<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359290848916365255</id><updated>2012-01-26T11:47:14.111-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Alice Variations</title><subtitle type='html'>between the click of the light and the start of the dream</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://thealicevariations.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7359290848916365255/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://thealicevariations.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>nick</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09556502448718602520</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>1</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359290848916365255.post-3286406676624834672</id><published>2011-07-18T20:29:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-07-18T20:31:43.908-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Etiquette</title><content type='html'>People, I need to speak about something.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wait tables. This is how I make my living. I am, I think, pretty good at it. Dining in my section means you will receive stellar technical service (yes, there is such a thing as technique), outstanding food and wine knowledge, charm, wit, my big smile and an all-around wonderful experience. And then. . .you need to get the fuck out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  All due respect, but the restaurant I work at is not your goddamn dining room. And I have no problem with anyone consuming bottle after bottle after bottle of wine over 3 and a half hours and 5 courses, their voices gradually getting louder and more boistrous before taking over the room completely (provided they tip well, of course).  I do have a problem with the following:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  Last night, my final table of the evening (a money-making 6 top) finished their entrees at 10:10pm. This is pretty early for a server to be done on a Friday night, so I'm thinking they'll order dessert and pay their check while I do my closing sidework and cash out the support staff, and I'll breeze out of Maria's Cafe at 10:45pm, head to the Lakeshore with the hopes of actually hanging out with my best friend, Will, for the first time in 2 months. In short, I was thinking I'd actually do something on a Friday night. This is not what happened. Instead, these 3 couples ordered one dessert and sat at my goddamn table until 12:15 in the morning. Let me make this perfectly clear: it took my table a full two hours to eat dessert, pay their check and leave. I guess this wouldn't be so bad except in the two hours I waited, I turned down 4 new tables that walked in (thinking I was leaving early) and the money that followed. If these people were sensitive, if they looked beyond their own tiny little world, if they stopped for a second to consider that sitting at a table in a restaurant for two hours after you are finished (without ordering anything else) is actually quite rude, it actually borders on loitering, maybe they would have thrown me an extra $50 on top of the 18% gratuity (which has happened before, and I'm a total whore so I would have taken it). But these people were assholes, they have no sense of etiquette, and if I ever see them again, I will fucking destroy them.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you for your time.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7359290848916365255-3286406676624834672?l=thealicevariations.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://thealicevariations.blogspot.com/feeds/3286406676624834672/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7359290848916365255&amp;postID=3286406676624834672' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7359290848916365255/posts/default/3286406676624834672'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7359290848916365255/posts/default/3286406676624834672'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://thealicevariations.blogspot.com/2011/07/etiquette.html' title='Etiquette'/><author><name>nick</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09556502448718602520</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
