What Were They Thinking?

Vicki and I impulsively decided to go out for dinner tonight (the Meal Planner had us eating take-out from Harvey's) and through a slight comedy of errors we ended up at a restaurant we'd never been to before, and not the one we were intending to eat at. "What the heck," we thought, "we can just eat here!"

A few minutes later, we were seated in the eerily-empty interior, where dozens of booths and tables were available while several parties were seated outside. We'd passed on sitting outside because it was so muggy out, and looked like rain. But then the live entertainment for the evening - a solo guitarist - started playing, with the speakers booming out his music at about three to five times the volume that you'd be able to hear yourself over! After about ten minutes of Vicki and I shouting at each other, trying to be heard, and huddled as close together around our table as we could manage, Vicki yelled, "Do you want to ask if we can move outside, or just change our order to take-out?"

We decided to try moving to the outdoor section, and the waitress was very understanding and apologetic. In the end, we had a very nice dinner outside and might even be willing to go there again. But I have to wonder what kind of management makes decisions as stupid as that? It was pretty obvious nobody wanted to sit inside with that level of noise, so could they not simply turn down the volume, or were they contractually prevented from doing that by the musician? It was a very strange experience that at least had a happy ending.