Speaking to women at this restaurant?

[robertdawson]

I have a question about social interactions. I wasn't hitting on this girl or anything, just having a conversation.

I've been eating at a local restaurant the past two weekends. I was walking around my college campus this week and actually ended up walking past one of the hostesses, who smiled at me. When I went there to eat today I waited to be seated and when she was taking us back to the table I said "did I see you in the student union the other day?" to which she replied "oh yeah, I thought I knew you from somewhere". Anyway, when I was leaving she was reading one of the appetizer cards or something and I said "are you so bored you're reading that?" She laughed and said "no, we actually have to memorize this stuff so I'm doing a little studying." I then asked her if she ever went to one of the local movie houses and proceeded to tell her about some of the stuff we had to memorize/do when I worked there. I was in mid sentence when some customers came in and she had to go seat them.

I wanted to finish what I was saying so I waited a few minutes for her to get back (sitting down on the bench messing with my phone, etc.) and then said: "anyway, what I was saying was" at which point another group came in and she kind of motioned at me to wait a second, to which I responded with a very casual "apology" since she was busy working.

Then I sat there for a few more minutes to try again. When she came back I tried to talk to her again but she did not hear me initially and then yet another group came in. At this point I just got up and left.

Like I said, I wasn't trying to hit on this girl at all. While she was friendly and didn't act weirded out by me at all, I don't think she was showing signs of interest beyond that. All that being said, did I do anything socially inappropriate? Should I have left after the first break in the conversation? Should I have left after the second break in the conversation? I imagine sitting there waiting for her to come back for too long would be kind of weird (or desperate/needy looking if I had been flirting) even if I still had my cool (wasn't acting nervous or appearing to be flirty; just finishing what I was saying and then saying bye). How long would "too long" be if waiting is appropriate?

Thanks.

[misombra]

Should I have left after the first break in the conversation?

yes!

her: hold on a second...
you: well i have to leave, maybe i'll see you later.

[robertdawson]

Crap. What should I do next time I am there? I don't want her to think I am hitting on her because I wasn't meaning to do that at all.

At another restaurant about a month ago I was talking to a hostess and waited like a minute for her to get back after seating people and she came back and talked to me for 5-10 more minutes. She even went as far as getting the other hostess to seat the next group (whether it was because she wanted to talk to me or just didn't want to seat someone again I don't know). It didn't seem weird to this girl and she wasn't interested in me romantically/physically (I know because I asked her out the next time I saw her and she turned me down). I WAS actually hitting on this girl though, but it should have been obvious because I was asking her lots of questions about herself "what is your name?", "what is your major?" etc.