Find Someone Who Loves You As Much As Herb Loves Hetty

In hospitality, you have the opportunity to have a front-row seat to people's interactions; a dynamic that has always fascinated me is that of couples. Couples can make quite the funny sight to behold while dining together.

The zombies - I have dubbed these folks the zombies because they exude a certain walking dead personality. Both people do not seem to communicate, even with each other and I'd go as far as to say they must have been together so many years, that they've become invisible to their SO. They exchange nothing more than one word every half an hour or so and barely make eye contact. Instead, each person looks around the room independently as if desperately trying to find some alternative form of entertainment so as not to have to talk to their spouse. This has led me to call them the zombie couples. I always secretly hope that neither myself nor my SO ever find each other so boring in later life that we become the zombie couple.

The Nosey Parkers - These types of couples can be tricky to look after, and are often very sour-faced. They have a permanent scowl on their faces like they are angry with the world or perhaps for some reason; are even resentful of still being alive. These types of couples usually sit with their backs to a wall or in the corner of a room, looking out so as never to miss a second of the action. They often look over onto other people's tables and comment and whisper to one another; reporting back to their SO their findings and status reports. They are also prone to calling the server over to the table to enquire "what exactly has just been dropped off at the table over there?". These are the couples who look other people up and down before murmuring to one another, or hear a baby crying and shoot evil glances in their direction before complaining to one another or their server about the noise.

The Golden Oldies - These are; without a shadow of a doubt, my absolute favourite type of couple. These couples, as us young millennial types would say are the personification of "Couples goals". They have often been together since their teens or early twenties and you can see in their eyes their love for one another truly is for life. I have been lucky enough to see this in action in every place I have ever worked, and I can say that in every business I've had my favourite - secretly of course.

One couple that will forever stand out to me was "Herb & Hetty". Twice a week Herb would chivalrously lead Hetty in on his arm, and they sat more or less on the same table every time. Both of them would smile and greet every member of staff, and in return, every member of staff would queue up to greet them and have a quick chat. Everything about Herb and Hetty was lovely, from their manner and their warm beaming smiles to the way Herb always stood to take Hetty's coat off before neatly folding it beside her. Herb knew exactly what Hetty would have on the menu and every so often he would reach out, clasp her hand and say "is that right my love?" just to check, without missing a beat Hetty would say "Oh, that's right my love" and they would exchange a smile that truly couldn't be replicated by anyone other than these two. They filled the room with love in a way that I could only ever dream of. Even better than Herb and Hetty visiting was when they brought their family with them, especially on Christmas Day. The love that family shared for one another was truly magical, from their teenage grandchildren walking their grandparents into the building, smiling and helping them sit down by moving their chairs into the table for them, to the way Hetty and Herb insisted on paying for all of their families dinner, to show them gratitude for the way they took care of them the rest of the year. One day, I watched Herb walk Hetty to the ladies' toilet and wait for her outside because she sometimes became a little lost and disorientated after leaving the bathroom. After saying goodbye to them and walking them to the front door of the restaurant - something I always tried to do no matter how busy I was, I thought to myself "Find someone who loves you, as much as Herb loves Hetty".

Things I learned from these experiences:

1. I found myself mapping my own family and friends into "Zombie" "Nosey Parker" and "Golden Oldie" couples.

2. True love is hard to find but if you can find it, it really can last a lifetime

3. And most importantly of all "Find someone who loves you as much as Herb loves Hetty".