The Diary of Anne Ku

RESTAURANTS: WHY EATING OUT IS NO LONGER A TREAT CONTINUED

31 May 2000 Wednesday

As we settled down to a reliably smoke-free lunch, our female intuition alerted us that something was amiss. Sure enough, the woman who sat in the corner was about to cause a scene.

During the starters, she let out a horrendously loud cough. It was as if she were choking on the food. We carried on eating, pretending that we didn't hear her.

During the main course, we heard her ask the waiter to take back what she had just ordered. She didn't fancy it, she said. She then ordered another dish.

While our tables were being cleared, we heard her accuse the waiter of staring at her from a distance. She was so loud that we had to stop sipping our tea.

When our bill came, she asked for the menu again. By this time, we figured that she was going to stay the entire afternoon and try out all the specials on the menu.

I suppose after separating smokers from nonsmokers, the next thing on my wish list would be to ban people who "want to try everything on the menu but pay for nothing except insults to the staff."