> She immediately says "oops", then proceeds
> to pick up both strawberries while placing it back
> on the plate, and then says with a smile, "Thank
> goodness for the 5-second rule." She then proceeds
> to place the dessert plate with the
> already-dropped strawberries on my table.
>
> I'm sitting at the table in a slight bit of shock,
> thinking to myself, "Did this just happen?" Before
> I could begin to process in my head of what just
> happened, the employee then says "Ha, ha, just
> kidding, I'll get you another dessert." She goes
> back into the back of kitchen to retrieve a new
> dessert.
IMO, the server definitely crossed the line as soon as she placed the plate with dirty food on Eric's table. Even if she was truly making a joke about the five-second rule and did not say it was a joke only after noticing Eric's negative reaction, it was unprofessional and unhygienic to put the plate with the dirty strawberries on Eric's table.
If I were the client, I might understand and forgive an awkward attempt at a joke, but not when the joke crossed the line into unsafe food handling practices.