We have a chain of burger joints here in NW Ohio, “Red Robin.” They serve good burgers, and great fries. A while back, my “Burger Low Level” light came on, so I stopped by to rectify the problem.
When my server came up she asked what I wanted so I told her, “A cheeseburger, with fires.”
“And, how would you like your burger,” she asked.
“Medium rare,” I replied.
“Oh, we don’t serve burgers medium rare, Sir,” she told me.
“Why not?”
“Well Sir, it’s for your own protection.” Of course it is – isn’t everything today?
So, I just sat there, staring at the menu, somewhat astounded.
“Sir?” she asked again.
“Well,” I replied, “I don’t know what I want, now. I thought I wanted a medium-rare burger. I have a master’s degree in management, have flown ‘fast-moving’ jets for years – I kinda thought that I would know what I wanted – but I guess I don’t. This is distressing – not knowing what I want for lunch. Maybe they shouldn’t allow me out of the home unsupervised.” And I just looked up at her, with a somewhat perplexed look on my face…
Now she was becoming distressed! So I asked her, “Where is your manager?”
She pointed to this “kid” standing about 20 feet away; a guy in a tie, looking pretty. I then told her, “Why don’t you just go over to him, and the 2 of you take a hard look at me for a bit. Then you two decide what I want. It doesn’t matter to me anymore – I obviously, don’t know what the hell I am thinking!”
“Sir?” she asked, not quite believing what I just told her.
“I’m serious, it doesn’t matter anymore. Just like at the home, just bring something to me you two think I would like – except oatmeal. I am tired of oatmeal.”
And so, off she went. ..
I was dying inside, watching those two! And not long after their conference, my lunch arrived – a medium-rare cheeseburger, with fries!
(Thanks John, for the inspiration to write this story… its been ‘in here’ for a while!)