It's bad enough to have to wait on an entitled celebrity who expects you to be both invisible and telepathic. But how much more galling must it be when that same VIP turns around and complains about your service in the pages of The New York Times?
That's how some New York City waiters feel following the publication of Nora Ephron's op-ed in yesterday's Times titled, "What to Expect When You're Expecting Dinner" [sub. req.] In the piece, Ephron, a noted journalist and the screenwriter behind When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, kvetches about every last aspect of the typical dining-out experience, from the excessive size of water glasses to the grainy texture of sea salt, which scratches her sensitive tongue. She reserves her most withering disdain, however, for waiters, who, in her view, are forever pestering customers with intrusive questions like, "Is everything all right?" and "Would you like another bottle of Pellegrino?"