Spiro Kladis
Google
How long does one watch people completely disorganized and in utter disarray? Out of some strange fascination, I can say about 10 minutes...10 minutes of never getting acknowledged by anyone and seeing people unable to run a restaurant! Like a horrible car accident, I couldn't help but stare.
Two waiters in this scene, management or the host was never seen.
One waitress is running around frantically clearing one massive table, all the while she's trying to get a group of ladies sorted at the same time. Running back and forth with a jackrabbit's pace, she looked completely defeated. Nevertheless, she mustered on. She never acknowledged us, too busy to care about anyone else coming in that she had to wait on.
Meanwhile, another waiter, he's in the back corner just behind a curtain, he's taking his time nonchalantly breaking apart boxes. He looked much more at ease with his task.
While my mom and I are standing near the front bar, we can't help but notice all the empty glasses. Thirty, maybe forty glasses all piled on the bar.
So our box breaker, you remember him right? This human loaf of bread comes out from the back corner, comes up to the bar, and does something quite bizarre. He moves glasses from one end of the bar, all the wayyyyyy over to the other end. A shuffling of glasses as it were. Was he trying to organize the chaos or just trying to look busy? Hard to tell.
So I strike up a conversation with glass shuffler, I ask about all the many glasses on the bar. After all, I want to make sure he actually sees me. I may or may not be able to jump between timelines, so sometimes in the transition people may not see me.
Success, he can in fact see and hear me. He barely understands what I'm saying, our languages criss cross like all those multiple glasses on the bar. He then goes back behind the curtain, all the better to ensure that those boxes he broke were still broken.
By this point, I've had enough of being ignored. I go back towards box boy, chest all puffed up in adult mode, nostrils flaired... ACKNOWLEDGE ME!!! He asks if I had a reservation. I say no. He tells me to wait a moment. I say hell no.
What was once strangely fascinating to watch, has now made me angry. We leave. And as we do, I left behind words of shame & disdain to that doofus of a waiter. Did anything get through to him? Doubtful.
If anything good can come of this review it is this, go to Es Vietnam near the Plaza de Oriente. We went there later that night for a lovely dinner. Abby is super nice and the food was fantastic!
