So today is exciting for me. Back in December I went to visit my sister in Michigan. Today she is coming here, albeit she is bringing her two year old daughter, and she bought her a seat for the plane AND she's still paying about $5 more total than what I paid in December. I don't know how they stay in business.
So tonight, in honor of our parents' anniversary we (all the siblings) are taking them out to eat in the city. Picking the place was easy, for a change, because we have a voucher for free wine, appetizers and desserts at a specific place. Why do we have this generous voucher? Because we are idiots.
For those unsure, I can attest to the fact that being stupid in this country will get you rewarded. Perhaps it is wrong to make big general statements based on one incident, but I'm doing it anyway.
Last August, when said sister was here visiting, the siblings got together in the city having made a reservation at this particular establishment. Reservation for 10. We all got there on time, we found decent parking on the street (not always an easy feat in Manhattan, but a savings of about $30)and went inside to let them know we had arrived. Apparently, they were not ready for us, since they had seated another large party a few hours earlier, and those people had not yet left the premises. It was a beautiful summer evening so we stood outside talking while we waited. Mistake #1. We should have stood inside the restaurant, in all our loud boisterous glory, so that they would have to deal with us. We made it easy for them so they never had to tell us, "you know what? These people are really not leaving, we can't help you tonight." Finally, at one point, we all decided to walk to another place nearby. We left. But as we got around the corner it dawned on us that the second place was much more expensive. So before we made a decision to go elsewhere, we all went back just "to see" if perhaps our table was ready. WE WENT BACK!!!! Elapsed time: about 45 minutes. We spent the next half an hour alternately waiting and arguing (we're good at that) about where to go instead, until finally it was so late that one sibling had to get back home, his babysitter had a curfew. At this point the only option was a fast food place. Most of us left our cars and either walked or hitched a ride with babysitter brother to get there.
It was wacky. The next morning other brother, an attorney, wrote an e-mail to the manager who was not there the night before, describing what happened and our 90 minute wait that yielded us nothing but sore feet. The manager apologized, and offered the aforementioned vouchers, we we hope to use tonight.
We'll keep you posted......
3 comments:
NOW HOLD ON JUST ONE MINUTE (and the rest of you better back me up here)
I seem to recall that we have amongst us a sibling who is the fish in the bowl in 'The Cat in the Hat" who DID NOT LET US hang around inside the restaurant, make noise, ask, request, or even admonish any employees of the restaurant.
boof to you
re How the low cost airlines stay in business: They charge "a la carte" for the most basic items: an assigned seat, the first checked bag, soft drinks and water (!). The CEO of the "leader" in the field, RyanAir, said that he's considering charging to use the bathroom on the plane. In any case, they nickel and dime the average passenger until they get a decent fee for the ticket.
Plus, at these prices, I am sure many tickets are left unused and they get to keep all the taxes, excise fees, etc. they charge.
Finally, an insider recently confirmed to me that it's all excess inventory that they sell at these prices.
But no complaints: As a careful buyer, we can make out pretty well on these sales.
yay for brother lawyer if i do something stupid will you write letters and emails and dont forget to write a letter to hek
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