It's the night before O Bar's big Pride Party, an event which has almost always been held on the last Saturday of June. And yet, we're still getting contacts asking if they could join our table, only now. This is despite both Tobie and me regularly reposting and resharing O Bar's various updates about the events, including an initial post directly asking friends if they wanted to join us. It happens every year, and we really don't like accommodating more people than the table is officially rated for, since it just adds a bit more stress to the night.
I've repeatedly complained on this blog about how difficult it has been in recent months (or even the last year) to assemble a full group of friends for an O Bar table. Most of our previous "regulars" seem to have different priorities, and that has left us with limited options over the past few events. But Pride is one of the really big events, and we're used to people trying to join at the last minute.
And that has been the general sense we end up getting from our O Bar hosting efforts. A lot of people think of us as the fallback option when they don't have a table. We're the ones that people expect to be at O Bar pretty much every night, and thus, hope we can accommodate last-minute additions to the table. And I get it, it's not cheap to get a table, and it is more affordable to walk in. But when people try to walk instead of committing to the table really doesn't help. And that's a big factor in where we are now - more and more people ended up being less willing to commit to the table, but then later say they'll "try" to walk in to join our table anyway. It's...weird, to say the least.
This is partly why Tobie and I have focused on going during off-peak nights when entrance cover and table fees are lower, since it's typically just the two of us. We still want to go to O Bar regularly because we love the performers, and we still look forward to the shows. It's more fun when friends can join us, but the past months have reminded Tobie and me that we're also perfectly happy on our own.
For our peace of mind, we're trying not to chase after people to join our table anymore. We're happy when people ask to join us, and we still hope for a full table for event nights like Pride. But we're not going to stress ourselves out with last-minute walk-ins anymore. We're not going to accommodate people who wait until the last-minute to try to join our table. We're going to show appreciation to those who make the time, coordinate freely, and put as much importance in our O Bar nights as we do.
Comments
Post a Comment