Wendys late night

I was sitting in the Wendys parking lot this evening...okay it was probably actually considered night...7:30pm. I was getting ready to go inside and get some last minute dinner for my family, but I had to make a quick phone call to my sister to tell her a story, and then my husband called. But during those phone conversations, probably a total of 10 minutes, I had 3 separate Wendys employees come up to my car window and try to give me a bag of food. What was going on in there? Strangeness!!!

And you are an idiot because????.......

It seems lately that my posts have been filled with conversations. But I just seemed to be involved in really idiotic dialogue lately. Here is one from this morning...
First of all I need to say, I called much earlier than 9am, but the message said that appointments could not be cancelled over the phone (I think they meant via message) and to call back during business hours, which begin at 9am, my appt is at 9am today (Monday). Now that you have the background.

Dentist: Kirkland Dental
Me: I need to cancel my appointment for today.
Dentist: When is your appointment?
Me: Right now, 9 o'clock, my daughter woke up very sick this morning, and she is staying home from school and I cant very well send her to a babysitter sick.
Dentist: Would you like to come in today at 2pm?
Me: Like I said before, my kids are sick, and there still is the babysitting issue.
Dentist: How about tomorrow morning?
Me: Actually, my future prediction skills are a little off today, I'm not sure if my daughter will actually be better by tomorrow morning.
Dentist: Would you like to make an appointment for tomorrow at 3:00?
Me: The actual issue is that my husband has a job that he works at during the daytime, and my kids are sick, and I don't really feel comfortable leaving them at a babysitter sick.
Dentist: (with a slight irritation to her voice) Then would you just like to call me to make a new appointment?
Me: Yes, that would probably be the best plan
Dentist: In the future we would prefer your appointments to be cancelled no less than 48 hours in advance
Me: I understand that, but to be completely honest, that policy doesn't really seem to work on a Monday morning with unexpected sick children thrown into the equation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are closed on Saturday?
Dentist: Yes ma'am
Me: And you are closed on Sunday?
Dentist: Yes ma'am
Me: You see my issue here? If only my 5 year old could have had the courtesy to let me know on Friday afternoon that she planned on being horribly sick on Monday morning, the nerve of her. You don't worry, the punishment will be harsh and unforgiving. To mess with the inner schedulings of a Dentist office. What was she thinking??
Dentist: I understand...(slight hesitation), 48 hours is our policy. Thank you ma'am.

click, dial tone.........

Okay, is it just me??

My quest for ethical perfection

Who knew my ethics would be questioned during a lunch date with my girls at the Olive Garden?
My ethical wielding waiter and I engaged in some twilight zone worthy dialogue the other day. Here is our conversation...

Me: I would like the soup and salad and then I would like to split a kids meal between my girls, shell pasta with Alfredo sauce.
Waiter:I cant split that
Me: Okay, then can you just bring an extra bowl and Ill split it?
Waiter: Well, its just not right.
Me: Whats not right?
Waiter: You cant just split a meal, (again) its just not right.
Me: Sure I can, we come in here often and order the exact same thing. Its not an all you can eat pasta bowl.
Waiter: Of course not.
Me: I'm not sure what exactly is not right
Waiter: Well, you cant have a big group of people come in and order just one meal to split.
Me: Actually, yes you can. I could invite 200 of my closest friends and order one bowl of soup if that's what I want to do.
Waiter: Its just not right (again with that)
Me: Well, what about appetizers, you order 1 appetizer for an entire table of people.
Waiter: But that's an appetizer.
Me: Okay then, I would like 1 kids meal appetizer, shell pasta with Alfredo sauce.
Waiter: Well, Ill do it for you, but I just don't think its right.
Me: I'm still really confused as to what I'm ethically doing wrong.
Waiter: Ill do it for you, Ill let you split it.
Me: Its not a matter of letter me do anything. I could order this pasta and then throw it away if I wanted to. Its my complete choice what I want to actually do with the food I am paying for.
Waiter: Ma am, Ill put your order in.

For a slight millisecond I actually started to second guess myself. Only because it was one of the strangest most wasted effort of breath conversation Ive had with an adult in a long time.
Normally I would have totally asked for the manager and in the end received my meal free and complimentary appetizers for our next visit. But, it was noon, busy, I had my girls with me. I was in a good mood.
But, for the record, I actually do not appreciate being called a thief by less than minimum wage tip seeking waiter freaks. He acted like he was holding the door for me as I ran from a bank robbery with an armful of marked cash. Or looking the other way as I snuck 12 friends into a movie, or helped me steel pennies from the tin cup toting Salvation Army senior citizen during the holidays.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think he might be the only misinformed waiter out there that actually thinks restaurants make their money per person rather than per meal. So, if I had been there with a friend and she wanted a sip of my soup was he going to chase me down and make a citizen arrest?
I have his name, I'm planning on going back this week during slow hours to chat with the manager and receive my complimentary stuffed mushrooms.
The rest of the meal he was overly nice, he realized my irritation and went a little overboard. But I still never got the sensation that he had an aha moment and realized how wrong he really was. Oh well, I'm still going back and I'm still splitting the kids meal. And if I feel the urge, next time I'm inviting 15 of my dearest friends to split bread sticks and marinara sauce. Ahhh, the joys of fine Italian dining.

Starbucks Wisdom

The Way I See It #280

You can learn a lot more from

listening than you can from talking.

Find someone with whom you

don't agree in the slightest and ask

them to explain themselves at

length. Then take a seat, shut your

mouth, and don't argue back. It's

physically impossible to listen with

your mouth open.

--John Moe

Radio host and author of

Conservative Me

This is the author's opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks.

To read more or respond, go to www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit