I had an interesting lunch last Thursday and must admit that I've never quite had an experience like this before. So let me set the scene:
The location: A well known fast food restaurant named after a girl with orange pig tails and (for those of us a little older) is known as the "Where's the Beef?" restaurant.
The players: Me (well, not really - just an innocent bystander)
Cashier Lady - probably in her late 20's and works the cash register
Fry Guy - early 20's guy who scoops fries and makes sure orders are complete
Hamburger Guy - late teens and assembles the burgers
Customer Lady - mid 30's lady, professionally dressed with co-workers
Here's the story: I'm on my way downtown, hadn't had lunch and decided to pull in to get a quick burger and fries. Cashier Lady puts in my order wrong so she verbally tells Hamburger Guy what he's supposed to be making and let's him know that he's not just supposed to be preparing whatever's on the screen. I get what I've ordered and move on my way, sit down and start my meal.
As I'm eating, Cashier Lady continues taking orders and discussing with Hamburger Guy why it's important tto listen to her verbal orders and not just watch the screen. The discussion continues getting louder and louder until Cashier Lady and Hamburger Guy are in an all-out screaming match and dropping curse words on each other (the kind that my mom would STILL wash my mouth out for saying). At this point, none of the dozen or so people in the restaurant are eating their meals but rather watching the escalating argument. Finally, Fry Guy decides that he needs to step in between Cashier Lady and Hamburger Guy as they are about to get physical.
As if it's not interesting enough, Customer Lady, who happens to be sitting as far away from Cashier Lady as is humanly possible and still be in the same room, decides to throw in her two cents worth by continually chanting "fight, fight, fight" and then topping it off by yelling "and that's why you don't have a professional job, honey." Of course, this catches Cashier Lady's attention who, without missing a beat, turns to Customer Lady and starts dropping the "F" word on her. Me? I'm in the line of fire right between the two of them. So this new shouting match goes on for what seemed like an hour but was probably only 30 seconds and findally subsides thankfully.
About a minute later, Cashier Lady comes out from behind her post and walks out into the dining area towards Customer Lady. I'm expecting food flying but am surprised by Cashier Lady's sincere apology and it's acceptance by Customer Lady. After this, Cashier Lady goes around to each table and personally apologizes to every customer in the place. She then returns to her post at the cash register and begins waiting on customers again. Where the manager is during all of this, I have no idea.
Anyway, Cashier Lady then comes out from the back with a great big tray full of Frosties for everyone in the restaurant and I'm talking the big ones, not the tiny little ones they give away because your kid got straight A's in school or something.
Even with the apologies and Frosties, it didn't stop the patrons of the place from stopping to look at the "How was your experience with us - Call (800)xxx-xxxx" sticker on the door, dialing their cells and reporting what happened.
Thanks for the Frosty, Cashier Lady. I'll miss you. Good luck on your job search.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Welcome to the mid 40's!
"Welcome to the mid 40's!" was the first statement out of my doctor's mouth last Wednesday. I knew whatever conversation followed wasn't going to be to my liking.
I had had a stiff neck and some pain in my lower neck/upper back before but this one was a little different. The others had gone away in a couple of days. This one had been going on for two weeks and my wife was getting tired of me complaining about it so she called the doctor and made an appointment for me to see him.
These things happen as we get older, the doctor said. We? We? Who's the we we're talking about - I'm not getting older. He went on to explain that I had probably suffered a slipped or herniated disk in my C6 or C7 (whatever that means) and that I had three options to try to fix it. The first sounded to my liking - take some medicine to relieve the pain. The next was to go to physical therapy and see if they could get me back in alignment. And finally, the third was to have some huge needle stuck through my neck and basically deaden the area so I wouldn't feel it. Needless to say, the needle through the neck thing didn't sound so pleasant.
I'll be starting physical therapy soon.
Great. Can't wait till my next appointment with the doctor. I can hear it now:
"Welcome to the 50's!" Yippee.
I had had a stiff neck and some pain in my lower neck/upper back before but this one was a little different. The others had gone away in a couple of days. This one had been going on for two weeks and my wife was getting tired of me complaining about it so she called the doctor and made an appointment for me to see him.
These things happen as we get older, the doctor said. We? We? Who's the we we're talking about - I'm not getting older. He went on to explain that I had probably suffered a slipped or herniated disk in my C6 or C7 (whatever that means) and that I had three options to try to fix it. The first sounded to my liking - take some medicine to relieve the pain. The next was to go to physical therapy and see if they could get me back in alignment. And finally, the third was to have some huge needle stuck through my neck and basically deaden the area so I wouldn't feel it. Needless to say, the needle through the neck thing didn't sound so pleasant.
I'll be starting physical therapy soon.
Great. Can't wait till my next appointment with the doctor. I can hear it now:
"Welcome to the 50's!" Yippee.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A capella music
My 16 year old son, Kyle, has been a part of a men's a capella group for a couple of years at his high school. On January 14, they had the opportunity to open for Straight No Chaser, an a capella group from Indiana University. I was able to capture the event on video. Here's a song with lyrics written by the group, AG Harmeny, called Tiger Girl. The melody is Surfer Girl by The Beach Boys. I picked this one because it's a funny song and the fact that Kyle's the one singing the solo. I cut it into two pieces because there was some bantering between the guys in the middle of the song after the solo that wouldn't interest you unless you're a student at FHS.
Hope you enjoy!
Hope you enjoy!
Monday, January 21, 2008
ISPLS Convention
Another year, another convention done. Maybe I'm wrong but this seemed like the smoothest running convention yet. Apparently, Doug and Dianne have done these things before and the two chapters who hosted seemed to have everything under control. A big pat on the back to everyone involved!
A few disturbing things occurred to me during the course of the convention, though. With attendance in the 700+ range, does it bother anyone else that we can only get maybe 80 people at the membership meeting? Granted, some of the attendees don't have voting privileges but we were discussing revisions to the Constitution of the organization for pete's sake! It's the framework for the entire Society. Another discussion focused around the state of the Purdue program. I'd think that more people would be interested. I understand that everyone has to prioritize their schedule during the day so I only assume that those not there had something more important to do at that time. I'd love to hear from others what they did instead of attending the membership meeting.
Same thing with the banquet. Yes, it was better attended - probably because it included food - but the percentage of attendees at the banquet was probably less than 25%. If you're staying at the hotel for the evening, why not go? And for those that live in Central Indiana - is it too convenient to simply head home instead of waiting around for the banquet?
I hope that you continue to read this blog. No, it won't be about surveying all the time. Who knows - I may include sports, life with kids, music, business ramblings or any other myriad of topics. If you have any thought-provoking topics you think may be interesting, let me know.
A few disturbing things occurred to me during the course of the convention, though. With attendance in the 700+ range, does it bother anyone else that we can only get maybe 80 people at the membership meeting? Granted, some of the attendees don't have voting privileges but we were discussing revisions to the Constitution of the organization for pete's sake! It's the framework for the entire Society. Another discussion focused around the state of the Purdue program. I'd think that more people would be interested. I understand that everyone has to prioritize their schedule during the day so I only assume that those not there had something more important to do at that time. I'd love to hear from others what they did instead of attending the membership meeting.
Same thing with the banquet. Yes, it was better attended - probably because it included food - but the percentage of attendees at the banquet was probably less than 25%. If you're staying at the hotel for the evening, why not go? And for those that live in Central Indiana - is it too convenient to simply head home instead of waiting around for the banquet?
I hope that you continue to read this blog. No, it won't be about surveying all the time. Who knows - I may include sports, life with kids, music, business ramblings or any other myriad of topics. If you have any thought-provoking topics you think may be interesting, let me know.
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