist dry cleaner that I took the coat too said that soda water is the worst thing to do, so we’ll see if she’s right as I actually thought the red wine looked lighter. If they don’t get it clean, I’m trying the Resolve again!
So next time I have the pleasure to dine with Dawn, no red wine, and I’m wearing black only (or a body condom)
Randall
August 18th, 2010 at 3:12 pmI had many funny incidents in my life! Hope that Randall is not angry at you!!
August 19th, 2010 at 1:50 amOMG!!..of all people for it to spill on!…but while Randall may be a diva in his attire, he is also the consummate gracious gentleman and I’m sure all is well. I’m sure he still looked as fabulous as ever, wine stain and all!
August 21st, 2010 at 4:30 pmWell I thought I would update on the outfit. As I mentioned carpet cleaner worked on the shirt and the pants. Picked up my coat yesterday from Gellibrands in Edmonton and it is perfect!!! They are a fabulous dry cleaner and I told them they better get it clean or I was reverting to Resolve for the coat as well!!! Apparently it was a good motivator!!
So all is good with the outfit, still love Dawn, and it’s strictly champagne from now on for us!
Randall
August 25th, 2010 at 12:16 pm