Ethnically Speaking by Larry Meeks

Dear Larry: I want to respond to the gentleman who noticed how only black people were seated in a certain section of a restaurant. I think he should note whether there is something particular about that section.

I spent 10 years in the restaurant business, and generally speaking, most black patrons preferred to sit in booths rather than at tables. It could be that the employees assume that he wants to sit where other black people have asked to sit.

It also could be timing. Usually, black patrons dine slightly later than white patrons. Whites seem to dine earlier in the evening, and when blacks come, that section could just happen to be open.

I know from my experience that restaurant employees can be guilty of stereotyping — thinking that black patrons want to sit together, smokers want to order from the bar, seniors always want coffee, or whatever else.

Patrons do not have to stay in seats if they're upset about where they've been seated. Anybody always can ask to sit somewhere else.

In my day, we enjoyed it when the stereotypes were proved wrong. — Dave

Dear Dave: My mailbox overflowed with letters from restaurant owners and employees explaining how customers are seated. I had no idea there was such a methodical and analytical method to seating. After reading all the responses, I am convinced race is not a factor. Read on for another response.

Dear Larry: I can tell you with complete certainty that whoever notices racism in seating is just looking for racism.

I have worked for many years in restaurants, both as a hostess and as a waitress, in both fine dining and chain restaurants. The only thing that determines who sits where is the rotation among the waiters.

Every waiter has a section, and you seat people in that order. You never try to seat people in one section at the same time.

Giving a waiter two tables at once is called "double seating," and it is the worst thing that can happen to a waiter because those tables are going to need exactly the same things at exactly the same times all night long, and that is very difficult for a waiter.

No restaurants have policies about who sits where! All restaurants want to do is get as many people seated and ordering as possible. That's it. There is no other agenda. A person who gets offended when he is given a table by the kitchen or by the wait station is very annoying. That table was going to WHOEVER was next! And the hostess probably is cringing in advance, hoping you aren't going to complain and want a different table, which possibly would force her to double seat a waiter, who then would get angry at her.

People see an empty table and think they can just sit there! They have no idea there is a system. When it gets close to the end of the night, restaurants close off entire sections, and they have smaller crews. Sections are closed because it is very hard for a server to run across a restaurant.

I'm sorry, but customers are just numbers to us, no matter how nice we are. If a section ends up having a lot of black people in it at some point during the night, think of it like blinkers on cars at a stoplight. They all are blinking to different rhythms, but every so often, they synchronize and look as if they are blinking together, although after a few blinks, they are different again. Believe me; it's coincidence.

People who take stuff like that personally are people who are selfish and always think everything is about them. People should quit assigning imaginary motives.

To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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