Not too long ago, we were coming back from an afternoon birthday party and decided to stop for some Greek food. It was a spur of the moment thing. J loves Greek food, and this was a restaurant which we’d never been to but had been much recommended.

The kids were both awake but pleasantly worn out from the party, so we figured they’d enjoy a nice quiet meal as well.

The waiter was a man in his early 50’s with one of those weathered gruff exteriors that you stereotypically expect to see on old sailors. While he was nice enough, at first glance he looked rather serious and forbidding.

When he came to our table to greet us, C immediately cried out “Look! It’s Mr. Banks! It’s Mr. Banks, daddy!”

J & I quickly explained that Mr. Banks is a character in a movie – Mary Poppins, to be exact. He clearly was not familiar with Mary Poppins, so he smiled engagingly at C. “Oh. Is Mr. Banks nice?”

J & I started to lie, but C answered him directly – and loudly. “No. He’s mean! And grumpy! Mean and grumpy! Mean Old Mr. Banks. He tried to take Michael’s money.”

And now we had a new guest at our table – that most welcome of visitors: the awkward pause. Hello, pause. Have you met our waiter? No? He’s the grumpy looking fellow who is just now realizing that our rude child has made certain that we’ll be giving a huge tip at the end of the meal.