Lovely Husband and I went out to breakfast with a few friends on Sunday. We chose a very yummy, but very popular Portland breakfast place-- Byways Cafe. If there is one thing to know about Portland and breakfast cafes it's this: get there before 9:30 am or wait. Wait for what could potentially be a very long time. We knew this little golden nugget of trivia about breakfast in PDX, but we woke up late and really wanted amaretto french toast, so we went anyway. There is a Starbucks down the street and picnic tables outside, and it WASN'T EVEN RAINING raining so we had no (well, few) qualms about sipping lattes and waiting outside for a table for five.
In good time we were seated. With bated salivary glands we waited for our breakfasts to arrive as the host set a table near us for four (the only vacant table in the whole place). As the host walked to the front of the restaurant to summon the lucky party who'd made it to the top of the list he passes a man and a woman who had just come in the front door. This man and woman survey the dining area and walk up to the table that has just been set for four. They sit. They SIT!!
My keen detective-like skills had semi-subconsciously taken in all of these events, but until now hadn't registered anything as out of the ordinary (plus I was really hungry and having trouble thinking about anything but my four giant slices of amaretto french toast with pecan butter and pure maple syrup).
They SIT? TWO people sat at a table for FOUR. I have years of experience eating breakfast in Portland and I KNOW the server wouldn't seat TWO people at a table that he'd just set for FOUR. This man and woman were interlopers! Or, ignorant diners who have not been instructed on the sacred waiting list positioned at the entrance of every breakfast joint in Portland worth it's pancake batter.
Luckily for all involved (meaning Type-A Morgan, and the cadre of hungry Portlanders outside) the host quickly took on the responsibility of enlightening said interlopers of said waiting list, letting them know that a table for two would likely be a 45-60 minute wait. They looked around sheepishly and exited the restaurant.
As they got up and left I released the air in my lungs that I realized I'd been holding-- so concerned was I that these people had even TRIED to jump the waiting list. As they left the restaurant a calming feeling washed over me and I was RELIEVED that justice, breakfast style, had been served.
My Daughter's Studio Apartment
14 years ago
3 comments:
Oh, I would have walked over to that table and let them know how PDXer's do it! Good thing your host was quick . . .
I was thiiiiissss close to getting up and saying something...
LOL.
Such is the way of the entitled life these days.
Just imagine what it is like for baby boomers watching the uninformed, so to speak, (or are they ignorant?), as they meander through life without considering what the accepted "norm" might be for even something as simple as walking across the street.
Does one need to be "instructed" in looking both ways before stepping into traffic? It is just accepted now that since pedestrians have/are entitled to the right of way that they are not required to take any responsibility in if they get flattened or not.
I am excited to see you both see the need for protocol to be followed!
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