Last night, a friend of mine invited me to dinner at an “exotic” restaurant; I was very excited to get to the restaurant and try out all the new dishes – appetizers, main course, and especially desserts. Add to that, I had heard a lot from my friend about how mouthwatering the food there was, so it added to my excitement.
We got there fairly early – at around 7:30 pm (I personally prefer early dinners). The place was empty except for a couple seated at one of the tables in the center of the restaurant – a blonde woman, business attire, in her mid-thirties. He was also dressed in a suit – dark grey. The restaurant was decorated “exotically” (and by “exotic” I refer to that certain country to which the food served in that restaurant is related). A man-made mini waterfall stood to the side of the restaurant; wooden chairs and tables, a small wooden bridge… it was the perfect setting.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a waitress with a heavy English accent, who directed us to a table, but we – or rather I – chose to sit somewhere else. The menus were brought to us, and I left the choice to my friend, as she was better acquainted with the food there than I was… actually, it was my first time in that place and I was not about to take the risk of choosing the wrong dishes. As we were going through the menu (I did take a look at the dishes served, for curiosity purposes solely), my friend had remembered that that specific night there was some sort of an offer – buy one get one free sort of thing. So she called for the heavy-accented waitress and inquired. We were told that the offer was for couples only. The waitress went on to explain that by “couple” she meant man and woman. So, us being two women could not get the offer.
You should have seen the look on my friend’s face; her jaw dropped and her eyes were about to pop out. She was the exact interpretation of “shocked”! I must admit, it was a shocking thing to be told; to actually have someone specify man and woman to two women (let alone two lesbians). The dictionary’s definition of the word “couple” is: two of the same sort considered together; pair. It does, in no way, specify gender; on the contrary! It specifies being “two of the same sort”.
I could totally understand my friend’s shock to the waitress’s reply; but personally, I chose to ignore. I have faced such incidents before, and I was used to the narrow-minded attitude. But my friend was infuriated; her face turned red and she insisted on talking to the manager. She could never get used to such idiocies. A few minutes later, the manager – a typical “villager” in a suit – arrived at our table to sort out the confusion. I must admit, the dude tried his best to fix the situation by giving very short answers and instantly averting the subject. He tried to draw our attention to other things on the menu, but my friend was not amused. So I decided to step in and try to cool things down. I knew my friend really wanted us to dine there, but she so furious and had clearly expressed that she was thinking of simply leaving.
After a while, when my friend had calmed down, she said: “I am thinking of coming here again in drag!” She’s funny.
Eventually, we decided to forget about the narrow-minded heterosexual comment and just enjoy our food, which was extremely delicious. I would definitely recommend the restaurant, but on Tuesday nights, since it is heterosexual couples’ night.
Bon appétit!
Sam M. Semaan 