Overheard at Arturo's

People apparently now expect every bar to have a charger for their phone. I didn't know this until I read it in the New York Times. Phone "charging stations," says the Times, are "popular among bartenders who are increasingly inundated with requests from customers to charge their phones behind the bar."

But I did hear one of these requests recently at Arturo's, the wonderful 55-year-old Italian place that isn't being wiped off the face of Manhattan because the family owns the building.



Guy at the bar: Do you have a charger here for a Blackberry?

Bartender: A what?

Guy: I need my Blackberry charged.

Bartender: Uh, sure.

The bartender goes to get permission to let the guy plug in his Blackberry. There's a bit of confusion, but permission is given.



Bartender: Okay, I can plug in your charger.

Guy: I don't have the charger. I need a charger. You don't have one?

Bartender: No.

Guy: [to girl next to him who is texting on her iPhone] Can you believe it?

Girl: Every bar should have a charger for a Blackberry and an iPhone.

Guy: Right. Bars have whole set-ups now to charge Blackberries and iPhones. Most bars have that. But not this bar.



Not this bar. And thank God for small favors.

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