When a server looks at the reservation books and sees that a large party is going to be sat in his section that evening, he can’t help but get a little bit hopeful about his financial prospects. Maybe the customers will be heavy drinkers with big appetites, and the gratuity will be driven high by a huge check total? My co-worker Matt was due to have a party of 7 this past Sunday, and we all watched his hopes go down the drain as two adults and FIVE little boys marched to their table.
At the end of the evening, Matt was happy and the rest of us were proven wrong as the parents ordered expensive food and wine, and the little boys eschewed the kids’ menu in favor of grown-up steaks and seafood. When it came time to leave, the father shooed the kids away by telling them to wait in the lobby for the valet to pull up. The boys ran off and enjoyed their new-found freedom, while the father stood up and pulled his wife in close. With one hand on his to-go bag, and the other on his wife’s ass, he enjoyed a mini-makeout session in the middle of our dining room.
Mind you, the restaurant was not full that evening, but neither was it empty. I stopped in my tracks and looked around as our other guests all got an eyeful of this guy french kissing the mother of his five boys, right next to table 42. Normally I’d say this behavior was inappropriate. But: FIVE LITTLE BOYS, Y’ALL. This. Was. Their. Only. Chance. I appreciate that this man found a way to fit the romance in however he could. Let those kids wreak a little havoc in the restaurant lobby, Mommy & Daddy will be there soon enough…
