Meal time madness

(Submitted by Chris Marsh - December 2024)

Recently on a night out in Manchester, a group of 3 of us were looking for somewhere nice to eat. It was just before 5pm and we found what looked like an ideal restaurant. We approached the front desk and were asked if we had a reservation (we hadn’t). “I’m very sorry, we won’t be able to fit you in.”

We peered over the front desk and saw a few empty tables and, not wanting to make a scene, walked back out again.

I couldn’t help wondering why we’d been turned away and then came up with an idea. I pulled out my phone, went onto their website and booked a table for 3 people at 5pm. Once I’d received the email confirming this, we walked back to the front desk. The same person who’d turned us away 5 minutes earlier saw we had a reservation, smiled and led us to our table.

Clearly, online bookings seem to get priority over walk-ins - what a strange world we live in!