No Reservations

With with two kids in their early twenties, dinner plans at home are ever-changing. Many days, within a thirty-minute span, our dinner number begins with a count of four, then +1, then -2, then again +2. In a moment of frustration, I pushed out a “reservation system” that required a dinner commitment by noon the day of. Not too much to ask, right? Friends and people we talked to thought it was a great idea. Encouraging social manners and facilitating a sense of responsibility seemed to be a noble and reasonable objective, but the fact is that I just wanted to know “how many” and “when.”

It worked, like most systems, programs, protocols, and initiatives do with a family – for a while. In fact, it worked too well. Reservations started out strong and then began to dwindle as time went on. It was far too easy to not commit to anything. I then began to question my own rationale for creating the reservation system. Is it the result of a twenty+ year catering business’s obsession with RSVP’s? Every bride and groom fights the RSVP battle, each with their own unique strategy. And regardless of strategy, numbers trickle in at their own pace, leaving many of the important final details floating in the air. I awoke to realize I come by my obsession honestly. But there’s no sense in perpetuating an obsession when all I really want is as many kids and friends here as possible. Our reservation system isn’t much of a system anymore, and that’s OK.

Here’s cacciatore, Dory
Taste of bologna, Tony
Everybody eats when they come to my house
I’ve fixed your favorite dishes
Hopin’ this good food fills ya
Work my hands to the bone in the kitchen alone
You better eat if it kills ya –

Everybody Eats When They Come To My House – Song by Cab Calloway