Young woman wants to roar for rights
Dear Amy: My good friend and I live a considerable distance from each other.
Every two months, we meet at a restaurant that's halfway between our homes, to eat and catch up. These food/gab fests last about two to three hours.
We go to a place that's not overly popular, and we go on off hours.
There are plenty of available tables, so we're not taking up space that someone else needs. But still, I feel guilty about "parking" at this restaurant. I know it's a wait staff's pet peeve.
I always leave a large (think 30 percent) tip. Would it be more appropriate to just tell our server when we arrive that we plan to be there a while and hand her some "rent" money up front?
My friend thinks this is ridiculous, since there are very few other occupied tables during our stay. And aside from ordering dinner and dessert, we don't ask for any other attention from our server.
What is your opinion?
-- Pay to Play?
Dear Pay to Play?: Back in the Pleistocene era, during my own brief career waiting tables during the lunch shift, late-lunch parties such as yours were a familiar (and welcome) relief and wind-down from the craziness of the lunch rush.
Wait staff between the lunch and dinner shifts keep themselves busy preparing for the evening turnover. It is easy to do this and keep an eye on a quiet party of two who are lingering and enjoying themselves. If your waiter's shift is ending, you can settle your check and continue to enjoy your coffee.
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