Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The Friendly Waiter

Okay, I have just come back from a girls’ night out, and I am here to tell you that the friendly waiter is not a good thing! I only get a night out with Stacey and Andrea every 2-3 weeks, so when we get together, we have a lot to discuss before it is time to get back home to the hubby and kids.

So here we were sitting outside at Old Chicago embroiled in a very graphic sexual discussion, when our waiter saunters over. We all shut up as the waiter approached. The waiter stood there making idle chit chat, and we were all hoping he would leave because we really wanted to get back to our discussion.

So what does the waiter do? Dude! He pulls out a chair and sits down! I am not kidding. The guy sat down at our table, and proceeded to tell us about his high school experience with his mom’s boyfriend who moved in with them and tried to act like his father. I wish I were kidding, but I am not. This guy obviously had some deep-seeded psychological issues.

Now I am all for friendly waiters, but when I am out with my friends, please do NOT sit down at my freaking table! I was just wondering if this ever happens to anyone else? And once the waiter is sitting down, then what do you do? It’s not like you can just say, “Dude! Get your ass out of that chair and bring me some nachos.” Well, okay, maybe some people can say that, but I can’t. I just sat there and gave lots of “yeah,” “oh really” “mmmm” “oh, that’s too bad,” until he FINALLY left us alone!

Needless to say, we totally forgot what we were even specifically talking about in our sex discussion. Grrrr. . . I don’t like it when someone ruins my train of thought. So, my question to you is this: How in the hell do you get rid of the overly friendly waiter?

7 comments:

Justin said...

Waiters and waitresses are there to serve you. I've found that, if you calmly comment "We are fine right now, thank you" or "We would like to finish our conversation, thank you", they get the hint. If not, a very direct "Could you please excuse us? We would like to continue our conversation." and staring blankly until she/he leaves works too.

If the server simply does not get it after that or insists on conversing, this is a problem, not only for you but also because the server should realize that she/he is not providing you appropriate service. Asking to speak to a manager or head server at this time is appropriate.

I think I'm too used to the servers in London who don't even do the whole chit-chat thing. It is much more pleasant. I usually go to a restaurant to have a nice time with my friends, not to meet the server, so some idle banter to put us at ease is welcome but not a disruption of our conversation.

Anonymous said...

I'd be wanting some nachos too... Along with the scoop!

:-P)

Desert Songbird said...

"There's a big tip in it for you if you get up and leave us alone for now, 'kay?"

Gayle said...

I would have ignored him, looked the other way. And kicked my husband under the table because he would have been chatting away!

Thea @ It's Me Vs. Me said...

I think I would have just stared at him in utter disbelief.

Rachel said...

Maybe you should try to drink all of your soda or water or whatever and then start sucking on the straw and making that "oh my soda/water is empty" and hopefully he's not too stupid that he doesn't realize that you need a refill!

Hope that helps!

Not So Anonymous Michelle said...

You should have just gotten back into your graphic conversation, that may have gotten rid of him! hehe