Electric Guitars and Lunch do NOT mix

I don’t really understand what it is with restaurants lately. Maybe they are trying to stand out from the crowd, maybe the manager is away and whoever’s left is trying to assert themselves, I can’t really say. But I eat my lunch at pretty modest to upper-modest restaurants.

Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of music with guitar in it. I’m a closet Prince fan, I like Pink Floyd and my exercise playlist has some very lively music in it. But when I’m out at lunch at a restaurant like Applebee’s I just don’t think that the music should be noticeable to me.

My definition of “Noise” is sound that stands out from the environment. That can be anything from the person who doesn’t understand how to use their cell phone (hint, let the phone pick up your voice and transmit it, you don’t have to get it to the listener all by yourself) to the kid crying from boredom next to me at a $40 a meal restaurant. It’s just not part of the expected ambiance.

When I go out for lunch I usually want to talk to the person I’m with and maybe I want to wiggle my toes to the beat of some pleasant music. What I DON’T want to do is have to wait for breaks in between guitar solos to try to ask how my companion(s) like their meal.

Let’s save the hard core stuff for uber-trendy restaurants that cater to the 20 somethings or the Emo crowd. If I want to stare at my companions with no hope of conversing, I’ll go to a club in Buckhead fully anticipating and expecting that this will be the environment that I will enjoy.

But, and I think I speak for most folks in my demographic (30-50’s, middle class, 9-5 job) that, if I never hear another guitar solo at lunch, it will be far too soon. 😉

2 thoughts on “Electric Guitars and Lunch do NOT mix”

  1. I empathize with you. Unfortunately, a lot of restauranteurs and restaurant corporations allow this to happen. A common protest from employees and restauranteurs is, “But all of our customers like it!”

    They didn’t notice all of the customers who walked out the door and never came back. Oh well. The restaurant is losing money and I’m not bothered that they’re losing money.

    Regards,

    Name withheld by request

  2. Hey,

    I checked out your web site. It’s nice to see somebody’s out there looking out for the little guy! For most people, I believe that very few of those noise sources on their own are a really big deal, but as a whole they do start to wear you down after a while.

    I’m really happy that my neighbors are generally very respectful of each other’s ability to enjoy the great outdoors. Even the most egregious barking dog a couple of houses over is typically only out for a short while a couple of times a week and is pretty low key when compared to most barking dogs that I’ve encountered.

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