Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Dinner guests

A heavy set man with a healthy moustache and arrogant Bulgarian swagger sidled up to our table, without even a glance at any of us he sat down in the chair opposite me and proceeded to shove chicken in the general direction of his mouth with some moderate success. His girth made sit next to him awkward, with a chunk of poultry in either hand, elbows raised, his belly was pressed hard into the diners either side of him. They could feel the effort he exerted in the process of eating at it was causing a rippling affect through his weighty rolls of flab which gently caressed their sides.
A man at the table had seen enough. “Excuse me. What do you think you are doing? We don’t even know who you.....” he was cut mid sentence by a waiter who had dashed from the other side of the restaurant looking quite frantic.
He looked quite relieved when silence had returned. He motioned for us to step away from the table to hear what he had to say. The fellow from the group began to restate his earlier objections to the uninvited guest’s behaviour but once again the waiter cut short the complainants rant.
“I do apologise. He is a nuisance, this happens allot though and upsetting him is the worst thing we can do.” We have procedures to deal with him so here’s the deal. If you can finish your meals without upsetting him you will eat for free plus we shall invite you back for another free meal in our banquet hall at your leisure. Oh and we also take a picture of the group dining with him. It’s kind of a tradition. We have a wall covered in these pictures next to the kitchen if you would like to have a look. You’ll see he is very harmless if you treat him the right way”
The group talked amongst themselves for a moment and turned slowly back to the waiter. “Ok” said one of the men. “But we will need to see this wall”. “Of course, come right through, it’s just down this way.” The waiter said gleefully and spun on his heel leading off toward the kitchen doors. After a few moments of scanning the pictures before them looks of confusion started to subside an gave way to a new air of intrigue.
“They do all look like they’re having fun” remarked one of the ladies. Agreement had been reached. “Alright we’re in but we want a copy of our picture.” “Of course sir” replied the waiter, perked by the group’s new found enthusiasm for the evening. As they returned to their seats the man had commenced eating what remained of their meals.
“Oh and just a note, no sudden movement or load noises. He is extremely violent if you draw his attention” the waiter whispered into the original complainant’s ear. “What?” The man replied losing his grip and dropping his fork. It crashes to his plate causing a large amount of noise and commotion. The chicken leg drops from the Bulgarians hands and he slowly raises his eyes to the originator of the ruckus. Through gritted teeth he bellows “What?” sending spittle and chicken debris showering across the table.
The waiter looks down at the gentleman and tepidly whispers “Oh..... Dear.”

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