A Hypothetical Game

A friend from out of town wanted to meet me at Maggiano’s near the King of Prussia mall for dinner and after meeting we tried to figure out how to get service at the restaurant.  The entrance had no door person nor was there a host station.  The restaurant lacked a directional sign and a lot of people were milling around waiting to be served and I was completely ignored by the bakery person as I wasn’t properly queued.  We went up stairs, and then down again, and then onto the main floor.  Finally, I asked the take out person: If I wanted to give your restaurant money after sitting at a table and eating food, where would I stand to be seated?

This struck me as a question that I shouldn’t be required to ask much like a properly designed door should tell you that it’s a push or pull affair.  The wait was 30 minutes so we walked to another restaurant where the host station was perfectly recognizable and after a few minutes of standing there without recognition I stopped a server.

Me: Sir, I’m in a very insecure state and need to know that this is where I should stand if I wanted to get a table.
Waiter: Yes, this is the place.
Me:  Really?  *fist pump*
Waiter: The hostess is here but… distracted.  I will seat you.

This made me think she was either chasing butterflies or being nailed in the coat closet, either way, he seated us and my personal need for recognition went away around the time my Caesar salad came out.