Application for Restaurant Reservation Anxiety
A table was booked eleven days in advance for a casual dinner. Availability was not the issue.
Incident Report: Restaurant Reservation Anxiety Filed July 2022
Incident Summary
A table was booked eleven days in advance for a dinner involving four people at a restaurant that, based on available evidence, does not require reservations eleven days in advance. The reservation was not made because the restaurant was full. The reservation was made because the subject no longer trusts that casual seating is available.
Background
The subject books a table earlier than necessary because spontaneous seating no longer feels trustworthy. This is a 2022 behaviour pattern with a 2020 origin.
In 2020 and 2021, many restaurants were closed, operating at limited capacity, or newly popular due to a shortage of alternatives. The subject learned during this period that showing up without a booking was a gamble the subject did not want to take for a dinner involving other people who had made plans.
The restaurants have since reopened at full capacity. The subject has not updated the practice.
The Incident
The reservation was confirmed. The restaurant was not full on the original proposed date. The subject did not know this and did not attempt to find out because not knowing made the early booking feel more necessary.
The dinner was attended by four people. The table was available. No one was turned away. The reservation did not confer a material advantage over not reserving.
What the Reservation Actually Managed
The event was wanted and often enjoyed, yet recovery from it is treated like a separate appointment. The early reservation managed the anxiety about the dinner for eleven days before the dinner. It did not reduce the recovery day required after the dinner, which was also added to the calendar.
The recovery day is listed as "WFH." It is a recovery day.
The Governing Rule
Social recovery time must be hidden inside the calendar because wanting people and needing rest are treated as opposites. The subject wanted the dinner. The subject needed the recovery. Both are true simultaneously. The calendar cannot accommodate both as named things, so one is renamed.
Consequence
After repetition, other people in the subject's social circle began planning dinners around the subject's booking lead time. Two of the four attendees noted they expected the subject to handle the reservation and did not attempt to book anything themselves. This is now a role. The subject did not request the role.
Status
The reservation system is functioning. The dinners are happening. The recovery days are invisible on shared calendars but present in private ones.
The subject is available next Tuesday. A booking has already been made.