I’ll Never Step Foot in Amsterdam Falafelshop Again!
Or Johnny’s Half Shell! Allow me to explain why.
The wife and I had just got to the Strathmore Music Center. We were running late as we scampered to find our seats for last night’s Lyle Lovett concert. Carrie assumed the task of securing our seats. I headed to the restroom.
When Carrie got to our seats, she found that they were occupied. Now these were no ordinary seats. These were my birthday-present seats, located smack-dab in the middle of the first row of the Grand Tier. (The photo above gives you an idea of the view from these seats.) There was only one seat available, and Carrie took it, hoping to work out the problem. The occupants of the other seats started teasing Carrie:
Where is your husband going to sit? they wondered. (”On my lap,” Carrie told them.) What’s your husband’s name? (”Tim,” she said.) Well, maybe we don’t want Tim to sit with us; we like you better. (“No, you’ll like Tim, too,” Carrie added.)
They were having a jolly friggin’ time without me.
When I finally emerged from the restroom, the usher was still trying to sort out the seating snafu. The occupants rightfully had tickets to those seats, too, the usher told me. I was about to get annoyed by this double-booking when the usher finally figured out the problem: The seat squatters were supposed to be in the level above us. He promptly filed them out of our seats.
That’s when I really got a good look at who had stole our seats:
John Fulchino from Johnny’s Half Shell and Arianne and Scott Bennett from the Amsterdam Falafelshop.
As they sheepishly walked past me, I looked Arianne Bennett in the eye and said, “You know, this is so going to be a blog item tomorrow.” When I ran into them after the show, I added that they could expect awful reviews from this point out.
I was joking. I think.
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Linked From: November 9th, 2009Horace & Dickie’s Enters the Leaderboard in D.C. Hall of Fame Voting - Young & Hungry - Washington City Paper
5:05 pm[...] made a strong move last week, adding nearly 30 votes to its total despite the owners’, ahem, questionable behavior at the Strathmore. I credit the uptick to a groundswell of vegan/vegetarian voters, who were no doubt spurred by some [...]
5:06 pm
Were they being mean-spirited with the joking or truly just making fun of the situation? If they were jerks then let them have it – although I venture a guess that your journalistic integrity wouldnt let you write negative stuff just after this.
5:29 pm
He who laughs last. . . Of course, now you can’t step in their shops b/c if you find a bug in an oyster or a mouse in the falafel you could never write about it or you’ll find yourself in a Tom problem.
5:32 pm
They didn’t know the situation at that point. They only learned who I was after I showed up.
As to dcrat’s point, I don’t think this incident rises to any level of seriousness. We got our seats. I just thought it was a funny story. I certainly hold no grudges whatsoever. I walked out of the show in a great mood.
5:35 pm
They were totally joking. They were completely charming, actually. By the time they were forced out, I liked them all enough to let them all sit on my lap.
5:46 am
Actually, we the plan al along was to spirit Tim’s wife away with us and keep her at the Falafelshop forever! LOL! Just kidding – the ushers who sat us there didn’t look closely at our tickets, so we apologize for sitting in Tim’s seats – but we were delighted to realize it was him… what are the chances of such a random thing, huh? It certainly added to our night, and will be a treasured fun memory going forward!
9:06 am
Arianne, I’m just sorry they made you guys leave! Just when we were getting to know each other
And btw, you don’t have to coerce me to stay at the Falafelshop — every time I visit our designers on 14th Street, I get sucked in by the Amsterdam tractor beam. Having spent 4 formative years in Holland, the mayo fries give me such a huge nostalgia hit!
7:37 pm
This is an abuse of power. There’s nothing funny. It’s a guy with a mouthpiece airing grievances like some sort of highschooler. The usher solved the problem and it was a done deal. Is the City Paper the source of anything other than invective, immoral trysts, and tranny escort ads?
10:07 am
Gosh, I really think someone needs to brush up on his reading comprehension skills.