A Night's Tale

Tonight, our tale begins at a fairly nice restaurant, where a family of 3 went to dine.  Not so nice that formal dress was required, but nicer than a local Denny's.  

The family should have known that it would be an interesting experience from the moment they walked in.  There are 2 entrances to this fine establishment and when the family first walked in, they were halfway through the restaurant, looking for a table, before anyone even acknowledged their presence.  The woman who finally did notice, kindly asked them to wait to be seated at the other entrance; apparently they could only be seated from one entrance?  So our dear family walked to the doors on the opposite side of the dining area, turned around, and... what do you know... the very same woman has followed them so that she could lead them back to where they were just standing and to seat them at the very table they had been standing next to.

But wait, it gets better...

Our heroes of the tale got their menus and didn't have to wait too long before someone came and asked if we they had ordered yet.  When the response was no, these 3 patrons thought that this kind fellow would help them out, but sadly, he called someone else over to take their order and walked away, leaving them hungry and alone.  They were able to make their requests and satiate their hunger in good time, so they did not suffer long.  When they completed their meal, the desserts were just too tempting to pass up and the family thought that they could quickly add these delicious looking morsels to their order.  

However, after many failed attempts at catching someone's eye (one heroine swears they were all avoiding eye contact with the family), the father figure finally just got up and grabbed 3 menus for the family to look at.  Again they attempted to attract the waiters' attention... waving arms, raising their hands like school children, calling out loud, and even kissing noises failed to attract the attention of the hardworking men and women.  A younger, more feisty member of this family finally decided to take matters into their own hands, so they stood up, walked across the room and told the manager that everyone would like to order dessert.  She came and took the order and our heroes/ heroine thought the fiasco would be over shortly.

But wait, there's more...

After finishing the scrumptious desserts, they again had to throw themselves at the mercy of the wait staff's attention; and again they found themselves lacking that special something, which remains a mystery to us all.  When the family stood up in pretense of walking out, their bill miraculously made it's way to the table.  It was quickly returned with a credit card safely tucked away, and the party of 3 thought that finally they could make their way home in peace.  

But alas, it was not meant to be.  Apparently, all the patrons of the restaurant were preparing to leave at exactly the same time, which, of course resulted in chaos and confusion.  In order for anyone to receive their receipt and credit card, the entire room had to wait as 1 waiter made his way around, returning the other patron's receipts as he went.  One by one he made his way from table to table.  Such patience and diligence has never been seen, ever before, as he waited for each person to sign their receipt and take their card; he did not falter and did not move on until these simple acts were satisfactorily completed.  He did finally make it to our table, where we in turn were able to do our duty as patrons and sign on the dotted line.  Only then was everyone free to go.

Our poor family had waited an additional hour to get their dessert and bill.  I think they should consider themselves lucky, since it could have been worse.  And that is how our tale ends.  Tragedy or comedy?  It's all in the eye of the beholder.

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On a side note, there are some things here that I don't think I will ever get used to...