Don't you just hate it when you miss an opportunity to do the right thing? Or even the smart thing? I don't think I am that great at thinking on my feet, but now I know what I would do next time. Last Saturday a friend and I went out for breakfast, well when I say breakfast I mean we had not long been out of bed and were hungry - it was midday when we arrived at the cafe. We asked if they were still doing a breakfast menu and they agreed to do eggs benedict for us even though they were now doing lunches - very thoughtful. We ordered that and a coffee each - collected a glass of water each and went to sit at a table.
There were only about 4 other people in the cafe - it was quite a small cafe though. We decided against sitting at the table in the window as it would be too cold and we chose not to sit at another small table near the counter - there were two tables pushed together and we sat at one end (utilising only one of the tables) of that. Our coffees came and then our meals. We were part way through our meal when a group of 4 or 5 people arrived at the cafe. The waitress then came to us and said our table was booked and could we please move to the window table - we said we didn't want to sit there as it would be too cold. I have to say at this stage we were absolutely stunned and did not respond appropriately - what we did do was pick up our meals and move to the table by the counter then return to the old table to collect our coffees and water. What we should have done was say no - we are eating and possibly suggested that they move the table we weren't using to connect with the one by the counter (requiring moving it by about 3 feet) for the newcomers to use.
I am embarrassed that we went along meekly with this outright rudeness and were not assertive enough to say no! And I am stunned that any establishment in the hospitality (check out a definition for that word) trade would treat any customers this way!
The name of the cafe? Misty River Cafe in Waipawa.
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