I met several friends for a meal at a chic, well-established café. We didn't know whether five, or six, or seven would show up; five of us cconverged on the café at the same time. But the hostess would not seat us, pointing to the restaurant's policy that "We will not seat your party until everyone has arrived." This underscores the bottom line: money. Instead of focusing on their clientele, the restaurant focuses of seating as many people as possible in as short a time.
A counter to this is that they are in fact focusing on the guests: they focus on the guests who are there. But they fail to extend the convivial nature of eating to their diners.
It's a tough algorithm to satisfy. I asked the hostess to seat all five of us, that we were five only, but she smelled a rat: "I won't add another chair if someone else shows up," she said (I would add haughtily, but that's editorializing).
We ended up with a table for six, and the waiter kept forgetting items, did not bring our entrées all together (in fact, in two batches twenty minutes apart). But we had a great time together, all six of us. My wallet speaks louder than my dissatisfaction, and I will not again go to this café.
I'm frankly quite glad that the police subdued, rather than killed, the deranged man who was setting fires in our local (chain) drugstore
Police on Saturday arrested an incoherent man whom authorities said tried to set several items on fire inside a pharmacy before attempting to hold police at bay with a crude flamethrower.The man, whom police did not identify, rushed the counter at Walgreens, 499 Haight St., at 11:15 a.m. and knocked medicine bottles from the shelves, police said. He then doused several items, including a display of teddy bears, with lighter fluid and started a small fire, said San Francisco police Sgt. Dan Linehan.
When police arrived, the man attempted to ignite one of the bears and throw it at the officers, then made a primitive flamethrower by spraying the liquid through a flame, Linehan said. Officers then shot the man with a nonlethal beanbag shotgun and handcuffed him.
The suspect was arrested and transported to San Francisco General Hospital. One officer was slightly injured when he was bitten by the suspect during the scuffle. He was being held Saturday night on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer, arson and burglary.