A few days ago my lovely wife, Christina, and I went to lunch together. We decided on La Parrilla here in downtown Lawrence because it has some of the most delicious food EVER. Period.
First a little background for those of you who have never been to La Parrilla. The restaurant has many tables and booths. You stand in line to order your food, then you are given cups for drinks (which you fill at your leisure) and chips and salsa if you desire. There is no wait staff per se; there are people who bus the tables and bring food out, but they don’t ask you if you want a refill on your Diet Coke if you get my drift.
We got there and found that there was a smallish line and not a single table or booth available. Well, that’s often the case. We’ve found that if we’re patient and wait to get a table until after we’ve ordered, someone will have finished up and it’s a small task to clear off the table and have a seat. This trip to the Land of the Fruit of the Gods was no exception. We finished ordering, received our cups and chips and salsa, and wandered to the only open booth in (or outside of) the entire restaurant.
As we approached the booth we noticed that someone had “forgotten” his or her jacket on the bench. (This is a common tactic for reserving one’s place.) Christina went and looked for the owner and found her in line, happily returning the garment. When she returned to our table, Christina said to one of her admirers, “Homey don’t play that.”
The woman who had attempted to reserve our table, after ordering her own food and finding that another table had opened up, came over to our table and attempted selflessly to give Christina a piece of her mind. I don’t, personally, believe that there was much mind to spare, so this gift might have been appreciated had she not begun calling my wife names. As soon as she said, “You know what? You’re just a jerk.” I lit up, faced her, and said, “Thank you for your input, have a nice day.” She didn’t immediately take the hint and as soon as she opened her mouth to utter another insult, I told her thanks, but no thanks.
We were actually cheered on by several of the patrons of the restaurant.
The lesson learned?
If you don’t get seated by someone from the restaurant, do NOT attempt to reserve a seat. Doing so only slows the entire process for the people who were in front of you in line. Thank you.