Paging All Their Beepers

Maybe it’s best that George Orwell didn’t live long enough to see the arrival of the electronic pager as part of the restaurant dining experience. It’s the kind of thing that could disturb the appetite of someone sensitive about too much control.

Houston’s in Century City hands out vibrating pagers that let customers know when their tables are ready. This obviously makes less noise than calling out names.

Unfortunately, the radius of the device is only about 50 feet from the restaurant. So customers who leave and end up eating somewhere else have been forgetting to return the gadgets. “They could just drop them in the mail,” said manager Gary Marcoe. “They’re not cheap. If you could help me get some of them back, I’d really appreciate it.”

Think the Food Is Bad?

Your Social Climes staff attends almost every major film premiere party, naturally. And we can now report what is arguably the best overheard line of the premiere year to date: “This movie is so bad, they should give you extra frequent flier miles if they show it on your plane.”

Bear Necessities

We’ve seen benefits for many things but took a second look at a recent invitation. This $100-a-person fund-raiser is to buy land. Land in Montana. Land for bears. The charity is called Vital Ground, and the event committee includes Jeff Bridges, Chevy Chase, Penny Marshall and Michael Crichton. They’re putting on a family Western shindig Dec. 6 at Brentwood Estates. Also on hand will be Bart the Grizzly, the 1,600-pound star of “The Bear” and “White Fang.”