Yes, I keep going back to quite possibly the worst Hardee's in Hillmomba. I can't quit it. I stopped Wednesday for chicken tenders. There's been a little problem with the sauce. Most times I've been there (that's a LOT of times), I get two sauce packets with a five-piece tenders. That's doable for a normal person. They're not long chicken plank tenders. More like extra-long chicken nuggets. Only real chicken.
Of course I like a lot of sauce, so I add some Honey Mustard salad dressing from Save A Lot. I keep it on hand for just such occasions. I'd never use it on a salad!
Last week, the dude working the drive-thru only gave me ONE sauce packet! Are you kidding me? ONE sauce packet, for five tenders? That's stretching it. Lucky for me, I always take my tenders home, so I have my backup Honey Mustard salad dressing on hand.
Anyhoo...Wednesday, the same dude was at the drive-thru. A gal took my order, but this dude was there at the window. Maybe he's the manager. He seemed quite confident in himself. He wasn't some scroungy high school kid. When I took my lunch out of the bag back at the Mansion, I was displeased to see only one packet of honey mustard. Right then I made the connection that this dude was the one sabotaging my tender enjoyment by shorting me on the sauce.
Anyhoo...down in my lair, I was watching some YouTubes when I reached for the SINGLE packet of honey mustard sauce. I absentmindedly peeled it open. I actually had the lights on, but you know how stuff works around here. My lair was still dark, because the last remaining working light of the four fluorescents hadn't decided to fully warm up yet. I glanced down at my sauce packet, tender in hand for dipping, and slammed on the feeding brakes.
MY HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE WAS BROWN!
As you might imagine, I was concerned about food poisoning. This packet had opened suspiciously easily. Not like sometimes, when you almost fling it across the room when the top finally comes loose. I looked at the label I'd peeled off.
IT WAS HONEY Q SAUCE!
Sweet Gummi Mary! That perhaps-manager dude must be messing with me! I did NOT ask for Honey Q sauce. They've given it to me before. Not a fan. It's a mixture of honey and BBQ sauce. When there was light, I took a picture.
No way was I eating that. It's a trick of the camera angle that makes it look half empty. The packet had the normal amount of sauce. I didn't dip into it at all.
I guess my next step (because you KNOW I'll go back) is to look in the bag before I drive away, and demand the proper sauce. I won't dare mention it before I have the food in my hand. You never know what kind of revenge might be exacted on my tenders if I tip them off beforehand!
Seriously. This dude had ONE JOB. Okay. Maybe several steps in that job. To take money, give back change, add napkins and condiments to the bag, and hand it out the window. It's not rocket science. It's not brain surgery.
I feel sorry for all the young whippersnappers coming up, in case they need rockets or brain surgery. They might end up like Wile E. Coyote after opening an ACME shipment, or get a transfusion of Honey Q sauce.
I think when you're doing errands and you have a few minutes to travel to Brokeback Hardees, stop in. Stop in when you are not ordering food, and go INTO the restaurant. Tell them, "We just went through the drive through and we forgot to ask for some sauce. Could I please have four things of _____ sauce?"
ReplyDeleteDo it at different times of the day, so you catch different shifts of workers.
It's not really a lie, and it will make up for the times you didn't get enough sauce.
Sioux,
ReplyDeleteSweet Gummi Mary! Are you trying to get me locked up in the Crossbars Hilton? They will KNOW I didn't just go through. I'm pretty sure they have a camera. And there's probably only a cook, two counter people, and the drive-thru person working on any given day. It's not like some humongous truck-stop fast food restaurant, stretched over a turnpike.
There's actually a McDonald's over the Oklahoma turnpike, at a giant truck stop/rest area that keeps you from getting off the turnpike for your feeding and relieving needs.
I think I'd like that Honey Q, wonder if I could make it myself by warming some honey and mixing it into BBQ sauce? Then I could make chicken schnitzels in nugget size and have myself a home made fast food fest.
ReplyDeleteI do agree you need to step up and be heard about the sauce substitution though. You're entitled to get what you ordered.
River,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you could make it for yourself! And you could adjust the ratio of honey and BBQ sauce, too.
Yes, I think I'll look in the bag next time, holding up the line, until I'm assured that I have two packets of the real Honey Mustard sauce. I used to make it for Genius, in the days before Save A Lot had a bottle of salad dressing just like it. I mixed mayo, mustard, and honey. Of course I didn't tell Genius what was in it. It was pretty easy to get the right taste. Only a couple of tries. Then I had the amounts figured out for next time.
Maybe the corporate office told the managers to cut costs and this is this guy's interpretation of that. Pick up the phone and call them and complain. You will get a free meal.
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI am more afraid of what they might DO to my free meal!