Dreams of a Good Table

I had the strangest dream this morning, but I know where it came from. Todd and I had just settled into a booth at some restaurant I don't recognize with the newspaper, planning to order breakfast. Some woman, a manager or something approached us and asked us if we'd be more comfortable at one of the tables at the center of the room. Todd said no, he'd like to read the paper and the booths had the best lighting. She insisted, so we gathered our water and coffee cups and followed her. I was kind of annoyed, and so she asked if anything was wrong. I explained, saying the place wasn't busy and I didn't understand why she was arbitrarily moving us. She turned to me and said, "You knew exactly what you were doing when the hostess seated you," suggesting that we had lied to sit at a booth. It was bizarre, because we hadn't. But it was pretty realistic. What is with the whole seating game at restaurants? Is it just snotty hosts and hostesses, or is there some secret math that only people who have worked at restaurants know? At most places we eat regularly, if the place is empty they seat us at one of the comfortable tables. But at Market Cafe, near Todd's office, the place'll be completely empty and they'll try to give us a table in the middle row, where you're constantly bumped by people walking by, instead of a table along the wall. They always let us sit along the wall when we ask, but why do they always try to stick us in the worst seat? (By the way, the waitstaff there is pretty nice otherwise. Maybe there is some "rule"?)

The reason I had the dream is that a coworker had a weird experience at the new Outback in Chelsea. He went in a little more than an hour before closing and requested a booth in the bar, but the hostess said she could only give him a table, so he accepted. But he got increasingly annoyed when he realized, while some booths were occupied, there were a handful empty. He had wanted a booth, with better lighting, so he could read. So close to closing, why couldn't the hostess accommodate his request? She even stared blankly at him, offering no help at all, when he complained.