My experience with dining and dashing is one that I will never forget.
I had gone out to dinner with friends, and the waiter was completely ignoring us. We had been there for over 20 mins, and no one had taken our order
It all started when we arrived at the restaurant. We had made a reservation and were expecting to have a pleasant evening, but it quickly became apparent that we were not going to have a good time. We waited for close to 20 minutes before the waiter finally came to our table. He took our drink orders, then proceeded to ignore us for the next 45 minutes. He checked up on other tables, but somehow managed to avoid us.
At this point, I had had enough. I tried to flag him down multiple times, but he still wouldn’t come to our table. I was getting increasingly frustrated, and my friends were starting to get impatient as well. After an hour of waiting, I had had enough. I stood up and announced that we were leaving.
We all got up and started walking out of the restaurant. I glanced at the waiter one more time, and that’s when I noticed that he was watching us. I couldn’t believe it. He had been ignoring us for an hour and now he was suddenly interested? I decided to teach him a lesson.
I turned to my friends and said, “Let’s go. We’re dining and dashing.” I knew it was wrong, but I felt like I had to do something. We quickly left the restaurant without paying, and I could see the waiter’s face as we walked out.
I’m not proud of what I did that night, but I felt like I had to stand up for myself. As a customer, I should not have to be ignored for an hour. Unfortunately, too often, restaurant staff can get away with treating customers poorly. This was my way of making a statement and showing that I would not stand for it.
I understand that this was a drastic action, and I could have handled the situation better. I don’t believe in dining and dashing, and I regret my decision. I’m just glad that I didn’t get caught.