Jeez, LARRY, did someone seat you in the smoking section and then extinguish their cig in your Cheerios?
The second definition of “away” at Dictionary.com is “At or to a distance in space or time.” “We asked to be moved away.” “She moved us away.” “She moved us further away.” This is not “totally contrary” to the normal usage of an adverb; the adverb properly modifies the verb “moved.” Nor is there any requirement in the English language that usage be “consistent” from sentence to sentence, so long as it is correct: “I stayed up writing all night. I was a writing machine, but my writing isn’t very good.”
Jeezamoe, it’s not a great rant, but OTOH it hardly merits a visit from the Grammar Police.
Have to agree with those who say you should have been more clear about your situation. You said yourself that, for whatever reason, you did not mention your usual caveat about wishing to be “as far away as possible”. Believe it or not, that hostess was not being intentionally dumb, rude, or whatever other ill-feelings you want to ascribe to her. So she didn’t move you far enough away for your particular liking or need that night. So the fuck what? Suggest another table, it’s not incumbent upon the staff to fucking know the degree of dire aversion to cigarette smoke of every drone who walks in the door. It’s not like this is a big CONFLICT. It’s a simple matter polite give and take.
No way would I have spoken to a manager about it. Make life worse for some schmuck just doing their job the best they can? No fucking way. Grow up.
Maybe she was just in awe of the fact that this obviously dimwitted hostess didn’t understand the inital request of “farther away from the non-smoking section.”
Really, when you imagine the actual scene in your mind, the hostess appears to be remarkably stupid. Should the customer really have to explain “no sweetheart, when I say farther away, I mean in the opposite direction from the smoking section”
If I were the hostess, I wouldn’t be frustrated, I’d be embarassed that I acted like such a freaking dumbass.
I have no idea what the hostess’s situation, so I’m going to cut her a little slack. If she was maybe a little young, and especially if she was new to the job, she might have been trying to help the servers out, or she might have had a brain-fart on policy, or she might have just choked when the request came. You have to do a certain amount of juggling as a hostess, and sometimes you pull a massive boner. I know I’ve done it. It’s possible that she just flaked.
Next time the situation comes around, don’t be too shy to point out a table that’s where you need to sit. And don’t forget to throw your disclaimer in, either. Tell her immediately, and she’ll hopefully do the best she can for you. If she doesn’t… well, then you’ll know she’s a shitty hostess. This could have been an honest fuckup. There’s not enough information to say for sure.
And if she’s young, she’s probably not gonna get the “Ike and Tina” reference. I thought it was damn funny, though.