Cheers

Went out to dinner with my brother last night. It's always annoying to get poor service when you go to a restaurant, but for my money, hands down the most irritating aspect of said poor service is not having my drink refilled in a timely fashion.

I'm the kind of guy who's constantly washing down my meal with my beverage. I very much dislike the sensation of thirst. So on the one hand, maybe I require a modicum of extra attention as a restaurant patron. On the other hand...you're a waitress. It's not that big a goddamn deal to check up on me every 15 minutes. In fact, it's your job.

Last night I ordered a beer with my pizza. As I got near the end of it, I started getting anxious. No one had brought me a complimentary glass of water, which usually serves as a backup beverage in case you run out of your first one. So I was walking this tightrope of liquid rationing, like a soldier on the battlefield with a light canteen, and I still had a whole slice left.

This is my biggest pet peeve of eating out: having to guesstimate how and when I should take my few precious remaining sips, each one smaller than its predecessor. Totally stresses me out and sucks the enjoyment out of the meal. The whole point of going out to eat and spending all this money is so you can be catered to. Taken care of. Now, in this situation, I was actually worse off than if I had just stayed home. At home, at least I can get up, go into the kitchen and get another drink if I run out. In the restaurant, I'm at the mercy of whenever it occurs to my twit server to come back over and ask if everything's okay.

In the end, I had to wait about ten minutes from when I finished my beer to when I was asked if I'd like a second drink. I was uncomfortably thirsty the entire time, as I did not have the willpower to resist finishing my pizza slice (nor should I have to, I'd like to add).

I also did not have the balls to tip under 20% to make a statement. So, no lessons learned on anybody's part.