(My friend is the maître d’ at a high-end restaurant. Reservations are always needed for dinner, but on holidays they can book weeks in advance. It is Valentine’s Day, and he has been fully booked for over a month. As you can imagine, people try to break rules to get a seat. This is the case when a man and woman arrive.)
Man: “You should have a reservation for two under ‘Graves.'”
Maître D’: “I don’t have any open reservations. What was the first name?”
Man: *sigh* “Abigail Graves.”
Maître D’: “Excuse me for a moment while I check.”
(My friend is confused at this point, because there is, in fact, a reservation under the name; however, he has already seated them ten minutes before, and the seated woman has given him the correct code from the reservation app. He decides to check with the seated Abigail. She is a visibly pregnant woman who is sitting with an older woman.)
Maître D’: “Excuse me for bothering you, but a couple has arrived claiming to be under your reservation.”
(At this point, the pregnant woman starts to cry and the older woman looks furious.)
Older Woman: “The nerve of him! He probably has her with him.”
Abigail: “Grandma! Please! Look. Two weeks ago, I walked in on my boyfriend in bed with another woman. He’s been making my life miserable because I left him. He won’t let me come get my dog, and he has been following me. I can’t believe he is here. He fought with me when I made the reservation. If you seat him, I can’t look at him. I’ll have to leave… I…”
Maître D’: “Miss, please don’t worry. I will handle the situation. You and your grandmother just have a lovely Valentine’s dinner.”
(The owner sees the woman crying, and asks what the situation is. My friend quickly fills him in, and the owner says he wants to handle this personally. As they are walking back towards the door, the owner pauses.)
Owner: “What name was the reservation under?”
Maître D’: “Graves.”
Owner: *grinning ear to ear* “That’s what I thought.”
(They get to the rather peeved-looking man and woman a moment later.)
Owner: “I’d like you to know that I looked at the reservations. This restaurant doesn’t have any spare ‘Graves’ to seat you in. However, cheating on a pregnant woman means you deserve to be lying in one. Show yourself out.”
Man: “You have some nerve.”
Owner: “No? Okay, [Security Staff], escort them out.” *to Maître D’* “Please comp her meal. It’s not every day I can threaten someone using puns.”
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