Thursday, July 27th 2006

Last week at a restaurant in P’town I asked for a glass of Sancerre. A few moments later someone other than my server came by to say that they were out. This was annoying for two reasons: I really wanted that wine, and our server should have been aware of that fact ahead of time. Somebody was clearly slacking. Disappointment is much more palatable when served swiftly. Hey Ho. No biggie. It was good to be on that end because now I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening to my guests.

Speaking of my guests, last night I walked into work to learn that my section was booked for a party of 14 and that I had to turn them in two hours for another party of 12. With nearly 60 on the books, these parties made up almost half of our reservations for the evening and there were many people turned away because we could not fit any more bodies. Sounds like good news, no? No. With few exceptions, large parties ruin the night for everyone like eighteen wheelers on a two lane highway.

The first party was due at 6:30. At 6:20 we received a phone call that they were running late. Given the state of travel in Boston lately, it was no surprise, just a mere disappointment that would throw everything off. I needed every single person to be in their seat at 6:30 for my magic to work. I contemplated how I could make things work out. Should I tell them that we were out of everything that took more than 15 minutes to prepare? Maybe pretend that they had a pre-fixed menu, order all 3 courses now and have the apps on the table as soon as the first straggler arrived? No. That would not fly. No matter how bastardly people behave I simply refuse to cheat. All I could do was wait.

At seven there were four people present. Sensing the aggravation, the host of the group apologized and I appreciated the sentiment, for the moment. The entire party wasn’t assembled until 7:30 and even then they were scattered about talking on cell phones, smoking outside and cluttering up the front of the restaurant. I was defeated and we had yet to begin. I had two other tables of nice, normal people that would most likely be the source of any real money to be made that night and I had to hussle them through like it was a soup line to accommodate the hoard. People were ordering bottles of wine then disappearing outside to chat on the phone. There was not one moment when all 14 people were at the table. In fact, they had called earlier to say that they were 13. I had the bus girl take away a setting and then when they all “arrived”, they were in fact 14. When the bus girl returned with the chair and silverware, a cocky woman said to her “Oh, you were short one”, she shot back “No, you’re one more than you said you would be.” Well done Holly!

I took my time, because I could not get everybody seated long enough to get their orders and I will be damned if I am going to obtain their orders in parts. That would be a tactical disaster with the kitchen and the last time I checked, I wasn’t a truck stop waitress! I finally decided that I was not going to be there all night while they ran up their mobile minutes on my watch. I took the order for 11 people and when I asked whether or not the other 3 would like to place their orders I was told that they had gone. THEY LEFT! I could not believe it. Three people make a difference. We could have easily arranged the table down to make way for additional more courteous and on time guests, but no I was stuck with these people.

I was worn down, my spirit broken I decided to accept my fate. There have been plenty of times where I have come out way on top and this was no big deal in the big picture. A minor upset. But, for the love of Pete, there could have been a more courteous manner that these folks could have adopted? In their defense, when it came time to pay up, the woman who was the first to arrive also paid and slipped me more than enough. In the end I suppose that’s all that really matters.

This entry was posted by Johnny on Thursday, July 27th, 2006 at 10:51 AM and is filed under Anthropology, Food & Wine, Just Life, Pet Peeves, Pounds, Schillings & Pence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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