Friday, June 15, 2007
Dine-in Rule Number Two
If you're in a restaurant after they've closed and you're finished eating, get the fuck out.
A group of five people came in to Napoli's tonight about 45 minutes before we closed. They placed their orders, and all was well. We were slow, but we can't prepare to close early; there's always a chance some people will come in for a last-minute dinner. All was well -- I'm used to staying after we're closed to wait for customers to leave before I can vacuum anyway.
At 15 minutes 'til closing, another person came in and joined the party of five and ordered a slice of pizza. After another five minutes, they received their check and paid for their meal. Ten minutes later, at 10:00, we turned off our "open" sign. The two people who paid for everyone (a man and a woman) got up and left. The other four (all women) stood up with their purses. A moment later, the woman who had left came back in. Then, all five women sat back down. I had already vacuumed one section (out of three) of the store. Now, these five women who had already finished eating and paid for their meals, who knew we were trying to close (it's hard to ignore the vacuum), were sitting back down to chat for a while. I counted out my tips ($55.47 for 13 deliveries) and then vacuumed another section of the store, taking my time so the women might get the hint and leave. Finally, at 10:25, after I'd finished vacuuming two sections of the store, they got up and left. At 10:30, I was gone.
Now to get one thing straight, I don't mind sticking around half an hour after we're closed -- hell, it happens all the time. But these people were done eating by closing time and still decided to stick around. That's rude. If you're with some people you haven't seen in a while, that's fine. If you want to play catch-up and finish your conversation, that's fine too. But y'know what? You can do that in the parking lot. Don't waste our time because your fat asses are too lazy to get up.
