A Dilbert Moment at the National Gallery

In the National Gallery’s rotunda there is a space with tables and chairs where it was alleged afternoon tea was served. On Monday, just before my wife and I took in the Caravaggio exhibit, she stopped to enquire if this was the case.

“Yes,” she was told, “between 2 and 4 p.m.”

"In that case," she said, “We shall be back in time for afternoon tea” and we walked into the Caravaggio exhibit.

At about 2:40 we returned to the rotunda and sat down for afternoon tea. Or so we thought.

A waiter came over, and my wife expressed a desire to have afternoon tea.

“Do you a have reservation?” the middle-aged waiter asked.

“I did not realise that we needed a reservation," she said "but I did mention to the person behind the bar (a high counter that served as a bar) that we were coming back for afternoon tea" and nodded in his direction.

At which point the man who would be our waiter replied, and I am not making this up:

“But, we don’t take reservations!”

Seeing our dumbfounded expression, he placed a card on the table on which was printed a ten digit telephone number. He then went on to explain that, to make a reservation, we had to call the number on the card and the person at the other end would then call them to tell them that a reservation had been made for afternoon tea.

He quickly added, that there was no point in calling now for they had already served their quota of afternoon teas. “Would we care for a small pizza or a sandwich?”

Hearing this, a couple who had just sat down, visitors to the capital I suspect, got up and walked away. Can’t blame them. What nonsense!

Bernard Payeur, August 28, 2011