Rhonda Anderson wrote:

> A group of us had to go to Canberra for a conference a couple of weeks
> away. First night there we went to an Irish pub for dinner where they used
> the system where you order at the counter and are given a number to take
> back to your table so they know where to bring the food.

Yuck, I hate it. I expect service like that from a fast food place.
I go to a restaurant, I want to sit down and have someone take my
order. No, I wouldn't go there again. Talk about impersonal.

I did go to this restaurant once, in Baltimore. Yes, leave it to me
to be unable to find crab cakes in Baltimore. So, wound up at the
Chart House, which in Boston is (was?) a nice restaurant. This was
more casual. Waitress came over, if you like our sandwiches, I'll
give you a token. Huh? We were looking at her thinking, well keep
the token, we're just visiting for the day. (laugh) Well, turns
out, if you wanted a sandwich, you had to take your token and go
stand on line. Well, I did, but that is a non-starter for me. I
feel like standing on line I'll go to Wendy's.

> We were discussing this system, and one of my colleagues told of his
> experience at a restaurant at, IIRC, Singapore airport (perhaps another
> airport, my memory's not that good). The table number was on a statue and
> when the waiter delivered his meal he tipped the statue over. My colleague,
> thinking nothing but to make the table look neat again, righted the statue.
> The waiter came over shortly after, asked if everything was OK - on being
> assured that it was, he tipped the statue over again and left. My colleague
> righted the statue again, almost straight away (I think he was wondering
> why the waiter kept tipping it over!) and shortly thereafter the manager
> appeared to ask if he was sure that everything was OK. Yes it was, he said,
> why?
>
> Apparently, the system in place at this restaurant was that if you wanted
> something you raised the statue upright - when the waiter had dealt with
> you, it was laid on its side again. So, it seems that some places already
> have the flag system, albeit in other forms <g>.

Yeah, I just love dining in situations where you need to know the
secret handshake. How do they expect people to know if you don't
tell them? Like places where they expect you to pay up front but
just leave the bill and disappear. That's not customary for me, it
would be nice if they'd say, pay up front when you're ready. Instead
I sit there waiting for them to come back for the money.

nancy