NEED TO KNOW
- A woman was asked for her phone number by a waiter while dining at a “fairly fancy restaurant” with her daughter
- She confessed in a post on Mumsnet that she’s torn about reporting the waiter to the eatery’s manager
- “I felt so awkward I couldn’t get out of there quick enough,” the woman said
A woman is accusing a waiter of ruining her dining experience as he asked for her phone number before she left the restaurant.
The woman explained in a post on Mumsnet that she went to a “fairly fancy restaurant” with her grown-up daughter. The waiter seemed slightly too friendly, but she assumed he was just trying to be nice and earn a tip.
She wasn’t expecting him to bring a pen and paper over for her to write down her phone number when she requested the bill for their meal.
“I felt so awkward I couldn’t get out of there quick enough and, although I tried to laugh it off, I’m still thinking about whether I should complain?” the woman said.
Woman at restaurant (stock image).
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She confessed to being unsure if complaining is the right thing to do and curious how others would’ve handled the situation.
“Am I overreacting because I’m very socially awkward, so others would be less bothered, or am I right in thinking it’s inappropriate and I should say something, as it put a bit of a dampener on a pleasant evening?” the woman asked.
“I feel I should be able to have a meal with family without being approached by strange men, but maybe I’m old-fashioned?” she added. “The question was whether I should complain to the venue.”
The majority of responses to the post advised the woman not to report the waiter to the restaurant’s manager, regardless of whether they agreed he had behaved inappropriately.
Several other commenters confessed they would be flattered if someone asked for their phone number.
“Someone I work with gave her number to a waiter once… they’re celebrating 25 years of marriage this year!” one person wrote.
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Woman speaking to waiter (stock image).
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“For Goodness’ sake, is this the biggest thing in your life?? Honestly, take the compliment and move on and get a grip on the way out!” another said.
“So many people complain that it’s difficult to meet people in real life now, and then when someone tries, rather than it just being a ‘no, I’m not interested’ they bring it to Mumsnet and consider making a complaint to their employer, presumably expecting their employer to make it into a disciplinary issue,” a third chimed in. “What an overreaction. Be flattered. What a brave man.”
“Just because he works there doesn’t mean he’s not a human and should behave like a robot until the end of his shift,” someone else commented. “He saw someone he was attracted to and took a chance, isn’t that human nature? “Now you want to get him into trouble because it was while he was being paid. Sounds like he had a lucky escape.”
