RESTAURANT RUDENESS

Letter writer Markus Flanagan (June 8) made a point that I’m sure resonates across the country. His party was asked to vacate its table at a prominent restaurant to permit a faster turnover of tables.

We have had similar experiences. At a restaurant in Venice, we were asked to finish our meal at the bar--a party of four yet. At one place in Pacific Palisades, four of us were finishing our meal when the staff started stacking chairs on tables.

And who hasn’t been entertained by the un-lovely question “Still working on it?” if we chose to finish our meals past the point in time when management wanted to clear up? That took place at one restaurant in Santa Monica, at another in Marina del Rey and on many other occasions.

This rudeness is a growing problem that is not experienced, for example, in Europe.

William Meecham

meecham@seas.ucla.edu