Taco Salad my old friend
I've come to dine on you again
But the vision I was seeking
Was sadly absent upon peeking
And the picture that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Illustrating... INCOMPETENCE
Yes. I went back Hardee's for another taco salad on Friday. The Wednesday version had been so tasty! I ordered and paid at the drive-thru. One car was ahead of me, pulled up in the waiting area beside the building. The high school minimum wage gal at the window asked me to pull forward. Sure. Nobody wants a taco salad slopped together in haste.
The worker brought out the order of the guy in front of me. I had waited less than five minutes when she returned with mine.
"Here's your taco salad. Sorry for your wait."
"Thanks. Not a problem."
She handed me a white plastic bag. But inside was NOT my cardboard taco salad box that I'd gotten on Wednesday, a mere two days previous. Inside was a Styrofoam flip-top box. Huh. Does a taco salad fit in a Styrofoam flip-top box? It felt lighter, too. I thought about opening it, but I didn't want her to see me questioning her delivery. Because, you know, I care about what high school minimum wage fast-food drive thru workers think of me.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, the issue was still bothering me. I made the left turn by Dairy Queen, and then a quick right into the parking lot of the mini mall where my pharmacy resides. Don't get me started on my pharmacy. That's a story for another day!
Anyhoo... I parked, and opened up that Styrofoam container. I knew I would be kicking myself if I got all the way home without a taco salad. You'll never guess what was inside that container! Well. Yes you would, if you saw the thumbnail photo before clicking to read the post. So I'm not showing it until last. Even though you can read about it right now.
IT WAS FOUR TACOS!
Yeah. Not a taco salad at all! I looked at my receipt. Taco salad. I steered T-Hoe out of that lot and right back to Hardee's. I pulled up to the ordering speaker.
"Would you like the spicy chicken sandwich?"
"No. I was just here and ordered a taco salad--"
"Oh! I know! Drive on around."
At the window, she continued to explain.
"We changed the boxes! So I was confused."
"I opened it, and it was TACOS!"
"Yeah. We have the new boxes now."
She handed me a container just like the taco box, but maybe not quite as flat.
"Is THIS a taco salad?"
"Yes."
"Do you want these tacos back?"
"No. Keep them."
Well. That was good to hear. I don't like those tacos, but at least she wasn't taking back food that I might have touched with boogery or poopy fingers, like that Sonic waitress did long ago, when she brought me and the guy next to me the wrong orders. That Sonic is closed now. Just sayin'...
Anyhoo... I DID take a peek inside to make sure I had an actual taco salad.
Again with the cockeyed sour cream, and that limp lettuce. No spiny hearts to the romaine this time. My romaine was heartless! It was like eating wilted leaves. AND of course the lid on that container had crumbled an edge of the shell. I don't know how that one blob of salsa missed so badly. I ate it, of course. The good news is that with less lettuce, there was more meat. Even though it was probably "worm protein," as our home ec teacher told us about Taco Bell at a Semi Weekly Meeting of the Newmentia Lunch Time Think Tank.
The Pony had a rare day off after working 8 straight, and had taken himself to Steak N Shake for a feast earlier in the day. He was not interested in the tacos. So I gave them to Farmer H for his supper.
Those four tacos looked good enough. But I'm not a fan of the crunchy corn taco shells. I prefer the soft flour shells. There's enough cheese on them for four taco salads!
Anyhoo... here's my question. If the high school minimum wage drive thru gal was confused by the box, and gave me the tacos by mistake... WHO MADE THE TACOS, and WHY? Did somebody expecting four tacos arrive home with a taco salad? Her explanation didn't make sense to me. There would have been tacos and a taco salad sitting there for her to make that choice.
Anyhoo... we got free food, and we're still alive to tell the tale. A tale, once again, of incompetency in the workplace.
7 comments:
I would have cringed if she had taken them back! Free food is always good, I suppose. HeWho would have eaten them. He likes free stuff.
Jack in the Box used to have some good salads. I haven't had them in years, but your post made me hungry (or wary) of getting one again, and seeing if they're still good.
It's good to know that fast food help is bad everywhere, not just in the big city.
And your syllable count is a bit off on that last line of your "song."
Just sayin'...
You used one of my favourite tunes today :)
Those styrofoam boxes are being phased out here, we're heading towards zero throwaway plastics, which I agree with. Cardboard containers can be composted so that's a step in the right direction. I'm trying to think of a way to explain the tacos/taco salad mix up, but I've got nuthin'. at least you got four free tacos out of the deal.
Kathy,
You know if she had taken them back, she would have eaten them herself! So she'd have gotten what she deserved by being petty and asking for it back. Farmer H would have taken a bite out of each one, just for spite. He always stuck his thumb through any leftover dinner rolls in the basket. "That's so they don't serve them to someone else." I think he was onto something.
***
Sioux,
I wish you would try a salad. As an experiment, of course. To see IF it's still good. And to relate the manner of bad service you get in the city. I'm going to bet it's not giving you extra food.
Sioux 2,
I was testing you, of course. One little syllable slipped in at the end. To see if you sang it all the way through! Or maybe my mind IS going! I've lost my rhythm. I can no longer count to seven.
I knew I should have used THE JOKER...
***
River,
You're welcome for the song. You know, Sioux would rather I used HER FAVORITE, The Joker. She can't get enough of it. She loves it when I use it for my posts!
I would much prefer PLASTIC, like my Chinese Tupperware, because I use them over and over until the corners break off. The cardboard boxes worked well for the taco salads, when the employees didn't roll them like dice! That Styrofoam doesn't let the food breathe. It sweats. When I get chicken tenders, they sometimes MELT the bottom! The chicken tenders used to come in cardboard, too.
Left over dinner rolls would never have a thumb stuck in them here, they'd get tipped into my large handbag and taken home. For dinner.
River,
I guess Farmer H's handbag wasn't big enough, heh, heh! I never take my purse in, unless we're at a casino and I have my gambling purse over my shoulder. We never get rolls at the casino, though. My mom always put the rolls in her purse. Sometimes with pulled pork on them, when we went to the BBQ restaurant and she got the child's plate. She'd save part of the pulled pork to make sandwiches on the rolls.
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