Olive garden

You weren't forced to wait, you CHOSE to wait. You could have and should have left after letting the management know why you were leaving. Complaining is good, but sending a message by taking your business elsewhere is much more effective.

In most cases, I would agree with this. But, as I posted in another thread about my experience with this sort of thing. My husband is a diabetic, we were on vacation, and going to another restaurant would not have gotten him a meal any faster.

I think we SHOULD have mentioned the diabetes thing to the hostess, and if they kept seating famblees before us (when WE were there first), asked her how they would like to be sued if DH's blood sugar dropped down so low that he passed out, right there in the waiting area.

If we ever find ourselves in this situation again, you can bet that we'll do this.

Your's is a different situation catmommy and yeah, chances are if you said something to someone, they could have and would have served you something to eat while you were waiting if they couldn't have seated you. I have done that exact thing as a waitress before.

Going by what the poster wrote though, she didn't specify there were any other circumstances involved. It doesn't help to complain if you aren't going to hit them where it hurts, or if you wait too long to complain. It isn't easy, I know, but eventually you learn that you too have the right to speak up, even against the holy childed.

Indeed, speak up! I've worked in lots of resturants, and while they were all family owned (as opposed to chain resturants like good ol' O.G.), not a single one had a policy of seating familes with children before all others. If you speak up instead of stewing silently in your own juices, you may find things aren't quite as sinister as you might have expected, or that you'll get something free because of their oversight.