Ruining things for the rest of us...

You know what really grinds my gears?  When you go to a restaurant that's busy and has a lengthy waiting list for tables, and you see a table full of people who have to-go boxes on their table, empty drinks, a paid check, and they proceed to sit at the table and chat for hours.  Tonight I went to dinner with my parents.  After waiting for a table for about 20 minutes, we were seated next to a full table of 4.  The diners at that table had foam containers in front of them.  Their sodas had watered down.  The signed credit card slip was sitting on the table.  My parents and I had dinner.  When we left the restaurant, approximately an hour after being seated, the people at the table next to us WERE STILL SITTING THERE. Talking.  And the line of people waiting for a table?  Just as long as when we had walked in, if not longer.  Look, I know that eating in a restaurant is a social experience.  I've had long meals too.  But when you're at a restaurant where there are only about 20 tables, there is a line of hungry diners out the door, servers are frantically trying to serve their customers, and you have completely finished and paid for your meal, take the conversation to the bar next door!  Not only are you taking up a table that other customers could use, you are taking tips away from your server who could have probably served 2 cycles of diners in the time you sat there talking in detail about your recent fishing trip.  If you want to have a 4-hour meal where 3/4ths of the meal time is made up of chatting, throw a dinner party.  Or find an empty restaurant.  The world is not your personal cocktail party.