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[Banquet_Bear]

@Dewey_Finn

I really liked it (especially the Forks episode).

…as Banquet Bear, of the Sacred Order of the Banquet Bears, I can speak from authority here.

Season 2, Episode 7, “Forks”, gave me life.

That was probably my single most favourite thing I’ve seen on TV. I wrote this back in 2007. 16 fricken years ago.

@Banquet_Bear

I’ve been in the hospitality trade since 1994. I’ve washed dishes under the shadow of Mount Cook at the Hermitage Hotel, surpervised banquets at the Auckland Park Regency and the Stamford Plaza, waited on tables at Fortuna Restaurant and the Airport Hotel, managed conference centres at Sky City and the New Zealand Parliament, co-ordinated events for Te Papa and my own catering company.

I’ve managed at least seven State level functions for visiting Heads of State, including the Rt Hon John Howard and HRH the Queen. I am Papa Bear of the Sacred Order of the Banquet Bears, and it is particularly galling to be called naive about what goes on in the hospitality industry by somebody who considers it good form to throw away their customers engagement ring and can see nothing wrong with serving food picked up off the floor.

…

The hospitality industry is all about illusion. Its about not having to worry about cooking dinner for the night. Its about having that perfect evening with your partner. It is about going to a pizza place and ordering the greasiest most unhealthiest pizza possible. Its about spending a last night with friends, not knowing whether or not you will see them again. Its about sitting alone at a bar, enjoying the company of a Glenfiddich 40 Year Old Scotch. It is sometimes about escaping from the real world for a while: and it is our job to provide that illusion.

The good waiter knows that the person on table 12 is in a bubbly mood and wants to engage in flirty banter, but also knows the lady on table 6 has had a rough day and just wants to be served their meal and beverages and be left alone.

The good waiter knows that when Mr Smith in the corner table was abrupt when he gave his order seconds ago, he had probably just lost a major business deal, had just had an arguement with his girlfriend, or somebody had run over his cat. The good waiter will conduct himself with the utmost professionalism, serve the food with a smile, and walk away to take the next persons order.

Warning! VCO3 Will Tamper With Your Food!

…naive? I’ve been in the hospitality trade since 1994. I’ve washed dishes under the shadow of Mount Cook at the Hermitage Hotel, surpervised banquets at the Auckland Park Regency and the Stamford Plaza, waited on tables at Fortuna Restaurant and the Airport Hotel, managed conference centres at Sky City and the New Zealand Parliament, co-ordinated events for Te Papa and my own catering company. I’ve managed at least seven State level functions for visiting Heads of State, including the Rt Hon…

The Bear has mainly focused on back-of-house.

But Forks.

Just so fricken good. Everything on point. Once I realized where it was going I basically had tears in my eyes through the rest of the episode. I left the hospitality industry in 2010 due mainly to burnout. But this bought all of the memories back. I don’t talk much about my time in hospo. Because its just so hard to explain the sheer euphoria one felt when everything clicked. Basically every scene, every beat…I could tell a HUNDRED different stories.

I’ve never been more seen before. What a glorious episode of television.