Sun. 05.30.21 – I will admit that I have never been a big fan of reservations. Yes, to be punny about it, I have reservations about making reservations.
In the past, I have made a point to not go to restaurants that require reservations and I am not fond of art exhibitions that require pre-booking. I would rather show up and if tickets/seats are available excellent, and if not, then let’s walk around and see what else we can do.
Yes, I come from a family of ADD/ADHD folks and I tend to be on the high functioning end of that spectrum, though I prefer to to call it being creative and artsy but use what label you prefer.
My dislike of reservations is not the planning part, I can pre-plan weeks in advance if I have to and make calendar notifications, it is the act of the all the pre-planning takes the whimsy and fun out of the event for me.
You finally got a slot at the French Laundry? Excellent. It took two years of planning? So sorry.
Oh. Well. Then. I. Won’t. Tell. You. About. The. Time. A. Friend. And. I. Drove. Up. Walked. In. And. Were. Seated.
Said spontaneous attempt at storming the gates of the Laundry came after wine tasting and listening to music too loud in the car. The food was good. Other than that the real fun was getting in with No Planning.
Yep. I am also the person who had said yes a few times to less than 48 hours of planning to fly across continents.
I would rather wait for a half hour or so for a table to come available at a favorite restaurant, people watch, talk to the random folks who are also waiting, etc. than make a reservation, go to the table, and have everything be a little too perfect with no opportunity for life or spontaneity to happen.
I have a few museum/botanical garden memberships, because if I have a few hours open up in my day it is a wonderful treat to run around the Huntington / Insert Name of Art Museum for an hour or two. Say hi to a fave painting or cactus. Sit on a bench and listen to the birds. etc.
I realize in the last year plus that the world is on fire and people are dying and All of our Lives have had to change. All of us.
Ok, got it. Yep, I am willing to be flexible. Yep.
But why do I have to make a time reservation to be outdoors? Why Huntington does the whole darned thing have to be made for the accountant who is really really good at straining at gnats?
The Huntington only releases Member’s tickets once every two weeks and then they are all gone in an instant. Then they send me emails reminding me to renew my membership except not once in the last year was I able to get tickets in the half hour or so every two weeks that they were available to members.
To take my Mom for her birthday, I found that while all the Huntington’s Member’s tickets where gone for the whole two weeks around but I could still buy regular tickets for the date and time we could attend. So, tickets were bought separately from my membership so that my Mom and I could walk around the gardens for her birthday.
I hope when the the pandemic is over that various institutions drop the annoying book a time and date and return to general admission purchased when you walk up to the front gate be you a member or a person just wanting to walk around the gardens for pay.