COMEUPPANCE

On our anniversary this year, Adrian and I decided to try out a new restaurant (meaning only that we'd never been to it before) in our neighborhood. From the outside, it looked like a nice place to celebrate three years of matrimonial bliss. From the inside, it was a whole different story. First, the pretentious hostess made us wait almost ten minutes for a table, even though there were empty tables in the back. Then she seated us at a table right by the door that had been open the whole time we were standing there. I noticed immediately that the couple at the table next to us didn't look happy and that they didn't have any drinks on their table even though their place settings were still there - I deduced that they hadn't been served their food yet, but still no drinks? Weird. Then the hostess brought us water and spilled it on my menu. With our menus closed, she came back to take our order (we had noticed there was only one server for the whole place and he was busy with our neighbors who were complaining that they had ordered some sodas that were still missing). When I deigned to order the pumpkin ravioli (mind you, it was the MAIN reason we were going to this place since I had looked the menu over a few days before), she told us they were out of it. Great. After telling her we now needed some more time, we ultimately decided to leave. The whole place was a disaster. So why am I telling you this now - three months after the fact? Because whenever we have walked by it since, we always sneer through the window at how bad a restaurant it is...until yesterday when we walked by and there was a huge, neon yellow sign on the front window proclaiming the place, "SEIZED by the city of New York for nonpayment of taxes." Our sneers turned into big grins and then mighty chuckles.