Change my serviette, please!

There’s something about gourmet dining that puzzles me a lot. The serviette and when it gets changed. At most of the top-notch restaurants I have been to, they change my serviette with a clean, ironed and perfectly folded according to that place’s custom every time I go to the loo. But not all gourmet restaurants do that, and the ones that do it, don’t do it at all times. Sometimes. For example, some places don’t give you a new serviette when you’re eating lunch. That’s my experience anyway.

As you know, when I dine out I usually drink a lot of water and I therefore must go to the ladies room many times during such an evening. This means that I can keep the waiters quite busy running back and forth my table. It becomes a habit, and if I return to my seat and find my old and used napkin still there, I almost get disappointed! Strange thing.

This brings me to my question: Why do restaurants change your serviette during the dinner?

The reason why I ask this question is that I can imagine someone with a huge bladder wouldn’t need to go to the loo during a dinner. Not even once. Doesn’t this person get her/his serviette changed then? Isn’t that a discrimination?

To me it would make much more sense if the waiters would change the serviettes for the whole table at the same time. I imagine for example after the main course or when changing from a fish dish to meat or whatever. And of course if I should drop mine by accident, like if I had dropped a knife.

A single change during an evening would be enough for me, personally. More than this is a waste. I would rather have the chair pulled out for me when I return to my seat.

What about you? I wonder what you think about this. Please state your opinion here if you have one!