Saturday, January 23, 2016

Senior Delay at the Subway

Yesterday, mid-afternoon, I stopped off at the local shopping plaza to grab lunch. What a mistake that was! It was like a mall on Black Friday. People were scuttling about like roaches as cars began to form long lines in the travel lanes. I just wanted to grab something quickly and then get out of Dodge.

I decided to to go into Subway because it didn't look too busy. I got in line behind an old woman. I placed my order and the Subway "mechanic" proceeded to throw my favorite variety of nitrates onto the freshly baked roll. As I progressed down to the fixins station, the old lady was causing a major delay. She ordered a whole sub, but wanted it prepared as if it was two halves. She wanted certain items on one half and and other items on the other. As she decided on each item, she would say it and then point to it through the glass. I guess she didn't think that the Subway guy could find the lettuce or onion unless she pointed him in the general direction. And then, as the guy would put stuff on the sub, the old lady would say, "Oh, that's too much, Can you take a little off?"

Every once in a while, the old lady had a hard time understanding would the Subway guy was saying. Every time this happened, she would instantly look at other people in the line for help. The Subway guy would be asking, "Is this good?" And the old lady would shrug her shoulders and say, "I don't know." Meanwhile, the rest of the line at the mercy of the stalemate.

I swear, I don't know how the guy controlled himself. I would have yanked the lady behind the counter and told her to make it herself. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally approved of everything and moved on down to the cash register. Of course, when she got there, she didn't have her money ready. Nowadays, the majority of people use a debit/credit card. But not senior citizens. I guess the art of swiping a piece of plastic through a card reader is too much technology to handle. So, right on cue, she starts fishing through her purse for some cash. She lays out several bills on the counter, smoothing out the wrinkles of each of them. The Subway guy scratched his head as he watched the ritual.

The price of her meal was $9.29. Now, most people would just hand over ten bucks and call it a day. But the old lady pulls out a small coin purse and slowly retrieves exactly 29 cents. Then, instead of handing the money to the Subway guy, she meticulously lays the coins on the counter, one at a time. This causes even more of a delay as the Subway guy tries to retrieve each coin.

If I wouldn't have already started my own "sub process", I would have just left. The snow was starting to fall outside and the frenzy of people was escalating. After about ten minutes, I was finally at the cash register. The Subway guy breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me pull out my credit card. I wished him a much deserved, "Good Day!" and finally made my way home.

In general, I have no beef with senior citizens. I just don't want to get stuck behind them at the Subway (or any other check-out line)!

kw

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