Today’s Thanksgiving dinner went well, by Holland family standards. So well, in fact, that there’s not much of a story in it. You have been warned.
Instead I’ll offer links to my more amusing Thanksgivings from 2022 and 2023, and this brief recap of 2024.
There were only six of us — my sister Katrina, her long-time boyfriend Max, her friend Adelle, my friend Leon, my mom, and me. The friends are invited because they don’t have family, and my other relatives had obligations with their own spouses and children, which understandably overrides the ‘original’ family you’re born into.
For most of my adult life, Mom has gotten on my nerves, either intentionally or by her nature, but between both of us mellowing with age and Mom starting to lose some of her memory, the fireworks have faded. Today was a nice time with Mom, and there were no arguments between the rest of us, either.
We ate at Golden Spoon buffet again, and came at 11:00, opening time, to beat the rush. But the restaurant has changed their business hours, and now doesn’t open until 11:30.
This got me grumpy, because (a) I’d checked their hours online, (b) it was bloody cold this morning, (c) Mom and Adelle are physically unable to stand in a long line for half an hour, (d) I had to pee, and (e) have I mentioned that I’d checked their hours online? The restaurant’s website still says they open at 11:00, daily.
After standing in line for ten minutes with about fifty other people, someone noticed new hours as posted beside the door — opening at 11:30 — so we all went to separate cars to run the engines and stay warm.
At 11:36, the restaurant’s door was finally unlocked, with about a hundred people in line waiting to pay. We didn’t actually get a table (and I didn’t get to pee) until almost noon.
The price was $32.99 per person, and my sister Katrina paid for everyone, which was certainly sweet of her. When she said there were six of us, the cashier recited a policy that parties of six or more are charged a 15% gratuity at the register.
I’m a big tipper, but that’s my choice. Making it mandatory makes it different. If this wasn’t a family event, and if Sis wasn’t paying, I would’ve at least said something snarky. Instead I bit my tongue, as an appetizer for the meal.
What I might’ve said was, This is a buffet. You find your own table, get your own food, find your own silverware, pour your own drinks. What are we tipping for? The only service is that someone comes ’round every twenty minutes or so, to take away dirtied plates.
Since we’re all in our 60s-90s, Katrina asked for the senior discount, and the lady ringing us up said, “Certainly.” Doing the math later at the table, though, we realized we’d been charged full price, totaling almost $250, including tax and mandatory tip. Like me, my sister is also not eager to make a scene on a holiday, so she said nothing.
The food was the best Golden Spoon has ever done, and unlike last year, no explosive diarrhea for dessert.
But, screw ’em. They made us wait outside for half an hour, and gouged us at the register, and I’ll be lobbying for a different restaurant for next year’s Thanksgiving.
11/28/2024
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