Frum service providers share some of the most bizarre requests — and their efforts to accommodate
Accommodating interesting requests is part of my job. At one upscale Shabbos sheva brachos weekend in a hotel, with every possible upgrade, the baal simchah requested white-gloved waiters to serve the guests high-end whisky, wine, and… diet peach Snapple (his favorite drink). At another hotel weekend, the client requested that butlers in white jackets be situated every 15 feet in the lobby so the guests wouldn’t need to take a few extra steps to ask for directions.
Then there was a particularly memorable bar mitzvah weekend in a hotel. The baal simchah requested that the Yedidim Choir, together with Motty Ilowitz, sing “A Yiddishe Mama” in the middle of Shabbos lunch, in honor of his elderly grandmother. Well, what the customer wants, the customer gets! So we had Motty and the choir, in shtreimelach and Shabbos finery, singing this vaudeville oldie. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the song and the hotel made us evacuate the guests, but thankfully it was nice weather, and everyone got to take a walk and work up an appetite for the chulent.
And on the subject of music, that brings to mind an upscale musical production I once coordinated. It was summertime, and the client wanted it to be held outdoors. “No problem,” I said, “ but we’ll need a tent. We can’t play G-d with the weather.”
But the client said the budget didn’t allow for a tent, and against my professional opinion, insisted on going ahead with his plan.
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