Slow News Day

We're back to hot and steamy here in Southern Indiana.  That's okay, because I really don't want fall to get here too quickly.  I like cool weather, but I dread gloomy days.

We had some surprise company in over the weekend, our friends Tommy and Celestine from Nashville.  Tommy's sister is married to one of Thomas' brothers, so although he isn't family, it seems as if he is.  He and Thomas grew up together.  It was just a flying visit for them, and there were other family and friends in the area for them to visit, so we didn't spend a lot of time together, but it was good to see them.

On Saturday I told Eler Beth to choose where she'd like to have lunch, and she chose Steak N Shake.  I like a nice Steakburger now and then, but I absolutely hate eating inside at a Steak N Shake, because it takes forever to get your order. 

We were seated quickly, but an inordinate amount of time passed before our server took our drink order -- sweet tea for me and root beer for Eler Beth.  We were ready to order by the time our drinks came.  We both had cheeseburgers, I had onion rings, Eler Beth had cheddar cheese fries, and she had vegetable beef soup.  I told our server that we'd be ordering dessert later.  My tea, when it came, was so-so, but Eler Beth's root beer was horrible.  It was SO syrupy, just super-super sweet.

The soup came quickly, and it was very good.  I forgot to order Eler Beth another drink when the server brought the soup, but I didn't think it would be forever before she came back by our table.  It was.  Eler Beth had to sip on my tea while she ate her soup.  Believe me, I tasted her root beer, and it was undrinkable.  I should have grabbed one of the other servers -- you know, there were LOTS of servers in there, and it seemed to me that each one had only a few tables inhis or her section, but we barely saw our server at all -- or gone looking for our server, but I really do try not to be a bothersome guest.

Finally our food came, and I asked the server to go ahead and bring Eler Beth's vanilla shake in a to-go cup because she wanted it now.  I told her about the syrupy root beer, but she didn't even take the glass away with her.  Our food was very good, and there was plenty of it.  Our server was very pleasant, she just wasn't available.  We waited, and waited, and waited for her to bring that shake.

While waiting for our food, and while waiting for the shake, we had plenty of time to people watch and to observe other tables.  One of the things we observed was that THREE other groups of people who had come in after us were served their food before us.  One of them was in our server's section.  She did offer an explanation that the wait was because of the onion rings.  I guess there had been a run on onion rings?  If only I'd known.

One of the other things we observed was that there were a lot of old people there.  I observed it, anyway.  There were plenty of families and middle-aged people, like me (!!), but there were many, many older people.  So, of course, I had to say to Eler Beth, "There are a lot of octogenarians here today!"

"A lot of WHAT?"

"Octogenarians.  It means someone in his 80s, but I'm using it as a general term here to mean very old people." 

And we looked around at the tables to our right.  Three tables of couples, and three tables of ladies, all of them in their seventies or eighties.  Then on the other side of the room were two other tables of older people. 

The two ladies closest to us were sisters, and I heard one of them say it was her birthday -- she was 89.  One of the gentlemen got up and walked over to visit with one of the other gentlemen, and he stood there and carried on a conversation until his wife called him back to their table because his ice cream was melting.   My favorite was the couple who shared a strawberry milk shake, taking turns dipping their long spoons in for a bite.

My girl's milk shake finally came, just as we were finishing our food.  Then a few minutes later our server came to ask if we needed anything else and left our check.  That was the first time she'd come by just to see how we were getting along, although I'd noticed the other servers taking very good care of their customers.  I didn't bother ordering any dessert for myself.  I did want to get home before dinner time.

Did I leave a tip?  Yes.  Was it a good one?  Well, it was better probably than I should have left, but not as good as I would have left.  I respect wait staff, and perhaps she was feeling bad or having a very bad day.  But it just reinforced my belief that Steak N Shake is not a place I care to dine in very often.  Their drive-thru has always been fast, though.

Thomas has always maintained that poor service from regular employees means poor management.  And sure enough, when we paid our bill at the counter, the gentleman cashier wasn't pleasant at all.  He never smiled, never said thank you, never spoke to ME at all.  He took my bill, turned to say something to another employee in a very surly voice, finally rang me up, answered a question from another employee, got out my change and then handed it over the counter to me without even glancing at me.  I took note of his name and of the word "MANAGER" on his tag.

Yes, it's a slow news day here at Dusty Pages, when all I can write about is a trip to Steak N Shake!

Maybe I'll come up with something better later today.  Hope everyone had a good weekend and has a wonderful week to come.

 

10 more songs you will find on my iPod:

1)  Wild Wood Flower -- The Carter Family (Mother Maybelle and The Carter Family)

2)  Gravity -- Sarah Bareilles (contemporary)

3)  Things We Said Today -- The Beatles

4)  I've Just Seen A Face -- The Beatles

5)  Poor Jenny -- The Everly Brothers

6)  When The Lights Go Down on Broadway -- Journey (80s)

7)  Hair (From the musical, 70s)

8)  What Condition My Condition Was In -- Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (70s or 80s?)

9)  The Old Lamplighter -- The Browns (60s or 70s?)

10) Know Me, Knowing You -- ABBA (70s)

See anything you like there?