Regarding fast food restaurant table reservations...

I've been called a bitch so many times in the last 10 years that I now fully accept it as truth. When appropriate, this can be a very helpful trait. I can successfully negotiate leases with sexist Israeli men who hate that the final answer comes from a woman and stand up for my children in the Principal's office. There is still an ounce of me, however, that fears confrontation with strangers. I'm aware that this doesn't really fit my personality, but hey, sometimes I like to keep to myself.

Daniel, Queenie, Andrew and I were in Chipotle this past Saturday for lunch. We waited in line for twenty minutes, disappointed because it usually goes much faster. On occasion, I glanced at the dining area and saw that it was also absolutely packed. I was concerned that we wouldn't have somewhere to sit when we came out of line. Once we had paid for our burritos and tacos ($1.78 for guacamole!) and walked out into the restaurant we saw one empty table with four seats - perfect! As we got closer, though, we realized that someone had slung their green LLBean puff jacket and fancy sunglasses in one of the seats at this table. This made me uncomfortable, as it was clear someone wanted to sit here. As my husband quickly pointed out to me, you can't really reserve seats in fast food restaurants - that makes you an asshole. We sat down in the three empty chairs, pulled up a high chair for Queenie, and began eating.

Not two minutes later a woman approached us to say "I'm sorry, these are my things."
To which Daniel responded, "Oh, I had no idea who's they were. Somebody just dumped them here."
Her face twisted in frustration, "I was holding this seat."
Daniel: "This is a fast food restaurant. We came out of line before you and needed somewhere to sit. You can't just dump your stuff here and claim it as your own. How was I to know where in line you were?"
Angry Lady: "This is so disappointing."
Daniel: "No, it was terribly rude of you to deprive people of this table for up to 20 minutes! Who do you think you ARE!"

At this point she walked toward her friend and loudly called "We don't have a table anymore!" I was sufficiently embarrassed, but believed that my husband had a point and that this would be the end of it. Wrong. The next table to clear for them was the one right next to us! Yikes! When they sat down, Daniel continued to explain to me, for their benefit I'm sure, that "see, that table became available just as they needed it. That's how it works in places like this. Should I have stood around for 10 minutes with my children and my food because they are that ignorant?" That's my husband for you, correcting social injustices one small reserved fast food restaurant table at a time. I had a hard time eating. Which, when dealing with Mexican food, is unusual for me...

In retrospect, I'm still embarrassed. But I'm also very angry with that woman for her behavior. The more I think about it, the more I wish I would have spoken up, too. But then again, my husband proved he's bitchy enough for both of us :)