Travels in a Tin Can

server, slow service. On this occasion we were in Pizza Hut, there not being
much choice in this small Texas town, and because we thought it would be a
quick and easy meal. Our hopes seemed confirmed when the waitress
attempted to take our order three times in the first 5 minutes, but then the
pizza - not a complex or unusual order - took ages to arrive. While we waited
and I glared at the waitress every few minutes she kept smiling and
reassuring us it would not be long. In fact she appeared to be a little in awe of
us, me in particular, almost curtseying when speaking to us while subjecting
other customers to a fairly scary attitude.... it was probably our accents. When
the food came we only managed two bits (it being about 10pm by then), and
asked for a take away box for the rest - another long wait. The problem was
that the chef was preparing food for take out as well as to eat in and the
waitress was on her own taking telephone orders as well as serving. The
restaurant did a surprisingly brisk trade, confirming our suspicion that Van
Horn had little else to offer diners.
One thing that was consistent throughout our travels was an annoying
habit of starting to clear plates before we had finished eating; a practice not
related to whether waiters were good or bad. I usually eat faster than Emma
and often my plate would be taken while she was still eating. On one
occasion, in Disneyland, I was even offered desert before she had cleared her
plate. This irritated us so much that by the end of the holiday I had developed
the habit of leaving one mouthful on my plate, to eat in sync with Emma's last
bit, something I barely had the willpower for. Evidently this plate-clearing
practice is not frowned upon in America, like it is in the UK.