I was unexpectedly home alone for dinner tonight. In between working and stressing out over packing the house for next week’s renovations (we basically have to move all our stuff out, and live someplace else for the duration of the job), I figured I’d grab some takeout for a quick dinner.
There are Chinese takeout places all over, but I chose the one around the corner, because it’s around the corner so it would be faster.
I chose poorly.
I called to place my order at 5:50. I waited at least 15 minutes before heading over there, only to find 4 people waiting ahead of me and a 10-year-old running the store. They were slammed. Her mom was doing all the cooking (there are usually two adults cooking and a teenager taking phone calls and filling orders). Two smaller boys (the bigger one was no older than 7) were running around.
The little girl told me my food would be ready in a couple of minutes.
The back door to the restaurant was open; the whole family was working with coats on. I don’t know what kind of crazy had happened today, but it was definitely not business as usual. I slid into a small booth to wait for my lo mein.
I waited.
And waited.
It was after 7 PM and I still didn’t have my food. Other people left. Some politely canceled their orders before leaving, at least, so that overworked mom didn’t have to try to figure out whose food she was cooking for no reason at all.
I texted my husband and told him what was happening, concluding that if I ever got my food, I was leaving a big tip for that kid.
Because really, it was not her fault. She was working hard: running around taking orders, filling orders, going to the freezer for her mom, and manning the deep fryer (except for the time the 7-year-old did that. YIKES.). And her mom was handling multiple woks and answering the phone and keeping the two little boys in line.
Maybe I’ve used up all my anger at situations I cannot control by directing it at other situations I cannot control. I don’t know. I was cold (my feet are still not warm, and I’ve been back home for an hour now) and was working on a hunger headache but I figured that it would be worse to abandon ship and leave that mom and her little girl to try to figure out what other order to cancel, and with one fewer dinner check for the night.
So I stayed, and commiserated with a couple of other customers and expressed my admiration for the poise this kid was showing.
And at 7:25 when they finally called me up to get my food, 95 minutes after I’d ordered, I left $5 in the tip jar after paying for my $7 bowl of lo mein and a spring roll.
I can only hope that the customers behind me did the same.
Copyright 2019 Barb Szyszkiewicz
I was thinking that the image you describe is also the perfect description of poor/working families. Everyone helps,everyone doing multiple jobs at once. Maybe it wasn’t a poor choice.
And as a former food service worker-thanks for your kind attitude.
My comment about choosing poorly was referencing my own time constraints — I had plans for things around the house that sorely needed doing.
I have to say, most people were quite understanding when they saw the situation. Nobody yelled. Some left silently (that was as bad as it got), some canceled their orders, most just hung around and tried to make the best of it while the family in the kitchen did their best to fill those orders.