I do enjoy a curry. Friday nights are really made for a few drinks and a visit to a good restaurant, and so that is what we did last friday. The night started well despite getting the table nearest to the toilet, and the poppadoms were excellent. I always think that the quality of the poppadoms and accompanying chutneys are a good indicator of the overall quality of the restaurant.
At the far end, nearest the window was a table of eight youngish people, a mix of men and women, clearly having a good time, and two of their company had extremely loud voices. AS they drank more, their volume increased almost exponentially and of course the rest of the customers had to raise their voices in order to hear and be heard. Positive feedback meant that the loud ones got even louder and so on.
I have a hearing problem, in that only one ear works, the other being there just to stop my glasses falling off, and so all sound comes to me via the one ear. What this means is that stereo is wasted on me and that I am unable to filter out voices from a cacophony of sound. As a result I was unable to engage in the conversation at my table and was forced to enjoy the riotous shouting and laughter coming unattenuated from the far end of the room.
Noise, not only pains me but also makes me angry, and I felt the pleasure of the meal waning very quickly. I rose from my seat to confront the problem but was pulled back down - no-one likes to make a fuss do they? The meal ended quite rapidly and we called for the bill much sooner that we otherwise might have done. My wife headed for the loo and I seized the opportunity to head for the far end which was on my way out anyway. I could not resist the temptation to say something and what came out of my mouth was "Thanks for the headache, enjoy the rest of your meal." I then turned and started to leave. One of their company, well out of reach muttered the word "Prick." I didn't hear it, but my son did and we went back to the table and a less than respectful slanging match began. This was rather silly and I suggested to my six foot five son, that we should leave. There were after all eight of them and I am really too old for this sort of thing. So we left and stood outside waiting for my wife and exchanging mouthed expletives thought the window. There seemed to be some concern at the table; perhaps they imagined that we were waiting for them to come out, but there were just the two of us, one of whom was not likely to last long in a fracas. After a few minutes of posturing, two of the guys came out, accompanied by two of the women. I thought for a moment that things were going to kick off and felt the adrenaline surge again.
As it happens, they had come out to apologise and did so with some grace I must say. We all shook hands and as soon as my wife emerged we left. They went back to their table and I hope that the other diners had a more peaceful evening as a result.
At the far end, nearest the window was a table of eight youngish people, a mix of men and women, clearly having a good time, and two of their company had extremely loud voices. AS they drank more, their volume increased almost exponentially and of course the rest of the customers had to raise their voices in order to hear and be heard. Positive feedback meant that the loud ones got even louder and so on.
I have a hearing problem, in that only one ear works, the other being there just to stop my glasses falling off, and so all sound comes to me via the one ear. What this means is that stereo is wasted on me and that I am unable to filter out voices from a cacophony of sound. As a result I was unable to engage in the conversation at my table and was forced to enjoy the riotous shouting and laughter coming unattenuated from the far end of the room.
Noise, not only pains me but also makes me angry, and I felt the pleasure of the meal waning very quickly. I rose from my seat to confront the problem but was pulled back down - no-one likes to make a fuss do they? The meal ended quite rapidly and we called for the bill much sooner that we otherwise might have done. My wife headed for the loo and I seized the opportunity to head for the far end which was on my way out anyway. I could not resist the temptation to say something and what came out of my mouth was "Thanks for the headache, enjoy the rest of your meal." I then turned and started to leave. One of their company, well out of reach muttered the word "Prick." I didn't hear it, but my son did and we went back to the table and a less than respectful slanging match began. This was rather silly and I suggested to my six foot five son, that we should leave. There were after all eight of them and I am really too old for this sort of thing. So we left and stood outside waiting for my wife and exchanging mouthed expletives thought the window. There seemed to be some concern at the table; perhaps they imagined that we were waiting for them to come out, but there were just the two of us, one of whom was not likely to last long in a fracas. After a few minutes of posturing, two of the guys came out, accompanied by two of the women. I thought for a moment that things were going to kick off and felt the adrenaline surge again.
As it happens, they had come out to apologise and did so with some grace I must say. We all shook hands and as soon as my wife emerged we left. They went back to their table and I hope that the other diners had a more peaceful evening as a result.
2 comments:
But what if, in the first instance, you had just politely gone to the table and asked them if they would tone it down a bit? I believe that in most cases, loud people are not trying to annoy or offend. They simply are unaware of how loud they are. Gentle feedback can go a long way to creating change.
That was my original plan, however I was prevented from doing that. Consequently my evening was spoiled and my anger already kindled.
Post a Comment