Since it was Cinco de Mayo yesterday, I was going to cook us some mexican food for dinner. I was first going to make some chimis, but noticed I was out of green chilis. Then I was just going to make tacos, but noticed we were out of hamburger meat. I probably should have just made quesadillas after that, but if I had, I wouldn't have this story to tell.
I decided that if I was going to have to go buy something to be able to make mexican food, I'd rather just buy it pre-made. So Ben, Alex, Chris, and I got in the van and drove over to Taco Bell to pick up some tacos. I knew it would not be a very original idea, so I expected it to be crowded. As I drove around the side towards the drive-through entrance, I did see about 5 or so cars sitting in line. The parking lot was mostly empty however, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad. I pulled up behind the last car and then sat there for the next 20 minutes. Didn't move. One car had pulled up behind me and left after just a few minutes of waiting. I could only see the two cars immediately in front of me, so I couldn't tell where the hold-up was. At least until the car two cars in front of me was finally able to leave from in front of the ordering speaker. When he left, he was able to pull all the way around, so it appeared that the hold-up was with him somehow. But then I got to watch as the car in front of me got to sit for several minutes before someone even said through the speaker, "I'll be right with you." It was at least 5 minutes after that when they finally were able to order. You might wonder why I was sitting there the whole time and didn't just leave. Part of it was curiosity to see why it was taking so long (did they just have one person working that day? were they somehow out of tacos? did aliens appear in the middle of their kitchen and abduct the manager?) and part of it was because I did end up with a couple more cars behind me and no way to get out until I was able to pull up to order. By then, I figured I had waited that long, I might as well get food. When I got to order, I actually got to order right away, so I thought that maybe they had fixed whatever problem they were having that was slowing things down. Nope. I pulled around by the window and had to wait at least another 5 minutes for the people in front of me to actually get their food. I could see people inside, some who had walked in while I was waiting in line, and they were sitting down eating their food. But there was also a line inside and I saw a couple people finally turn around and go out without ordering. So it wasn't just the drive-through. When the people in front of me finally got their food, I pulled up and found at least a partial answer to why it was taking so long. The guy at the window appeared to have never done that job before in his life. He appeared to be older than me, so I couldn't chalk it down to just an apathetic teenager. And I'd say that with someone older than me (but not like a retiree who is working to earn extra money) who is working the cash register at a fast food restaurant, I shouldn't be surprised when they're not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree, but with today's economy, that might be the only kind of work some people can find. Anyway, they had little receipt slips lined up in order of who ordered what. The guy would look at the register kind of stupidly, push some buttons, squint at it, kind of hit it, look around, look back at the register, etc. I watched at he picked up one of the receipts, looked at it, went to throw it in the garbage, then changed his mind and stuck it in his shirt pocket. He then picked up the next in line and read the total at the bottom to me. Nope, it wasn't mine. I told him how much mine was supposed to be. He then started looking around at the other receipts in line, then started going through all the crumpled receipts in the garbage to see if he could find it. I mentioned that I saw him put one in his pocket, but he either ignored me or didn't understand what I said. He finally decided to believe me and took my money (good thing I had exact change or I wonder what that would have done to him). Then he went to where the food was lined up for the drive-throughs and had to ask the people there which ones were next. Yes, there was a bit of a line-up of food waiting to be passed to the people in the cars. So after over a half hour of waiting in line of the drive-through, I finally had my food and was able to go home. By then, Chris was starting to fall asleep in the car, Alex was saying he was tired, and Ben and Alex were both saying they were starving. On the up side, they did like their food and ate it pretty fast. Despite that fact however, I think it will be a long, long time before I go back to that particular Taco Bell.
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