How to Politely Say “No, We Hated Our Meal!”
On Sunday, after watching a really good film “Travellers & Magicians“, William and I proceeded to dinner. Something new for a change. For more on that experience, see Mohr & Mohr. But to cut a long story short, we basically did not enjoy the experience, and yes, we were aware of that fact halfway through the meal. which is why we started getting nervous when we noticed that whenever the waiter came to clear one of the surrounding tables, he would always make it a point to ask if the diners had enjoyed their food, to which they would of course mumble some pleasantries, etc, etc.
Like what’s the point of asking that anyway? Fishing for compliments? If I really enjoyed the food, and it wowed me to the extent that I make the effort to let you know, then you know, your food’s really good. But if I didn’t think it was good enough to rave about it, then why put us on the spot and ask us, cause it’s not like we would actually say “no, we hated our meal!” would we? in that event, you’re just forcing us to lie.
so while William and I sat there, finishing the rest of our meal, which was basically just a really fatty, bland, soddy affair, we started fantasising about all the honest replies we would give when it came to our turn to answer the inevitable “did you enjoy your meal?”… something along the lines of “you don’t want to hear what I have to say about it”, “we’re never coming back, what do you think?”, “just look at the amount of what we DIDN”T eat!”, etc, etc, etc.
All the same, we dreaded the moment. Do we stick to our guns and tell them what we really think, or do we chicken out and lie again?
The moment arrives. My decision, to strategically turn away and pretend to fuss with the contents of my bag so as to avoid eye contact. If anyone had to lie, it was going to be William. To our amazement, the lady didn’t ask us what we thought of the meal when she cleared our plates! Phew! she must have picked up on the vibes that we didn’t like it and graciously let us off the hook! Yay! we were actually going to get out of that place with our integrity intact!
Or so we thought.
“So did you enjoy your meal?” while she handed us our bill. NOOOOO!!!!!
“Yes, it was great!” “Perfect! We loved it.” CHICKENS!
So how do you politely say “No, We Hated Our Meal”? You don’t. You lie.