I know... it was yesterday. But I wanted to pass along a secret.

Yesterday, after work, I raced home to pick up my beautiful wife to whisk her off to Outback for V-Day dinner. We arrived at approximately 6:10 pm. As we approached the front entrance, we were greeted by others waiting in line who were mumbling something along the lines of "2 hour wait." Indeed, as we stepped up to the rostrum and asked, we were told that there was a wait of over 2 hours. My response was probably not what you would expect. No rolled eyes. No intake of breath. No emotional explosions. Instead, I said, "I called in earlier, the name is Mr. GotDesign."

We were seated within 15 minutes.

What's my secret? Did I slip the attendant a $20? No. At about 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon, I called to ask if they took reservations on such a busy night. "No," I was told, but they do allow you to put your name on the waiting list in advance of your arrival. They asked, at what time would I like to have my name inserted? Six o'clock, please. And...voila!

I had a wonderful evening with my wife. I had "Ribs on the Barbie" and my wife had the "Outback Special" steak (after tasting mine, my wife preferred the ribs). We finished the evening with a "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under." They wheeled up a forklift and helped me out of my seat and then we went home.

The moral of the story? Even if they don't accept reservations, call ahead anyway. It never hurts.