Obnoxious people have to eat, too

Working in a restaurant is making me both pleasingly optimistic and dishearteningly pessimistic about humanity. I am continually amazed by how frequently I have to swtich between sharing pleasant banter with lovely, conscientious people and having to smile through gritted teeth while people make unrealistic demands of me in a rude and aggressive manner.

Tonight I was working on the floor as a hostess. We had one late reservation that was supposed to come in at 8:30 and our kitchen was scheduled to be closed at 9. By 8:50, this party of 9 people still hadn't showed up, so I called them to see if they were still coming or if the kitchen could close early. They said they were on their way. 10 minutes, they claimed. 9:10 and there was still no sign of them. 9:15 and I get a call saying they don't know where the restaurant is located. 10 minutes after giving them directions, they finally show up. After taking them to their seat they immediately ask if they can move to a window seat. Keeping in mind that they are at one of the best tables we can five for a party that is that large. I tell them all the usual jargon, which mainly consists of there are people at those tables, are you blind? At this point they grugingly sit down...

...for all of two seconds. Five of them (because it is necessary for five people to be blocking the hallways and disturbing other customres) begin to wander around the restaurant presumably looking to see if people are finishing their food and if this party can then proceed to move to their tables. They spot one table, formerly a party of 9, but currently with only 2 people left sitting at it enjoying a bottle of wine. Delighted they turn to me and ask why they can't move to that table, since there are only two people sitting at it. They want me to go over to this couple having a romantic moment with their bottle of wine and ask them to leave the restaurant or at the very least move to another table because a group of people would rather be one table closer to the window.

All of this blows my mind, but the real kicker here is that after a second of staring at them with incredulity and just before a confused "no" rolls off my tongue, it occurs to me...they are serious. They actually think that a restaurant is going to kick people out of their seats to seat a party that showed up an hour late for their reservation and has come to the conclusion that they deserve nothing but the best seat in the restaurant, occupied or not.

That, in a nutshell, is the source of my daily dose of pessimism, but the world would not be in balance if something lovely didn't happen to tip the scale, level the playing field, create...balance. Right after dealing with our lovely belated party, I answer the phone only to speak with this yin. It was just a girl calling to ask if we were still open, so she and her boyfriend could come in for drinks. A simple call, yes, but it was the fact that she was thoughtful enough to ask if by them coming by for drinks they would disrupt our closing time that tugged at my heart strings and renews my faith in mankind.

It seems ridiculous how such a small act of kindness can cancel out over an hour of dealing with people that blatantly have no respect for you or anyone else around them. A smile from a stranger cancels out whole week of abuse. It sounds cheesey mostly because it is, but people like cheese. It makes everything taste a little better.