Feeding Frenzy
I usually do not like to write things that happen while working at Restaurant Associates, but this is worth mentioning.
Last night we worked at Time Warner Center for a conference related to Mexican tourism. The guest where mainly travel agents and travel writers. I recall being asked constantly if there will be food after the conference. “We will have some Hors d’Oeuvres later on”
The conference was over the guess (About 150 people) pour on the main floor and we started service. This people were hungry… way to hungry.
Every time one of us would walk out of the kitchen with a plate of food, we would get jumped and several arms would reach and the food would be gone in seconds. We started to go out in pairs so we could make it to the center of the room, but we would move just a few more feet. We started to run trough to the center of the room, but inevitably somebody will block us as take the food. I would lift the tray high above my head and try to navigate the room but that would just get me so far. We could do anything but just to stretch our arms and let the storm pass hopping the wont bite my arm off. It was very trashy. Have these people never eaten a Hors d’Oeuvre before? The bar was also being attacked after the guests learn that it wasn’t a cash bar. There were a few character that we would try to avoid.
A chubby short man on a black suit would break off the people we was chatting with every time to run to the passing trays. We would pass by him in groups of two or three and we would get confused not knowing with tray to attack first (I am not making this one up)
A large woman with a cane would always wave us close (an not in a polite manner) to get food from us. We would pretend we did not hear her. At some point he walk to one of us and demanded to know why we would not come to her. The guess that was being serve at that moment send her to hell and not so politely remind her that this event is for everybody present and the food is not just for her fat ass (after that, the guest that stod up for us got special service)
An old guy on a light gray suit, also with a cane would spring to action, and at times follow us through the room a good speed while lifting his cane to get to the food trays.
I saw hands snatching food of other hands in the middle of the feeding frenzy. Some people started asking us to bring food to them first. Some people learned where we had to walk by and block our way, despise we having food trays up high over our heads and clearly telling them that we have to get food to the other side of the room. If we we dared to lower the tray to offer that guess a bite, the feeding frenzy would start again and we would have to go back to the kitchen for more.
I have never seen this kind of behavior before.
