Waitress - would you complain about this?

[Soffit]

I'm trying to understand who is wrong here. I visited a popular food chain restaurant yesterday (peri..chicken) with 1DC. Outside the restaurant was a largeish family group. They were hovering around near the menu, blocking the entrance but started moving inside when they saw us trying to get inside. Just inside the entrance was a hand sanitiser dispenser. We do not use it as we bring our own. They were taking turns on it so we went past them and walked up the long narrow passage to where you would usually wait to be seated (always the same spot - been many, many times).

The waitress, instead of offering us a table, bellowed out something to the effect of 'I think that group entered first didn't they so I'm going to seat them first'. At this point, the group is nowhere near the seating queue and still applying hand sanitiser. She called out to them to come along so they quickly finished, walked over and overtook us.
It felt as though she was going out of her way to make a point and make us feel rude. It strongly felt that this may also have been because she was of similar heritage to the group and wanted to make a social justice point but it seemed defensive, really weird and plain wrong in this situation.

This is not meant to be goady. I am just wondering if you would raise it.

Just to clarify, it was an all adult group. I was the only one with a child

Stop getting carried away with stupid speculations

Says you who has decided it was a race issue based on fuck all evidence.

YABU, its Nandos. The minute you enter the door you're in the queue.
And you are racist.

Also, as someone who works in hospitality, I would bet my car that the staff of a chain restaurant have not got one single fuck to give whether the customers sanitise their hands or not. The sanitiser is there because it has to be there. Just pointing that out as I see its been mentioned a few times.

The waitress served the people behind the op because they were first and she wanted to save her self the possibility of getting aggro from the people behind.

'Yes, I would complain directly. You obviously don't'

I don't have a more or less favoured method of complaint, no 🙄 I tend not to do it all. Especially not about low-discretion, minimum wage staff, often on zero hours contracts, in jobs particularly susceptible to spurious/vexatious complaints.

What's the relevance of the child? It was a queue for Nando's, not for a lifeboat off the Titanic.

Having a child with you is not relevant at all.

I'm trying to understand who is wrong here.

Coming back to your thread opener… once again.

You’re not trying to understand anything, are you?

You think the waitress was 100% wrong, and nothing anyone says will convince you otherwise.

@Soffit

Just to clarify, it was an all adult group. I was the only one with a child

So what?

You think having a child makes pushing in / queue jumping and being a racist OK?

Nope.

@KilmordenCastle

Also, as someone who works in hospitality, I would bet my car that the staff of a chain restaurant have not got one single fuck to give whether the customers sanitise their hands or not. The sanitiser is there because it has to be there. Just pointing that out as I see its been mentioned a few times.

The waitress served the people behind the op because they were first and she wanted to save her self the possibility of getting aggro from the people behind.

Thanks. I wondered if I was living in post covid Britain from some of the comments about sanitising. For the record, I have always sanitised my hands and I was wearing gloves so it is not a new practice for me personally

@Soffit

Just to clarify, it was an all adult group. I was the only one with a child

So what?

I get what u mean OP. People are getting very carried away and emotional about your post mind 🤣🤣

If there was a queue then I could understand the waitress asking you to let the other group through. From what you describe she could easily have just seated you and your kiddie and then gone back to them. If I'd been a member of the group I wouldn't have had a problem with that.

As someone else said the waitress could have been a little more diplomatic about it all!

There was no queue, I would've walked past if someone was faffing near the menu anyway. I dont think there is any point in complaining though

celeriac titanic

Do you mean that you would have bellowed across a five meter corridor telling them to finish what they hadn't finished doing just so that you could seat them before a customer with a child who was already there?

No. I suppose I would have politely asked you to bear with me then patiently waited with a neutral look on my face until I caught one of the party's eye and then called "table for how many?"

@CeleriacOfTheNight

What's the relevance of the child? It was a queue for Nando's, not for a lifeboat off the Titanic.

But the queue starts when you enter the building surely? You stop to put santiser on and then move forward? Those are the rules on entering, that’s how it’s been in every restaurant I’ve been in since Covid began.

Also I think it’s weird you felt you needed to make a point of their similar heritage. I’d put money on the waitress just doing her job as instructed to keep to the restaurants Covid rules not trying to make a ‘social justice issue’

@RussiasGreatestLoveMachine

I'm trying to understand who is wrong here.

Coming back to your thread opener… once again.

You’re not trying to understand anything, are you?

You think the waitress was 100% wrong, and nothing anyone says will convince you otherwise.

No, I haven't said that have I. I think that I should have checked with the group but she would not have known that I hadn't already as she was not standing around watching everything. I think she was wrong to create a big drama but I think it would also be extreme to complain about her. I cannot know her motives so I cannot say either way

I imagine the waitress was trying to be fair and didn’t want complaints from the large group if she seated you first. On the grand scheme of things I am not sure it matters much, did you ask if they were queuing before walking past them?

My mistake smh (whatever the fuck that means)

Shaking My Head

I had to ask one of my children about this a while ago.

Nando's isn't a good choice for a racist. You might be more at home at Wetherspoons.

@Gizlotsmum

I imagine the waitress was trying to be fair and didn’t want complaints from the large group if she seated you first. On the grand scheme of things I am not sure it matters much, did you ask if they were queuing before walking past them?

Not explicitly but they gestured to me to go past which was enough for me. I would not have done that if they were unhappy but they wanted to spend longer than she allowed them at the hand sanitiser so she actually inconvenienced them in the end

did you ask if they were queuing before walking past them?

Why would you ask this, though? Where else would they be going, other than into the restaurant they just entered.

I think she was wrong to create a big drama

Only one person is creating a big drama and it isn't the waitress.

What “heritage” were they all, and how can you possibly know they are of the same “heritage”? (By heritage I assume you mean skin colour).

@SoupDragon

I think she was wrong to create a big drama

Only one person is creating a big drama and it isn't the waitress.

Shouting across to a group who are indifferent about us going in front and ordering them to come over and get seated just so she can make a point - sounds dramatic to me.