April 28, 2007
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A Lesson in Loving Your Neighbor
The Chik-Fil-A Chronicles, Episode 1
I was assigned to DRA (dining room area) today with one of my new good friends who we’ll call “Joshua” for Biblical reasons (but mostly because it’s not his real name). He was cleaning tables and floors, and he told me all I needed to do was ask people if they needed refills or if they wanted me to take their trash. This is my favorite job in the entire restaurant, so I was very happy to do it.
During the course of my rounds, I noticed a lady equipped with a large container of lysol wipes cleaning a table and highchair. This woman was obviously concerned with cleanliness and her young child’s health, I thought. I then proceeded with my assignment, to offer refills where no man has offered refills before!
About ten minutes passed, and I had once again returned to the part of the store where Mr. and Mrs. Germophobe and their daughter (who I’ve decided to nickname Tornado for her supreme ability to spread food to the far reaches of the dining room) were sitting. I asked if I could do anything for them, and they assigned me to get three refills, take their tray, and trade in a kids’ meal toy for an ice cream cone. To my knowledge, that’s the maximum amount of service I’m supposed to give customers, as I regretfully informed another woman when she wanted me to refill her milkshake.
Finally, after the family had left, I made it around to that part of the room again. This is when I realized that maybe they weren’t such a nice family after all, and certainly weren’t as concerned with making a mess as I’d thought they were. It still isn’t clear how they managed to get that much food on the table, chairs, and floor; I didn’t think they’d ordered enough to make a mess like that. There were hashbrowns ground up and squished across the floor under and around the table; ketchup and other sauces covered the table; I think there may have been coke spilled on the ceiling, too (just kidding).
So now for the moral of the story. This lady had cleaned an already clean table and highchair. I know they were clean, because Joshua is a great employee (employee of the month, in fact) and I saw him clean them. What the lady didn’t do is clean up the mess she made afterward. Why? The only thing I can think of was that she was only concerned with having a clean table for herself, and gave no consideration to anyone else there or to the staff members who spent ten minutes sweeping, wiping, and mopping the area where she’d eaten.
In the words of Dave Berry, “A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.”
Comments (14)
*shudder* people like this make me cringe. i make sure i clean the table after i leave including wiping it down in case there are unforeseen spills. blake has been taught by me to do such also…although i hear from people i am with…there are people who clean the tables. not bragging but one day at mc donalds i made blake clean up his mess (with his disapproval of course) and the older person who was cleaning the dining area seen him doing it at my request and she commented how she wished more people thought like that….
keep up the good work caleb.
Yeah, the harry potter book is the most anticipated book of the year. The movie really has to pass mustard, though. I like the movies, but hate the whinging, don’t you?
’nuff said…
Yeah, it’s still a good effort to make the movies somehow more in tune with the book. I dunno, there were some great characters that were missed. Maybe no. 5 will fill in those gaps.
’nuff said…
this is funny to me, because i clean my table up after using it. it used to be due 70% to self-consciousness, and 30% to consideration of employees. then i worked in a restaurant. now it’s the other way around.
*Shudder*
As a waitress, the aftermath of that table is a horror story. I don’t mind wiping off tables, I’m quite thorough, but when there are chunks of stuff…gag me.
Speaking of gagging, I once puked at a Chik Fil A. True story.
I….remember…those…days
ehhhhhhhhh*shudder*ehhhhhhhhh
-Isaac
Maybe she assumes everyone is as sloppy as she is.
Best argument for higher education that I’ve seen in a long time! But those burger (oops chicken in your case!) flippin’ days working in a zit pit make you appreciate all (well, most) future jobs.
I like the theme for theworshipcafe.
Good story. It’s either all or nothing!
Wow I’m so glad there are people workig at fast food places b/c I couldn’t, I’m a clean freak and being surrounded by all that nastyness would drive my insane!!!!!!!!!!! I really appreciate all you do and I wish I could thank you in person. You are a great example of how Christ served others without any reguard for himself. I wish I could be more like you.
coke on the ceiling. That would be SO COOL.
Thanks for the 411 on my mini Music! As far as this woman I agree, it shows that people w/ out Christ are very selfish ,I know I was. Now I am as different as you could even imagine. I saw a church sign once say ‘Pray for them it messes w/ their minds’.LOL Seriously , in your position you have all kinds of prayer assignments you could pick up.
Wado