Beach Day

So I went to the beach the other day and on the way we stopped for what turned out to be a rather interesting lunch experience. We walked in the door to the back of a line consisting of about eight people. There were three employees slowly meandering around the kitchen area, one “manager,” and one taking orders. As we waited our turn, one customer decided to develop a bit of an attitude because her order was taking too long. She had pre-ordered 80 pieces of chicken to be ready when she got there and it had not been started by the time she arrived. The people at the other end, waiting for their lunch, finally called her to see what was taking so long and she explained in quite colourful language (or maybe it wasn’t so colourful considering the extensive use of one particular word) what had happened. Well, this now required the attention of the manager, one full time kitchen person, and half the time of the one taking orders – all to start arguing about what should have happened and to call someone on the phone and argue some more. 15 minutes waiting and we’ve now progressed from 8 to 3 people in front of us in line (not counting the big order lady). We started questioning the wisdom of coming to this restaurant but stayed. Well, over the next 10 minutes, the other 3 people got their single meal orders and our turn arrived. One by one, we placed an order, waited for it to be filled, then placed the next order – no such thing as taking the second order while the first one was being filled by the kitchen staff. Just as we were finishing, the manager came out to tell everyone that they were closing. We get our food and one person asked for a fork but to no avail “We don’t have any” was the response. This is a branch of a worldwide chain of restaurants, many of their meals are better eaten with a fork, and they don’t have any. Maybe that’s why their closing during the lunch rush. So we exited the building and ate our food outside. After explaining to many potential customers that they were closed, we watched as someone pulled up in a taxi and rather angrily entered the store, ripped down the closed sign and had choice words with the staff who apparently had called him to help with their dilemma.

What happened after that remains a mystery, but this I know; I got in the water for the first time since my operation, I got a little colour on my skin, and I was really tired and sore from 2 ½ hours cramped into the back seat of a small car. All in all, it was a good day.