I must be getting a lot older. The waiters are really starting to annoy me. Their conversational ability seems to be limited to one phrase: “no problem”. But there’s usually a problem of some type (e.g., no napkins, insufficient utensils, one dollup of ketchup left in the bottle, dirty plates, etc.). The one thing you can count on, however, is that service will dramatically improve when its time to pay for the meal. They’ll bring that to you right away — “no problem”.
When I lived in Seattle, restaurants were a huge hassle. Parking, traffic, and other annoyances made it an event best avoided. Now that I’m in a small town in KY, the problem is that the nearest civilization is 15 minutes away at 70 mph. And that’s if you want McDonalds or really bad chinese all you can eat.
But even in Louisville, if we’re willing to take the 90 minute drive, there is no traffic and plenty of parking. But yeah, at my age I don’t want any banter with the wait staff. Just get me my stuff and don’t make me wait a half your for my bill. I’ve actually gone up to the register quite a few times without my bill.