Isn't it always the way!

I've been in restaurants where it's simply not possible to be served. In Montreal it was the Greek fast-food joints where the family would clearly be having an argument in the back and if you cleared your throat or waved feebly at them they looked at you as if you'd walked into their living room with an inappropriate request. "What" they seemed to be saying "can't you see that Philomena is coming home late and has started seeing an Italian boy from Park Extension? And you want a souvlaki?"

Here in the UK it's just the normal 'retail tradition' where customers might as well lie on the floor and cough up a kidney before asking for something which - once requested - won't be available.

Even in such restaurants as Subway - the last bastion of food "at hand and served hot" and in friendly little communities like Kitimat, British Columbia, a hungry customer can't depend on the staff sticking around long enough to provide sustenance.