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Margaret Suran[_1_]

wrote:
> Sharon wrote:
>
>
>> Case in point 2: After the "event coordinator" for a social club I
>>belong to suddenly quit,
>
>
> Do you wonder why? :0
>
>
>> At any rate, am I the only person who feels embarrassed when my guests
>>are shorted food or equipment because of logistic errors?
>
>
> It can be a stinker when things don't go as planned, but maybe you need
> to loosen up the must-have-control feeling?

What would you do under these circumstances? You invited three other
couples for dinner and Bridge. You prepared a nice dinner for eight,
chopped liver with black radish slices, consommé with Fridatten,
roasted duck with bread dumplings and red cabbage, beer or wine or
water with lemon slices, dessert, cheese, fruit, you know, the whole deal.

The table was set with the little chopped liver plates waiting on each
place mat, soon to be consumed by the hungry guests. The four
ducklings were out of the oven, cut into halves and resting on
individual dinner plates, while the dumplings and red cabbage were
still on the stove.

Six of us were in the living room, waiting for the last couple. The
doorman called from downstairs, announcing "guests"

I went to open the door and nearly fainted. Instead of the couple I
expected, four people were coming into my apartment.

"My cousins are in town", said the invited woman "and we thought it
would be nice if they came with us". I was holding on to the doorknob
for dear life, not wanting to collapse on the floor.

The woman continued, "I knew you would not mind".

Well, I did mind. The table was set for eight. There was barely
enough room for that many. There was no extra chopped liver, I had
made it from the duck livers and there was just enough for eight
portions. I had only the eight pieces of duckling, each just enough
for one person, not enough for more. If everything had not been on
plates, I might have been able to manage, but there was nothing I
could do or say.

We crammed two more chairs and settings around and on the table.
Erich and I gave our dinners to the uninvited guests.

There was enough soup. There was enough dessert. While the rest
played Bridge after dinner, Erich and I cleaned up, washed dishes and
scrounged for more food for ourselves.

There was no apology from the invited couple. No "thank you" from the
uninvited couple. We never invited either couple again, but I feel to
this day, that there should have been something I could have done.

How would you have handled this?