Pet Peeve

Tonight I hung out with some new people at a restaurant, you know, just to shake things up a bit. Most of them were cool, but the guy sitting next to me completely ignored me. That's ok, I understand some people are shy, I'm not exactly the most outgoing person either. The service at this place was horrible, but we were trying to make the best of it. Even though the waitress took forever to bring out our food, we just tried to ignore our grumbling bellies and enjoy the each other's company. However, this guy next to me was just not having any of it. The waitress had already brought all our entrees, but we were still waiting on the rice (it was an Asian restaurant). She had confused our orders and didn't realize that we were waiting on it. Meanwhile, this guy's food had gotten cold, and he was not taking it well. He kept grumbling and saying, "My food's cold now, it's disgusting. I don't want it." The rest of us were in the exact same boat, but we were just trying to laugh about it, but he insisted on sulking. He told the waitress to just take the food away, untouched.

Now, I understand the need to send things back. I understand that waiters and waitresses are paid to bring out the customer's food in a timely manner. And I understand that bottling up negative feelings is not healthy. But the honest truth is, shit happens and sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches. It's one thing to make a (albeit, well-deserved) complaint to the waiter when you're in a small group. But to do so in a large group, especially among people you don't really know? NOT a good first impression. Had he simply told the waiter to reheat his food or to quietly send it back or, best yet, speak for the whole table in our dissatisfaction with the service, his actions would have been more appropriate. So of course, because of this one, guy, there was tension at the table. Everyone tried to ignore it, but I could still feel it, this angry heat radiating on my left side causing my whole body to feel tightly coiled. I'm a peace-loving person, I can't stand when anyone around me is upset or angry, and I will do all I can to restore that person to a happier state of mind. But with this almost complete stranger seated next to me, I felt trapped. I enjoyed most of the company I kept tonight, but you can bet, not only will I never return to that particular restaurant, I will do my best to stay away from the company of this particular boy.

And that concludes my nonsense rant for this morning.