Excuse me, waiter?

On a recent date night, Steve and I were led to our table by a hostess wearing a T-shirt that bore this message on the back.

"If you can read this, it means I'm serving another customer."

I recreated the shirt at Zazzle, but that is exactly what the shirt said.

Now, while I understand that waiters may feel harried if guests at one table interrupt them while they are serving another table, but I have to say, the only times I've ever done such a thing were when I could not otherwise get the waiter's attention.

So, dear restaurant manager, if your staff find that being interrupted by guests is a big problem, why not teach them how to handle the problem courteously, rather than printing up passive-aggressive T-shirts that imply, "Please shut up. I'm busy ignoring you."

Here is my suggestion:Make eye contact with the other guests and say, "I'll be right with you." Smile. Make sure you do stop by the other table.

See? Not that hard, is it?