Diners, stand up for your rights!

You arrive at a restaurant in time for your 8 o'clock reservation; your friends haven't arrived yet. You've spent 45 minutes stuck in traffic and you're wiped out. You'd like to be shown to the table. "I'm sorry," says the hostess, barely looking up from her computer screen, "we do not seat parties until they are complete. You're welcome to wait at the bar."

By Leslie Brenner

October 24, 2007