Monday, April 28, 2008

sociopath

Our new host is a social worker by day, host at Toro by night. We are chatting after our shift over a glass (or three) of wine about the woes of working the door at a busy restaurant.

"People reveal their psychological problems so openly and easily during the course of a dining experience," I say. "All the food protective behaviors, control issues, eating disorders. All out there, right in the open at dinner. It's crazy."

"Oh, trust me, I know," he says. "I see it all. I can spot a sociopath in a second when working the door at Toro."

"Hahaha," I laugh and take a sip of my wine. "Wait a sec -- can you?"

"Mm-hmm," he nods.

"You're actually trained to recognize this stuff. Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah. You can totally tell. They're very calculating. They're in your face, looking over the list, surveying the entire scene of the restaurant before you can even quote them a wait time. They know exactly who is getting up when. They may try to be your friend, but they've always got an eye on where they can weasel in on the list and how they can get a table faster."

"Huh. Interesting. So, you've seated sociopaths? How often?"

"I don't know. Couple times a month I guess. Not that often, but it does happen."

"Wow. And I thought I was clever for being able to spot customers with anorexia."

3 comments:

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SocialSecurity said...

So, I guess eating with someone really pretty much tells you all you need to know about someone....hence, "Let's go out to dinner sometime." I wonder if its an evolutionary trait?

Anonymous said...

u should read dr anne stout's 'the sociopath next door'. fascinating book. there are lots of misconceptions about same.