My daughter and I braved Los Angeles traffic to have lunch at one particular restaurant my mom raves about. Who knew getting into downtown on a Saturday afternoon would be so bumper-to-bumper hard? Not to mention, our GPS unit was on the fritz.
By the time we got to the restaurant, there were just 45 minutes before we needed to head to the Rose Bowl.
The restaurant had an hour wait.
“You can try the bar,” the hostess said.
The bar was beyond packed with patrons eating lunch. Several couples stood lurking, waiting for seats to open up.
“I guess we'll have to eat someplace else,” my daughter said.
“No, we came all this way,” I said. “Besides, Grandma loves this place. We're eating here.”
My daughter rolled her eyes, clearly thinking I'm crazy. She excused herself to use the restroom.
“I'll get us a seat,” I said.
My daughter made a face. Yeah right.
She went off to the restroom, and I cased the bar from one end to the other. There were two dozen people sitting at the bar itself, and another three dozen at tables. One couple looked like they were finishing up, ready to pay their bill. They might leave in another ten minutes. I positioned myself near their table.
Two other couples edged in close, just as ready to pounce.
Then I noticed the hostess come in and make a bee-line for a couple at the bar. “Your table is ready,” she quietly said.
Bingo.
I grabbed their seats before anyone else even noticed they were vacant. I sat and ordered two sodas, and waited for my daughter. I figured we needed to place our lunch order, pronto. How long could she possibly take in the restroom?
A few minutes later, my cell phone rang. It was my daughter.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“I'm sitting at the bar,” I said. “Where are you?”
“Oh, I'm outside. I figured we had to eat someplace else. How are you at the bar?”
“I said I'd get us seats, and I did.”
Clearly, my daughter hasn't seen her old man in action nearly enough. Welcome to barroom savvy!!
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