A Booth Please

A Raccoon and a Fox were standing in a restaurant waiting for a table. The two friends were excited to be having lunch together for the first time in a very long time. When the hostess finally approached to tell them that their table was ready the two were ready to burst with joy.

“Right this way,” the hostess said as she grabbed colorful plastic menus and led the two to their table.

It’s always such a fascinating exercise walking through a restaurant and being shown to your seat. You get a brief glimpse into the future as you pass by people who arrived at the restaurant before you seated, eating, ordering, paying, finishing up, and leaving. A preview of what the next hour of your own life is going to be like.

You have a chance to look at the food everyone ordered, see what looks good, what looks popular, what doesn’t look appetizing — all of that. Clocking the smells, clocking the sounds, and seeing the faces of those who are eating. Do they look happy? Do they look full? Do they look satisfied?

You even have a chance to scope out all the empty tables in the restaurant while hoping and praying that you are being led to a table that fits with the aesthetic you envisioned for your evening.

And then, when the hostess finally stops and motions towards your table…

“Here you are!” The hostess said to the Raccoon and the Fox.

The two friends paused. They looked at each other…

“Um, we don’t mean to be those guys,” the Raccoon started.

“Yeah, we really don’t mean to be those guys,” the Fox chimed in, “But, is there a booth available by chance?”

The hostess let out a deep sigh. This was the most common reaction to being seated at a table that she ever heard. Folks love booths. Everyone wants a booth. Some people refuse to eat if they are not seated in a booth. You could be the last restaurant on earth serving the last meals on earth and someone would still walk in the door, starving and hungry, and say they would prefer a booth to a table.

“We’re willing to wait,” the Raccoon offered.

“Look around you,” the Hostess answered.

The Raccoon and the Fox looked around. Everything all of a sudden seemed very odd. All of the booths in the restaurant were filled. There was not a single open booth anywhere.

“Seems normal, lot of people want booths, so?” The Fox replied.

“Now look closely,” the Hostess continued.

The two looked around again. This time they noticed how many diners were sitting with no food at all. No menus no ordering nothing. No one was getting up. Just sitting there staring straight ahead. Everyone looked blank, almost pained. What was going on?

“Here, if you wait for a booth, you never get up.” The Hostess explained, “Once you get a table, you don’t give it up.”

The Raccoon and the Fox were flabbergasted.

“You stay at that table… Forever!!!” The Hostess exclaimed. “But, tables are always available.”

The Raccoon and the Fox decided to take a table. They had their lunch caught up with each other’s lives and then left. On the way out though, they added their name to the waiting list for a booth, you know, just in case one came up.