A group of folk dancers decided to attend this year’s Oktoberfest, put on by the German-American Club in Pinellas Park. We have been to others, and the main problem has been to find seating in the large tent. So this year, we sent Dylan and Bonnie there to get us a table the minute the place opened for business. There were reserved tables, and not reserved tables, and they picked a non-reserved table – this was at 4:00 pm. We all arrived within minutes, a total of 9 of us and settled in to eat and dance. At 6:00 a man came to us, telling us it was a reserved table and to move. Of course there were not tables available, and Dylan and Bonnie explained this table had no reserved sign on it. This guy became very belligerent, almost forcing us to move. Some of us started arguing, Ursula even did it in German. I asked him to bring back the president of the organization. About 45 minutes later, he came back, told us the president had told him we had to move. I said “or else?” He said the police would escort us out. I suggested this sounded like a law suit in the making, and he left again. Back came the president, also asking us to move, but using a slightly nicer voice. He offered to help us move – pointed to a table that emptied, and by the time we looked over it was full again, he says, you snooze you lose. We decided to leave, he offers us free tickets to come back. We suggested that we would never be coming back, but asked for our money back for our food tickets, which he did. A pretty awful experience. I do think that’s the last time we’ll go there. My sis wondered why a nice Jewish girl like me would go in the first place. Hmmm.
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