So I am in a Subway restaurant tonight and had one of the strangest (wouldn’t go as far as calling it the worst but it ain’t far off) customer experiences in a long time. I eat at Subway a lot and while I have never worked there I pretty much have the whole Subway routine down cold.
You tell the “Sandwich Artist” what you want…..you tell them what you want on it…..you pay for your sandwich and you are done. Well tonight I was greeted with this.
I am in line with four people in front of me. The “sandwich artist” announces to everyone that she is alone and has worked for 7 nights in a row. She isn’t in a good mood and would appreciate if everyone would decide what we want right now as she is locking up the store after she is finished with us and taking a break.
I found this odd but I am pretty easy going and figured “What ever”
The “SA” starts to make the sandwiches for the first two people and says things like “I don’t care if you want pickles or pepper because I am allergic to them and refuse to use them in any sandwiches” and “I didn’t make any Italian Herb and Cheese bread today because it is the exact same thing as the Parmesan oregano and I didn’t need them both”
When it came to my turn the lady was extra grumpy because the person in front of me didn’t have exact change and she had to go to the back to get some rolled coins.
Normally I reserve my smart assed nature for private situations but when I couldn’t order the seafood sub because she hates the smell I considered my options and explained that the sub was for a friend (so far true) that had just gotten out of jail today and for the last five she has written me and said that if I bring her a seafood sub on her first day of freedom I would have the freedom to do as I wish with her. I them went on to explain (with about 5 people behind me) that even though I am a devilishly handsome guy and could pick from just about any girl I wish (maybe true….I haven’t tried) I have remained faithful to this lady the entire time she was in the hoosegow and this night would be like the prom for us. I them hammed it up and said that this would be more then just the prom but would be like my own Starlight Foundation Children’s wish and that if she just put aside her differences with the smell of processed crab parts she would be doing something that few people in their lives get to be a part of.
The whole thing was kind of moving and I kept expecting the music from the scene in Animal House where John Belushi (Bluto) talks about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbour to start.
Anyway this worked and she did make the sandwich but she threw in a few snide remarks about the smell and that I could not put pepper on it. I told her the toppings and as a last smart ass remark I asked if she had any remoulade sauce because that would probably get me a repeat encounter……..sadly the lady had no idea what remoulade sauce was.
This visit took 35 minutes from the time I walked through the door and normally this sort of wait would bother me but since I got to tell a funny story to a bunch of strangers I guess it wasn’t a bad customer experience after all
saul
