Pandemic Restaurant Christmas Dinner
Some families have Christmas dinner in restaurants for various reasons.
1. Women cooked over the years, but got less and less appreciation.
2. Kids eat and run. Go back to their apartments the same day.
3. Phones at the table. Family members eat and text. Older members especially women, feel left out.
4. Movies have wonderful Christmas dinners but do not talk about the cost. Buying food and drinks might be an issue in some families.
5. Family discord. Some people dread Christmas because they don’t see eye to eye with certain members. Others are tired of being asked why they are not married.
2021 Restaurant Dinner
This is the second year of the pandemic, so Covid-19 restrictions such as social distancing are still on. Some restaurants took out some tables to accommodate that.
Restaurants were hard hit last Christmas because Covid-19 was in full throttle. Business is coming back slowly but with certain conditions: show digital or plastic card before waiters escort you to your table.
Therefore, event planners chosen by the family to plan Christmas dinner in restaurants, must put it in first gear.
n Call restaurants early for ‘window shopping.’ The cost, of course. Other questions could be, do they offer a set menu? How about kids under 10, will restaurants charge adult rates?
n Does the menu include wine? Can the family bring their own? That is highly unlikely though, because that is where restaurants make some profit.
n Are restaurants wheel chair accessible?
n On the family side, event organizers must tell all family members to vaccinate or stay home and munch mac n cheese.
n How will family pay for meal? They might send money to the event planner’s bank account.
Who knows? After such a fact-finding mission, event planners might convince families to have Christmas dinner at home, with everybody pitching in financially and kitchen wise.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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