Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Top Ten Ways Not to Act Old

This past weekend I once again realized I was old. Old friends from my university days in Toronto have a son who has come to Vancouver to work for the summer, along with his girlfriend. I offered to take the two visitors and my son, all in their early 20's out to dinner - letting the young'uns choose the restaurant. Big mistake - they chose Guu - a downtown hip Japanese isakaya, tapas restaurant. The place was hopping - it was extremely busy and vibrant. From the moment we entered, my son watched me to see how I would react to the noise of the place. I was truly startled to hear all the employees yelling out greetings and orders - noise that carried in the small room. I admit it - the restaurant was not for me - too noisy, too frenetic, too crowded and too......well...........too young.

So you can understand that it wasn't just me, here are some reviews of the restaurant: "They yell their orders to the cooks and the cooks yell back in Japanese. I think that is what makes this dining experience extraordinary". Maybe this comment from another diner paints a clearer picture: "I can barely hear what my friend was saying, it's probably because we are sitting at the bar. Once customers enter/ leave the restaurant, all the staff would start yelling. It was quite interesting in the beginning, but for an hour or so, I just can't stand the noise. It seems like the staff didn't care if they were standing right next to you, they'll still yell".

This article suggests the top ten other ways not to act old. Some of the ways I agree with, others I'm not quite sure about: don't listen to Springstein; don't leave a message...... One thing the writer forgot to put on the list: don't spaz out in loud au courant restaurants filled with gorgeous young urbane types (when your children can see you).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, at least I know how to text and I don't leave messages on cell phone voice mail! As far as the rest goes, I guess I'm old.

Julie

Anonymous said...

Sadly, I don't know how to text, and I leave messages on cell phones, so Julie, you must be younger than me. Also, to sound really old, I bet that loud Japanese dinner cost a fortune, which would make me really crabby. On a different note, I want to be part of Larry David's new family --I Love him.
Wendy