In Rant #2,779, just last
week, I told you about the magic of Hanukkah, related to a couple of pies—apple
and pumpkin, specifically—that I received for free for being at the right place
at the right time in a particular fast food restaurant.
Well, as Hanukkah closed out this weekend, I am going to tell you about the magic of Hanukkah as it related to another such offering to me where I was evidently at the right place at the right time, again.
This particular Saturday night was the next-to-last night of the 2021 Hanukkah celebration, and as I usually do, I went out to get dinner from one of the local fast food places.
This particular place offers a particular sandwich that is not on the regular menu, but if you call it in, they will give it to you—it has to do with corporate not allowing local franchises to specifically offer it as part of their regular menu, but the local place offering it if you ask for it (I found this out when I didn’t see it on the online menu anymore, I called the restaurant just to see if they offered it anymore, and Voila!, they did).
So I drove to the restaurant to pick up my order, which included the sandwich, fries, and a particular salad for my wife (my son and my mother got something from another such restaurant that I picked up on the way back from this establishment).
I got to the restaurant, and as you can imagine, on an early Saturday evening three weeks before Christmas, the place was hopping.
I asked for my order, and a store employee told me that they “were working on it.”
So I sat down to wait for it, but I saw a group of people congregating at the front of the restaurant where I had asked about my order, so after about 10 minutes or so of waiting, I joined them.
As I got up to join the group, a woman turns to me and tells me that she has been waiting for 40 minutes for her order, and that she was perplexed as to why it was taking so long for a simple takeout order.
I told her the following:
“Go to the manager and tell him what you just told me. You will get free food if you tell him that you have been waiting so long.”
She replied:
I have been waiting 40 minutes for my order. This is ridiculous.”
I replied:
“M’am, go to the manager and tell him what you just told me. You will get free food if you tell him that you have been waiting so long.”
(I mean, why are you telling me about your problem? What can I do about it, when I am in the same situation that you are?)
She proceeded to go on and on with me about the time she has spent waiting for her order, and I kept on saying to her the same thing, but it wasn’t connecting with her.
Finally, I told her for about the fifth time, “Go to the manager and tell him what you just told me, You will get free food if you tell him that you have been waiting so long,” and it actually resonated with her.
She went up to the front of the counter, spoke to the manager, and lo and behold, not only did she get her order right away, but I saw that the manager gave her a gift card for a future purchase.
As she exited, she walked right past me and did not thank me.
I guess I could have said something, but I had my own “lack of order” to deal with, so I didn’t say a thing.
(If you are that woman who I counseled, you are welcome.)
Anyway, I called over the very-busy manager, and I told him my own plight about my own order. Het said to me, “Yes, you are the one with the sandwich … how are you doing?”
I told him that until I get my order, I won’t be doing too well.
He told me that it was coming up.
After about five more minutes, he handed it to me and said, “Have a good evening.”
I said to him, “But let me pay for it.”
He literally waved me on with his arm, as if he was a conductor leading a philharmonic orchestra, dismissing me from the restaurant.
I said to him, “Are you sure?”
He said, “Have a good night.”
So I received my $25 odder, and did not pay a thing for it.
I drove to the next restaurant, picked up another order for my son and mother—which was not filled correctly, something I found out when I got home—and that was that, as I told my family about my latest “magic of Hanukkah” story.
Two Saturdays in a row, two batches of free food for the holiday, two miracles taking place that were definitely not expected.
Yes, Hanukkah IS a magical time, and if you celebrate the holiday, I hope that your eight-day “Festival of Lights” was as happy and joyous as mine was.
Will Christmas bring out the same “holiday spirit” to this Jewish guy?
I am willing to take a “wait and see” attitude on this question.
Heck, taking such a stance doesn’t cost me anything, does it?
Well, as Hanukkah closed out this weekend, I am going to tell you about the magic of Hanukkah as it related to another such offering to me where I was evidently at the right place at the right time, again.
This particular Saturday night was the next-to-last night of the 2021 Hanukkah celebration, and as I usually do, I went out to get dinner from one of the local fast food places.
This particular place offers a particular sandwich that is not on the regular menu, but if you call it in, they will give it to you—it has to do with corporate not allowing local franchises to specifically offer it as part of their regular menu, but the local place offering it if you ask for it (I found this out when I didn’t see it on the online menu anymore, I called the restaurant just to see if they offered it anymore, and Voila!, they did).
So I drove to the restaurant to pick up my order, which included the sandwich, fries, and a particular salad for my wife (my son and my mother got something from another such restaurant that I picked up on the way back from this establishment).
I got to the restaurant, and as you can imagine, on an early Saturday evening three weeks before Christmas, the place was hopping.
I asked for my order, and a store employee told me that they “were working on it.”
So I sat down to wait for it, but I saw a group of people congregating at the front of the restaurant where I had asked about my order, so after about 10 minutes or so of waiting, I joined them.
As I got up to join the group, a woman turns to me and tells me that she has been waiting for 40 minutes for her order, and that she was perplexed as to why it was taking so long for a simple takeout order.
I told her the following:
“Go to the manager and tell him what you just told me. You will get free food if you tell him that you have been waiting so long.”
She replied:
I have been waiting 40 minutes for my order. This is ridiculous.”
I replied:
“M’am, go to the manager and tell him what you just told me. You will get free food if you tell him that you have been waiting so long.”
(I mean, why are you telling me about your problem? What can I do about it, when I am in the same situation that you are?)
She proceeded to go on and on with me about the time she has spent waiting for her order, and I kept on saying to her the same thing, but it wasn’t connecting with her.
Finally, I told her for about the fifth time, “Go to the manager and tell him what you just told me, You will get free food if you tell him that you have been waiting so long,” and it actually resonated with her.
She went up to the front of the counter, spoke to the manager, and lo and behold, not only did she get her order right away, but I saw that the manager gave her a gift card for a future purchase.
As she exited, she walked right past me and did not thank me.
I guess I could have said something, but I had my own “lack of order” to deal with, so I didn’t say a thing.
(If you are that woman who I counseled, you are welcome.)
Anyway, I called over the very-busy manager, and I told him my own plight about my own order. Het said to me, “Yes, you are the one with the sandwich … how are you doing?”
I told him that until I get my order, I won’t be doing too well.
He told me that it was coming up.
After about five more minutes, he handed it to me and said, “Have a good evening.”
I said to him, “But let me pay for it.”
He literally waved me on with his arm, as if he was a conductor leading a philharmonic orchestra, dismissing me from the restaurant.
I said to him, “Are you sure?”
He said, “Have a good night.”
So I received my $25 odder, and did not pay a thing for it.
I drove to the next restaurant, picked up another order for my son and mother—which was not filled correctly, something I found out when I got home—and that was that, as I told my family about my latest “magic of Hanukkah” story.
Two Saturdays in a row, two batches of free food for the holiday, two miracles taking place that were definitely not expected.
Yes, Hanukkah IS a magical time, and if you celebrate the holiday, I hope that your eight-day “Festival of Lights” was as happy and joyous as mine was.
Will Christmas bring out the same “holiday spirit” to this Jewish guy?
I am willing to take a “wait and see” attitude on this question.
Heck, taking such a stance doesn’t cost me anything, does it?
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