Bad sitters - what do you do?

[JBloggs]

I was not trying to sidetrack, but this thread popped up after we had two days of the "slow eater sitter." Like on the 20th time in there to remove the finished plate, 40 minutes after serving it, you would THINK he would be done. Nope. Still eating. It was humorous and I got a kick out of it. I did say in the kitchen to my assistant for the week (aka kid who is not out from oral surgery) "Can you imagine having this guy here for a week!"
I agree though, when we have an early seating and later, the first are all laughs and fun and games and chatty and won't get up! I have to ask them to move into the parlor to continue with their coffee and conversation.
The second seating swoops in unshowered, very little talking, and races back upstairs. It is like clockwork, really.

 

[Morticia]

I was not trying to sidetrack, but this thread popped up after we had two days of the "slow eater sitter." Like on the 20th time in there to remove the finished plate, 40 minutes after serving it, you would THINK he would be done. Nope. Still eating. It was humorous and I got a kick out of it. I did say in the kitchen to my assistant for the week (aka kid who is not out from oral surgery) "Can you imagine having this guy here for a week!"
I agree though, when we have an early seating and later, the first are all laughs and fun and games and chatty and won't get up! I have to ask them to move into the parlor to continue with their coffee and conversation.
The second seating swoops in unshowered, very little talking, and races back upstairs. It is like clockwork, really..

We had to get the 'first sitting' to move the other day. 17 guests in the house and 2 tables sat for 45 minutes talking. Luckily, they had a clue and when they saw the 'line' they got up.

 

[gillumhouse]

I would WELCOME having to sit away from DH sometimes - fresh conversation! Tonight I have 2 couples. In the morning, I will set the table (6 chairs) with an emply chair on each side. I tell the guests it is not to keep them apart, just to make it easier for everyone to get to the food - I serve family style - "take as much or as little as you want folks." And if the horse people want a 4 a.m., I will move the other settings to the center after the first couple leaves.
Woohoo! Couple here for a funeral tomorrow just booked to S/O another night.

 

[MTLLodge]

we just had a chap stay (on of those I am a hotel inspector types) and he said they stayed at a place in scotland and you all had to come for breakfast at 8.30 all together (ie all guests) and all sit together on one table and you all had the same dished out to everyone and they felt like little children. We have 2 tables for 4 and 7 for two and they sort themselves out..

we just had a chap stay (on of those I am a hotel inspector types) and he said they stayed at a place in scotland and you all had to come for breakfast at 8.30 all together (ie all guests) and all sit together on one table and you all had the same dished out to everyone and they felt like little children.

We serve 9am breakfast; everyone sits down together, and gets the same plated breakfast. If any of our guests feel like children, that's their problem...not mine.
.

we just had a chap stay (on of those I am a hotel inspector types) and he said they stayed at a place in scotland and you all had to come for breakfast at 8.30 all together (ie all guests) and all sit together on one table and you all had the same dished out to everyone and they felt like little children.

We serve 9am breakfast; everyone sits down together, and gets the same plated breakfast. If any of our guests feel like children, that's their problem...not mine.

We serve breakfast at 8:30, guest all sit at 1 table, they all get the same plated plate and everyone if happy, well atleast they never told me other wise.

 

[Horse Feathers]

Plus some people need treating like children I had a lad staying with his mother and girlfriend who sat pushing his beans onto his knife and then putting them in his mouth. I was this close to taking his cutlery away and giving him a spoon!.

HAHA! I love the mental image I got from that description!

 

[Don Draper]

Holy Moly, served ALL 16 people within 30 minutes this morning!!!! It looked like a Nascar pit crew as we raced to change the place settings...now we'll be held hostage 'til 11 when everyone comes back to checkout at the same time. Sundays...

 

[Morticia]

Holy Moly, served ALL 16 people within 30 minutes this morning!!!! It looked like a Nascar pit crew as we raced to change the place settings...now we'll be held hostage 'til 11 when everyone comes back to checkout at the same time. Sundays....

Wowzer! We still have guests who are not up yet. Ugh.

 

[Joey Camb]

Hotel inspector guy was a slow eater took 15 mins to eat a bowl of cearial! I had slowed down from the previous day but he still wasn't ready and when he checked out said he felt like he was under pressure to eat his cearial Felt like saying you should be here on Sunday morning when we do 24 breakfasts in 1 hour and you wonder why we work fast! LOL

 

[Samster]

When I first saw the title of this, I thought it was about bad inn sitters!

We often had this happen since our one table in the dining room seats 8. Different crazy combinations would come up for our two breakfast seatings when we were full or even during staggered breakfasts. I would just tactfully ask the person(s) who was (were) messing up the seating if they would mind terribly to relocate because of whatever reason, and then make some kind of joke about there being something extra for breakfast in it for them. Or something else goofy. If my dh was around to help with breakfast service, he was always totally oblivious if there was a problem, so usually there would a requirement to move dishware, placemats, glasses and cutlery that had already been used. Ack!
It was interesting how many couples chose to sit next to each other rather than across from each other. And yes, there was something about shying away from sitting at the "heads" of the table sometimes.
I have stayed at places where there were placecards if they had assigned seatings. I didn't really like that, but I can see where it would prevent the "bad sitters".