Dressed in an unassuming deep purple coat, the woman waits at the Maggie's Buns entree display for a good two minutes before speaking up, waving down the hipster twenty-something behind the counter. "What is that entree at the end?" She gestures, in case the verbal description wasn't enough.
He leans over to check, furrowing his brow slightly under the mop of dark hair. "That is..." he leans further before answering "...our veggie pesto wrap."
The woman nods and frowns, considering this. Clearly, it was not the answer she was hoping for, after staring down the food so carefully before. "Is there any protein in that?" I bite my lip, watching the exchange, my stomach quietly moaning.
Now he frowns, his small white ear gauges coming into view as he turns to the display of food again. "I don't- it's mostly just vegetables and pesto." A sheepish shrug, and he turns to face the woman again.
Another wrong answer, it seems. The woman crosses her arms. "Could you fry me up an egg with it?" It sounds condescending, and I feel bad for the hipster. I want to order something simple and on the menu to make up for her.
The hipster is thrown, both by the question and the tone, and he nervously straightens his light blue, "White Castle Employee of the Month 1971" tee-shirt as he formulates an acceptable response. "I'm not sure..." Feet still planted in front of the register, he twists his tall body to peek into the kitchen area behind him. "It depends on how far they are on cleaning..." Stepping away from the counter now, he takes a few paces towards the back, passing briefly through the teal door frame to check on the cleanup progress, desperately trying to help his costumer.
His coworker, a pretty young woman with a thick black ponytail who knows both my name and my order from my many visits, appears. "What's up?" By now, I realize that it's going to be a while before I get to order my usual, so I pull my phone from my jacket pocket and check Twitter while the hipster male employee explains situation to the girl.
I look back up just as she gives the woman an apologetic shrug. "Oh, yeah, we usually stop doing hot sandwiches about two, sorry." The problem is that once the hot sandwiches stop being made, the grill is unnecessary and gets cleaned and prepared for the next day. Thus, no fried egg to accompany the protein-less wrap.
The woman purses her lips, then quickly smiles to show she isn't too upset. "That's alright. What's the one next to it, then?" Again, she gestures.
The hipster walks around the counter to see. "That is our vegan Thai peanut stir fry." Knowing that the peanut sauce is the only protein element in the dish, he doesn't look confident.
The woman nods, hands going into her deep purple coat pockets. "You know, I think I'll take that one."
He looks relieved. "Great! For here or to go?"
She pulls a large, black clutch-style wallet from within her purse with a smile, seemingly just as relieved that the confusion was over. "For here is good." She hands him a credit card.
"Hi, Bri!" The female employee, a smile on her face, peeks from around her male counterpart, who is gratefully ringing up the woman's final order. I smile, say hello back, and order the usual. Quick, simple, and on the menu.
No comments:
Post a Comment