The Missing Shaker

A man was having dinner with his parents at a London restaurant known for its high cuisine. The food was superb, and the setting was complete with chandeliers, crystal, and silver-creating an elegant aesthetic. Nonetheless, when the mother's main course arrived, she felt the need for a little salt. Trying the three silver shakers that were on the table, she discovered each contained pepper.

She called the waiter over only to be told that she must be mistaken. Each table always contained two dispensers of pepper and one of salt.

A second attempt, however, showed that their table did, indeed, have three pepper shakers.

Horrified, the waiter immediately brought her a saltshaker. When it was time for dessert, the maître d' appeared, insisting that because of the oversight they choose something “on the house.”

The woman protested, “It's not that important.”

“But, Madame,” he replied in all seriousness, “what if you had been the Queen?”