"GesturingForTheCheck" news and stories

Photo: hunter.gatherer, Flickr

Most diners have mastered the art of eating with a fork, but a surprising number of them still use their fingers to signal when they want something from their server.

Granted, restaurants aren't always designed to make it easy for guests to grab their servers' attention: Eateries tend to be noisy, dark places in which it's sometimes impossible to communicate with the person seated directly across from you, let alone the staffer who's scurrying forward and back with tall stacks of plates.

Customers often resort to the most primitive methods of expression: They snap their fingers. They wave their arms like football referees. They pantomime signing a check, often adding such enthusiastic flourishes to their imagined John Hancocks that they nearly strike someone at a neighboring table.