The Carpet Flower
Sit at This Table
My father was on a business trip in New York.
He had some time to spare before meeting his business partners and decided to go to a restaurant.
The restaurant was pretty empty and he sat down at the largest table, suitable for serving 10 people.
A waiter politely asked him if he could sit down at a smaller table and my father did as asked.
He sat down at the next largest table and started to inspect the menu.
The waiter then asked my father to follow him and lead my father to a table for two people.
My father sat down for the third time.
Vengeful spirits arose from the depths of his soul.
When the waiter came to take my father's order, my father ordered every single starter on the menu.
As the dishes arrived it became apparant that the small table was not large enough for all the dishes.
The waiter brought another small table and placed it next to the first.
My father had kept the menu all the while and as the second table was put next to him he ordered 4 main dishes.
After a few minutes of poking with his fork in the starters the waiter asked my father when he would like the main dishes to be served.
"As soon as possible." was my father's answer.
The waiter asked if everything was okay with the starters and if any of them could be taken away.
"They are very nice and I'd like to keep them for now."
I struggle to imagine how the waiter must have felt at this point in time, but the next thing the waiter said was:
"Sir, would you like to sit at a larger table?" to which my father replied that he liked the view that his current seating offered him.
Small table number 3 was brought out, but my father was not finished...
As that table was put down my father extended his order by another 4 main dishes.
The waiter walked off, returned after a short while, took away the just newly placed third small table and replaced it with a table for 4 people.
A few tables and seats had to be moved around in the restaurant to allow for this to happen.
The wrath of my father's was not at its end.
Noticing that there was no more room left around him he waited for the large table to be put down and extended his order another time.
After another small table was brought out my father failed to see how they could possibly fit more tables around him.
At this point in time my father's feelings underwent a transformation.
Gone were all feelings of bitterness and revenge.
He saw an interesting logistics problem and started to think about how he would deal with the situation.
He concluded that he would delegate the problem and started ordering deserts.
As chaos kept unfolding around him, he felt a deep sense of content.
He had some time to spare before meeting his business partners and decided to go to a restaurant.
The restaurant was pretty empty and he sat down at the largest table, suitable for serving 10 people.
A waiter politely asked him if he could sit down at a smaller table and my father did as asked.
He sat down at the next largest table and started to inspect the menu.
The waiter then asked my father to follow him and lead my father to a table for two people.
My father sat down for the third time.
Vengeful spirits arose from the depths of his soul.
When the waiter came to take my father's order, my father ordered every single starter on the menu.
As the dishes arrived it became apparant that the small table was not large enough for all the dishes.
The waiter brought another small table and placed it next to the first.
My father had kept the menu all the while and as the second table was put next to him he ordered 4 main dishes.
After a few minutes of poking with his fork in the starters the waiter asked my father when he would like the main dishes to be served.
"As soon as possible." was my father's answer.
The waiter asked if everything was okay with the starters and if any of them could be taken away.
"They are very nice and I'd like to keep them for now."
I struggle to imagine how the waiter must have felt at this point in time, but the next thing the waiter said was:
"Sir, would you like to sit at a larger table?" to which my father replied that he liked the view that his current seating offered him.
Small table number 3 was brought out, but my father was not finished...
As that table was put down my father extended his order by another 4 main dishes.
The waiter walked off, returned after a short while, took away the just newly placed third small table and replaced it with a table for 4 people.
A few tables and seats had to be moved around in the restaurant to allow for this to happen.
The wrath of my father's was not at its end.
Noticing that there was no more room left around him he waited for the large table to be put down and extended his order another time.
After another small table was brought out my father failed to see how they could possibly fit more tables around him.
At this point in time my father's feelings underwent a transformation.
Gone were all feelings of bitterness and revenge.
He saw an interesting logistics problem and started to think about how he would deal with the situation.
He concluded that he would delegate the problem and started ordering deserts.
As chaos kept unfolding around him, he felt a deep sense of content.