Single Serving

Had a reservation for six the other night. Three couples in their fifties to sixties… or so I thought. Only five people showed.

While I’m taking drink orders, one of the guests casually drops that the missing guy had just broken up with his partner… like, that day. And the single guy sitting there was him. So now it’s basically two couples and one freshly single dude in a pretty obvious bad mood.

His friends were trying to cheer him up (pointing out stuff in the restaurant, making random small talk), but he was still in “I’m not here for this” mode.

Once I knew what was going on, I just made a point of keeping it light whenever I went over. No sad eyes, no “are you okay?” crap. Just normal banter, little jokes, and trying to make the whole thing feel like a group hang, not “two couples plus the sad guy.”

By the time dessert (and a couple beers) rolled around, he was actually laughing with the rest of them. On the way out, one of the women told me: “Thanks for keeping the night fun; he needed it.”

Not exactly in the job description, but hey, sometimes you’re serving food, sometimes you’re serving morale.