E
Elaine Parrish
Guest
On Mon, 19 Dec 2005, jmcquown wrote:
> elaine wrote:
> > " <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> > No - why should they have to move. Explain (with vigor) the problem
> > with the smelly woman. And suggest ever so strongly that she (they)
> > should be reseated.
> >
> > If that is not a possibility perhaps get a rain check (free meal?) for
> > another time.
> >
> > That would be my request.
> >
> > Elaine
>
> You make a good point. However, the perfume-doused woman might well be a
> regular customer whereas the OP made it sound like this was a first-time
> visit. Which one would the restauranteur rather not offend?
>
> Jill
>
I agree, Jill. That can be a difficult call, too.
As well, restaurants have a hard time trying to balance the "wants" of
everybody. Many times the "wants" of customers are unreasonable.
In a perfect world, each person's "rights" would begin and end at his/her
own table and no one would ever breach them. But it doesn't work that way.
Restaurants must draw lines. Some are easy - drunk; *excessively*
obnoxious, loud, difficult; grabby; improperly dressed; etc. Some are not.
Customers don't seem to realize that they have responsibilities and not
just the kinds outlined above. People who go out to dinner *in a public
place* are not renting the whole place. They know in advance that there
will be others there (or they wouldn't want to eat there, either) and
"others" come in a very wide variety. All a restaurant can 'reasonably' do
is to try to set standards that minimize the fact that there is more than
one table in the place.
My party and I were in a fairly nice restuarant one night. At the next
table was a couple with a man that had the nervous habit of jiggling his
leg up and down. The problem was that everytime his heal came down, it
"clicked" against the chair leg. It wasn't like a bass drum or anything,
but about the 200th time it happened, I wanted to scream. It was like
someone clicking a pencil against the desk. As irritated as I was, I knew
that this was not across the line of "throw the jerk out because he is
giving me a headache". It was the price of eating "in public" and catching
a "bad draw." The restaurant was not "responsible" and should not have
taken any action against that customer.
I agree that the OP had the right to ask to be moved. I don't think the OP
had the right to demand the stinky lady be moved or to ask for a "rain
check" or expect a free meal (any customer that had made anyone of those
demands would have been the customer I would have chosen to "lose". In
the long run, that kind of a customer costs more than they are worth.)
Restaurant customers are some strange ducks.
If one goes to a
store (of any price range) and, when (not if, when) they encounter people
talking too loudly, or poking along so you can't get around in some isles,
or they have a screaming baby or they are dancing in the aisles with shoes
or tank tops spread all over the area, *nobody* rushes off in a huff to
find the manager and demand that all these people be thrown out "because I
am a serious customer!"
When one gets to the check out counter that is 6
or 8 deep and one waits patiently while every little blue hair watches
every item pass before she *even* begins to rummage through her purse to
find her wallet, which is, of coures, in the very bottom and then all she
sha is dollar bills - maybe 100 of them - that she counts out carefully
one at a time to the cashier and then counts them again before she
gathers up her stuff and shuffles out. Do you chew the cashier out? Well,
do you??? *NO* Do you tell her she is slow as molassas and that this long
wait you have endured is her fault because she was waiting for the items
to sprout legs and jump into the bags. She could have moved along faster.
So, you feel you are entitled to a discout for the long wait. You would do
it in a restaurant where your butt was in a (kinda) comfy chair with some
thing cold to drink.
So now, one gets home with all of one's packages and finds that one has
gotten a faulty item - a blow dryer that won't work, or a a toaster that
won't toast, or a vacuum that sucks because it won't suck. So, back to the
store you go. Have you ever said, "This doesn't work and I want one that
that does work and I expect you to give it to me for free because I
expected something better or different, I've wasted all this time and now
my whole day is ruined. This shopping trip was supposed to be orgasmic
and now it is ruined...all ruined!"
Of course you wouldn't (well, most of you wouldn't), but it happens in
restaurants all the time.
(If you are out there wishing for a restaurant of your own: Be careful
what you wish for. You just might it!)
Elaine, too
> elaine wrote:
> > " <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> > No - why should they have to move. Explain (with vigor) the problem
> > with the smelly woman. And suggest ever so strongly that she (they)
> > should be reseated.
> >
> > If that is not a possibility perhaps get a rain check (free meal?) for
> > another time.
> >
> > That would be my request.
> >
> > Elaine
>
> You make a good point. However, the perfume-doused woman might well be a
> regular customer whereas the OP made it sound like this was a first-time
> visit. Which one would the restauranteur rather not offend?
>
> Jill
>
I agree, Jill. That can be a difficult call, too.
As well, restaurants have a hard time trying to balance the "wants" of
everybody. Many times the "wants" of customers are unreasonable.
In a perfect world, each person's "rights" would begin and end at his/her
own table and no one would ever breach them. But it doesn't work that way.
Restaurants must draw lines. Some are easy - drunk; *excessively*
obnoxious, loud, difficult; grabby; improperly dressed; etc. Some are not.
Customers don't seem to realize that they have responsibilities and not
just the kinds outlined above. People who go out to dinner *in a public
place* are not renting the whole place. They know in advance that there
will be others there (or they wouldn't want to eat there, either) and
"others" come in a very wide variety. All a restaurant can 'reasonably' do
is to try to set standards that minimize the fact that there is more than
one table in the place.
My party and I were in a fairly nice restuarant one night. At the next
table was a couple with a man that had the nervous habit of jiggling his
leg up and down. The problem was that everytime his heal came down, it
"clicked" against the chair leg. It wasn't like a bass drum or anything,
but about the 200th time it happened, I wanted to scream. It was like
someone clicking a pencil against the desk. As irritated as I was, I knew
that this was not across the line of "throw the jerk out because he is
giving me a headache". It was the price of eating "in public" and catching
a "bad draw." The restaurant was not "responsible" and should not have
taken any action against that customer.
I agree that the OP had the right to ask to be moved. I don't think the OP
had the right to demand the stinky lady be moved or to ask for a "rain
check" or expect a free meal (any customer that had made anyone of those
demands would have been the customer I would have chosen to "lose". In
the long run, that kind of a customer costs more than they are worth.)
Restaurant customers are some strange ducks.
If one goes to a
store (of any price range) and, when (not if, when) they encounter people
talking too loudly, or poking along so you can't get around in some isles,
or they have a screaming baby or they are dancing in the aisles with shoes
or tank tops spread all over the area, *nobody* rushes off in a huff to
find the manager and demand that all these people be thrown out "because I
am a serious customer!"
When one gets to the check out counter that is 6
or 8 deep and one waits patiently while every little blue hair watches
every item pass before she *even* begins to rummage through her purse to
find her wallet, which is, of coures, in the very bottom and then all she
sha is dollar bills - maybe 100 of them - that she counts out carefully
one at a time to the cashier and then counts them again before she
gathers up her stuff and shuffles out. Do you chew the cashier out? Well,
do you??? *NO* Do you tell her she is slow as molassas and that this long
wait you have endured is her fault because she was waiting for the items
to sprout legs and jump into the bags. She could have moved along faster.
So, you feel you are entitled to a discout for the long wait. You would do
it in a restaurant where your butt was in a (kinda) comfy chair with some
thing cold to drink.
So now, one gets home with all of one's packages and finds that one has
gotten a faulty item - a blow dryer that won't work, or a a toaster that
won't toast, or a vacuum that sucks because it won't suck. So, back to the
store you go. Have you ever said, "This doesn't work and I want one that
that does work and I expect you to give it to me for free because I
expected something better or different, I've wasted all this time and now
my whole day is ruined. This shopping trip was supposed to be orgasmic
and now it is ruined...all ruined!"
Of course you wouldn't (well, most of you wouldn't), but it happens in
restaurants all the time.
(If you are out there wishing for a restaurant of your own: Be careful
what you wish for. You just might it!)
Elaine, too