Yesterday I got to work at 1:00 as always. Hit play on the answering machine. 3 messages.

One was a cancellation.

One was a reservation for next weekend.

One was a man asking if we had menus without prices available. He was celebrating an occasion and wanted the table to order with caring what things cost.

I returned the first two calls. Then waited to speak with chef before calling call three back.

He’d created a menu without prices over Xmas for a woman treating her daughters boyfriends family to dinner.

Chef assured me he had it on his computer.

I call the man back.

We chat for about 90 seconds. He’s happy about the menus. He wants to make sure he gets the check. And he wants three desserts brought out when it’s time for dessert.

I take the notes. Tell him we’ll take care of it.

I think nothing else about it.

At 4:00 I get around to checking reservation notes.

His reservation is for his mom’s 72nd birthday.

At 5:30 they arrive. He is an early fortyish professional type. He comes in first and hands me his credit card. His parents arrive next. They remind me of my parents. His mom did all the talking. His dad is quiet. His mom tells me how excited she is. Her son has told her he’s taking her to a very special dinner at a steakhouse. She’s very sweet. And a little country. Definitely rural. Out of their element.

We get them seated.

Every thing goes off without a hitch.

They have a great time.

On their way out the parents go to the restroom. The son is so appreciative and thankful. He says they didn’t even notice there were no prices. They had a great time.

He also shares that his parents are visiting from Virginia. And he just moved here from Washington DC. He lives in Portland in one of the new apartment buildings downtown.

He goes off to the restroom.

His dad sits quietly.

His mom shared that they are visiting from Virginia. They’ve come up to stay ay his apartment to care for his dog while he goes on vacation. He just moved to Portland. You can see she is proud of her son. She tells me how much she enjoyed dinner.

They leave with more thanks.

I wish her happy birthday.

I feel like I had just watched me and my family have dinner out. 20 years ago.

I was moved by how much this man cared for his parents.

It was one of the sweet moments that I get to witness.

I pick up the phone tonight.

Hello. Thank you for calling. How may I help you.

Yes. I can’t find your menu on line. Do you serve sushi?

Did I hear what I think I heard?

I tell her I missed what she said so she’d repeat herself.

Do you serve sushi?

Uhhh. No. We don’t serve sushi.

Okay!

Click.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Last night a woman called to let us know she’d dropped a $50 dollar bill in the parking lot.

She was hoping someone turned it in.

To be honest I admire her faith in humanity.

But alas, it was not turned in.

Tonight we had a reservation for a couple. We’ll say the name on the reservation was William Randolph Hearst, because it was just as long as just as assuming.

I realized at 4:00 that he’d made 4 reservations. One at 5:00. One at 5:15. One at 5:30. One at 5:45.

At some point he’d decided that 5:00 was his preferred time.

He’d cancelled the others.

Also he requested a booth. For every reservation.

Fun fact.

Our booths seat 4 people so we’ll put a 4 top there before a 2 top.

I was a able to move him to one.

And they were gracious which I appreciated.

But. Seriously.

4 reservations on the same day.