Before my relatives panic, this post is not the airing of FAMILY grievances, but rather a small collection of annoyances that have been piling up on my desk over the last couple of months awaiting an opportunity to get them posted on the blog. It occurred to me today that this would be a perfect time to get this done. And why is this the perfect time… well, in tribute to the classic Seinfeld episode, it’s “Festivus for the Rest of Us”. Taking the risk this post will make me out to be a heartless, puppy kicking grinch, I begin…
- To Peoria news stations, stop reporting on the fictitious high unemployment rate the area is supposedly experiencing. Why do I believe this is a waste of air time? Well, this opinion is due mainly to one indicator that is almost always a positive side effect of high unemployment – the Service Meter. High unemployment by definition implies there are multiple applicants for just about every job – especially in the service industry. This in turn means the employer has a choice when hiring. For example, an employer, could say, choose an individual that has higher math skills to fill a numbers related opening like a cashier. Additionally, it could be a tipping point if one applicant is very positive and cheerful for a position that interacts directly with a customer. But alas, this doesn’t seem to be the case around here.
Example #1: A few of us went out to lunch at a local restaurant that begins with an A and ends with an S that serves cheap Italian food. After completing our meals we headed to the lobby area to pay. A friend ahead of me was joking about the condition of his penny looked (looks like it had been found by a weekend warrior with a metal detector) and was glad he could finally get rid of it. It occurred to me that I didn’t have a penny meaning my change due would likely result his penny heading to me. I gave the cashier my $6 for the $5.27 bill. As soon as she rang it in, a friend behind me gave her two pennies to apply to my payment (jokingly to prevent me from getting the bad penny). What proceeded stunned us both. She literally stared at her register tray picking up random coins and looking dumbfounded. After about 30 seconds my friend told her the change would be 75 cents which was met with “Thanks, I’m just not good at this thing” I would have laughed if I wasn’t mortified. Of course, this is the same restaurant that charges more for two half loafs of bread than one whole loaf (trust me, there is a picture of that menu coming in a future blog).
Example #2: Linda and I went to a Burger King to get a quick bite to eat while shopping in the area. After struggling to get my order taken (see the hamburger grievance below) we proceeded to wait for our order to be filled. We waited and waited and waited while they worked on getting the chicken sandwich cooked – note, we were the ONLY people in there. Meanwhile, they have my hamburger done sitting on the non-heated ready shelf. Pretty soon the manager grabs up our fries from the heated fry shelf, slaps it on a tray and sticks it up on the non-heated shelf and proceeded to head for the bathroom. For the next 10 minutes I stood there staring at my cooling fries and hamburger. Eventually the chicken finishes cooking. Sure enough the chicken and hamburger are put on the now cold fry tray and handed to us. Needless to say, we demanded warm fries (note, manager never did come back).
Example #3: We made a quick run to McDonalds to get something to drink before Linda’s doctor’s appointment. The drive-thru was pretty busy (maybe 8 cars lined up) so we went inside to make our order (where there was only one party ahead of us). Our total order was one small hot chocolate and one small Sprite. I didn’t clock it, but I had to wait over 15 minutes for them to actually make my hot chocolate. That 15 minutes actually felt more like 30 minutes having to endure their conversations:
Hit the jump to see the rest of the grievances: