It was a regular Sunday, where my fiancé and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch at Vikings, SM Lanang Premier in Davao. We arrived at around 11:30 AM, the anticipation of a sumptuous feast building as we walked through the doors. The restaurant was bustling with activity, and we assumed it might take a while before we could be seated. Upon arrival, we were given the number 21, while the staff were just calling reservation number 5. We stood patiently, just two meters away from the person calling the numbers, ensuring we wouldn’t miss our turn. Minutes turned into what felt like hours as we watched the numbers tick by ever so slowly. Finally, they called number 20. My fiancé and I joked nervously that perhaps they would stop calling numbers altogether at 20. Fifteen more minutes crawled by, and our patience began to wane. My fiancé, decided to approach the staff to ask why number 21 hadn’t been called yet. The staff member nonchalantly responded that they had already called our number and were now at number 26! We were stunned, our jaws dropping in unison. How could this be? We had been standing right there, within earshot of every number called. We hadn’t heard numbers 21 through 25 at all. Frustrated and bewildered, we sought out the manager, determined to get to the bottom of this. We explained our situation, presenting our proof that numbers 21-25 had not been called. The manager, looking somewhat embarrassed, explained that those numbers were written on a different page, and they had been overlooked. The absurdity of the situation was almost laughable, yet infuriating. What if we hadn’t asked? Would we have stood there indefinitely, waiting for a call that would never come? Why hadn’t any staff member noticed us standing there for so long and taken the initiative to ask why? Were we to wait until 2 PM, famished and frustrated? We were regular paying customers, not looking for any special treatment, just a simple, timely meal that matched the price we were paying. The whole experience left a bitter taste, overshadowing the restaurant’s fine ambiance. The staff’s lack of initiative and attention to detail was glaringly evident. In the end, while the food might have been worth the wait, the service certainly was not. As we finally sat down to eat, we couldn’t help but feel that our day, our regular Sunday, had been unduly complicated by what should have been a straightforward lunch outing. This incident served as a stark reminder that good service is just as crucial as good food, and unfortunately, Vikings fell short on this front.