“And Away We Went”

c. 2017 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(9-17)

Welcome to the weekend.

My friend Janis works six days a week. So her Sundays are precious. A welcome pause to catch her breath and get up to date on household chores. A time to remember the comforts of home. But a routine of sorts developed between us as did our friendship, over the past few years. After working an early shift on Saturday, she will take a quick nap to revive herself, then drive the 20 miles or so to my humble hut across the county line, in Thompson.

From there we usually drive north to Madison, for a quick meal. Then shop at various stores including our former workplace, in Geneva. Afterward, we return to my home for relaxation on the ground-level deck in my back yard, or in front of the television for some entertainment via my Roku streaming device. It is a simple, but satisfying way to enjoy a few hours together.

We normally have enjoyed all sorts of food in the area, at a Chinese buffet, the Waffle House, or a 50’s diner nearby. But my side step into early retirement squeezed the household budget. So our habits shifted to fast-food purveyors. At first this presented no issues. Our cost-per-meal was fantastic. And the conversation shared between us was no less satisfying. But then, two weeks ago, we arrived at the local Wendy’s. A familiar spot for ‘old-fashioned hamburgers’ and refreshment. After 15 years of regular visits, it felt very much like the home of a relative. Yet soon after entering, we realized that something was amiss.

A long line of patrons stretched backward from the front counter. I could see that the crew seemed to have changed from our usual group. Lots of young boys were milling around. An older woman seemed to be herding them like sheep. They were polite and friendly. Still, no one seemed quite sure of their responsibilities. As a result, the line had nearly slowed to a complete standstill.

A woman ahead of us was having trouble with her order. She repeated it over and over. Two more salads were needed. The delay had her snorting and pacing around. Not with anger but simply a sad resignation to the fact that dinner for her family would only be prepared after a great amount of patience and supervision of the inexperienced crew.

Behind Janis and myself, customers started leaving the restaurant. I counted them silently. “One… two… three… four.” Right out the front door. The obvious loss of business made me sigh. Particularly because, in my long-term career as a retail manager, I had seen such breakdowns occur, before. No one behind the counter seemed to notice the customers scrambling for escape. I was more than a little bit surprised.

After a long wait, Janis and I got our meals.

I tried to talk about something more cheerful. But our chatter kept turning back to the mess up front. I shook my head as the cattle-call continued. Eventually, enough customers had been served that the rush quieted down. I felt sorry for the adult woman trying to direct her herd of kids.

A week later, Janis and I returned to the Madison Wendy’s location. We honestly reckoned that our previous experience had been an outlier. Not typical of the burger chain. We were also a bit later in the evening, after the normal dinner rush. So we approached the front register with renewed confidence.

This time, an adult woman was supervising a gaggle of young girls. We waited as she had to re-train her employee on how to perform a card transaction. This caused the line to back up a bit. Next was a kid obviously on her break. She chattered with the clerk as the other patrons entered the place and stood behind us, wide-eyed and hungry. The girls sputtered and giggled as menu choices were discussed. Then, something seemed to go wrong. The one on her break started to walk away. “I’ll be right back!” she said. We were all confused. The clerk whispered “I’ll have to ring up these other people and get back to you!” But she did not do this, instead choosing to stare into space as her co-worker ran out the door. Had she forgotten her Money? Was the clerk unsure how to clear the register and start a new order? No one paid attention to us as the adult woman on duty had disappeared. I could hear those behind us becoming restless.

“What’s going on?” Janis wondered out loud.

No one would acknowledge us, as the drive-thru window also seemed to be busy. I had a similar feeling to our visit of the previous week, except that on this occasion, there were no polite apologies. Not even eye contact. I quietly imagined myself trying to handle such a situation.

Finally, my patience was exhausted. “Let’s go!”

And away we went.

None of the girls seemed to notice as we turned to our right and walked out the front door. As we were leaving, the employee on break reentered with a blank look of indifference. I fumbled for the keys to my truck. “Well then, its Taco Bell tonight. Is that okay?”

Janis smiled. “Of course.”

Our $5.00 ‘Cravings Deal’ was actually quite satisfying. A Cheesy Gordita Crunch, Beef Burrito Supreme, Crunchy Taco and Chips & Nacho Cheese Sauce. I got the Brisk Mango Tea to drink.

My friend was happy because her meal box included an offer to win a video game.

The next day, I pondered sending an e-mail about these incidents to the company. Not seeking contrition or any coupons, but simply in the hope that those in charge would be made aware so that they might take corrective action. It was the kind of dust-up I had handled on many occasions during my management career. But the website only provided a corporate number for customer calls or texts. Wanting to form my thoughts carefully, with the discipline of a professional writer, I chose the latter.

“Dear Wendy’s, I am a long-time customer in general and have visited your Madison, OH location frequently over the past 15 years...”

I imagined the local manager receiving my message. It would present a challenge on top of an already busy workload of supervision. Yet I recalled what my own brother had said, after managing a Burger King franchise. “The worst kind of problem is the ‘walk-away’ customer.” he observed. “Because you never have a chance to make things right.” It was an example I had used many times, when thanking someone for calling me with a complaint. Not because I wanted to receive bad news but because… as the one in charge, I needed to know.

Comments or questions about ‘Words on the Loose’ may be sent to: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

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Published weekly in the Geauga Independent