Restaurants

I find the allegations of classism in these comments misplaced. People are paid to provide a service, and the way they provide that service has a great influence over the customer's overall experience. Restaurants are a fiercely competitive business, and people don't need to go to them like they need to call a plumber or maybe hire an accountant. People go for the overall experience. Is it really too much to ask that restaurant staff observe some basic rules of etiquette to enhance that experience? Since when is it classist to insist that people do their job well? I suppose next you'll tell me that I was classist to expect the people I paid, last year, to deep-clean my house, to actually deep-clean my house, ceiling fans and cabinets included. Now, if friends were helping me clean out of the goodness of their hearts--and those that did, this past weekend, did so brilliantly--I would be less picky. But when I pay someone to do something I expect them to do it. And that means when I pay someone to serve me food, I expect them to do it without dipping their sleeve in my water glass, leaving me without answers about what's in the food I'll be eating, and verbalizing any observations they may have about my eating of the food. If that's asking to much, I'm happy to cook and serve my own food.

By the way, the waiter at Stardust answered my question about the provenance of the salmon with, "either Alaskan or Norwegian." Which is a huge distinction, environmentally and chemically. I asked if he knew which; he said he could check if it really mattered to me. Bad, bad, bad. Then, when neither party had room for dessert, he said, "yes, the chef is very generous with his portions." Bad. Just tacky.