Miss Etiquette Was Hi-Jacked During Lunch By An Uninvited Appetite Taker: She Is Horrified
Posted: Friday, March 12, 2010
by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/
When my friend, Lynda picked me up, I was so glad to be out of the house. I would be having lunch a
We were hi-jacked. In fact, the whole group was hi-jacked.
It seems the owner of the restaurant thought it would be a good idea for us to be "entertained" by one of her friends. The entertainment turned out to be a speech (1 hour, 15 minutes) about pap smears, cancer, lab tests, government guidelines for healthcare, etc.
Besides not being able to chat with my friends, trying to eat while listening to how "smears" from a vagina placed on a slide for the lab to look at" became an unpleasant chore. I tried to get the food down fast, without mental pictures of "smears" on a slide or "blood."
The only good thing about this woman's speech was that she was not selling anything.
I think it is very important to learn more about cancer, mammograms, pap tests, etc. but I would like to learn on my on terms in a different environment. In an appropriate setting, I would have appreciated her knowledge, especially if I had asked for this information.
I was Hi-jacked (Hijacking - stealing or robbing.) Someone stole my time, my friends, my afternoon, without my permission.
I was robbed of over an hour of my time and not allowed to be social with my friends because the restaurant owner thought we needed a "fill in" until the food was served. (Of course, this woman continued to talk even after our food was served).
I wouldn't mind being hi-jacked quite as much, had it been beautiful music or poetry, but this was just plain well, there really are no words to explain how I felt and how angry I was.
Then I began to think: Are there other ways I am being hi-jacked with my time? Time is so precious, especially, as one ages. I don't want to lose one minute of it. I guard my time and use it according to what I think is appropriate and meaningful for me.
Miss Etiquette is outraged for being hi-jacked and embarrassed for anyone who would hi-jack her time. She would like to quote Emily Post:
"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use."
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Totally amazing - you sound like Miss Manners only more sweet and real. AND I cannot believe that someone would do that! The owner of the restaurant? Does she want to stay in business for very long? They should have given you a free meal plus certificate for another. And I am an RN but there is a time and place! Amazing!
NO - when you are payaing for food and ambiance it is not right to get a speaker (especially on not so dinner oriented medical topics!) you hadn't planned on - captive audience and all NOT appropriate.
I absolutely love what you've written, Fran, and the way you wrote it! Beautiful article. Thanks!
I would have been upset also Fran. You were robbed of your right to have an enjoyable luncheon with your friend and the restaurant owner had no right to impose her views on others no matter what they were.
I feel for you and it would have been hard to say something if everyone else at your table didn't think much about it, but.....there is no way I would have permitted this to happen. And honestly, if i were the only one who felt that way, I would have graciously left with the promise that I would make another lunch date to visit and socialize with my friends.
I like this one Fran. You can teach table manners but you can't teach class. There's a time, and a place for every conversation. Timing is everything. :)
I hope you told the owner/manager of the restaurant about your displeasure.
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