Do They Not WANT Customers?

My family and I are moving to another state soon, and we want to get one more takeout meal from a local restaurant that’s been special to us for a long time. My wife and I went there for our first date in 1998, for instance.

I get there at 6:15 pm on Saturday and find the parking lot empty. Thinking, “Uh-oh,” I get out of my car and walk over to find a hand-lettered sign in the window saying, “We closed at 6:00 pm.” Darn. I go looking for a sign with their regular business hours, figuring I can come back the next day… and I can’t find one.

Great. Well, no hope for it. I tap on the window, knowing they’re going to think I can’t read the sign but with no other way to ask when they’ll be open on Sunday. I don’t have a cell phone, so I can’t just call them from the parking lot. I finally get the attention of someone inside, but sure enough, they just point at the sign. I nod — yes, I saw — and then try to hand-signal them that I want to ask about tomorrow’s hours. A second person sees me, points at the sign, and ignores my nods and gesticulations.

Finally, a third person spots me and does the same but comes over when I keep gesturing.

Employee: “READ THE SIGN!”

Me: “Yes, I read the sign. I understand you’re closed. But when are you open tomorrow?”

Employee: “Eight.”

Me: “Eight am? Eight pm? Is that opening or closing?”

Employee: “Eight pm.” *Walks off*

I gave up, figuring it was the best I’d get. I figured I’d come back the next day and get lunch for the fam. I ended up forgetting until mid-afternoon and going there for dinner instead. It was just as well I didn’t try for lunch, because the handwritten sign in the window then said, “We open at 1:00 pm.”

Not to nitpick, but how hard is it to: A) post your hours of operation more than a few hours in advance, and B) spend ten more seconds to clarify things for someone who’s been coming to your place for twenty-plus years?