Taco Bell
Back when I didn't know if I would be a mechanical engineer or a singer/songwriter (seriously), I used to work at Taco Bell. All of 16 years old, I rode my bike over there nearly every day. People would ask me, "Bet you'll never eat the food again, now that you know [insert disgusting story about rats, grade-f meat, unwashed hands]." Well, I never saw anything like that then, in my 6 months or so working there nearly full-time. That's part of why I still eat there regularly. Another reason is that Taco Bell is really and truly the only place I've ever worked where all of my coworkers were kind and respectful, although the tutoring lab comes close. Even the customers were nearly always nice.
There was a system where, if you were on your lunch break, you could go to the cash register when there were no customers, ring up what you wanted, and pay half price for it while whoever was on cash at that time made sure you didn't screw up their till. Well, this system was rarely if ever used. Reason being was that no one really wanted something off the menu, we would all instead just make something up. Steak AND chicken burrito? With Guacamole? OK! Doesn't taste like you thought it would? Try again! (Little known fact: Taco Bell guacamole is almost 100% avocado, just like the stuff at Moe's, and only comes on the 7 Layer Burrito. You can add it to anything for $0.25) The good prices let the left half of my brain justify my Taco Bell habit, but what gets the right half of my brain going is the memories of all the different combinations I ate, for free, back in the day. Unfortunately, this means that I confuse the pants off of whoever's taking my order.
That was especially true today, because today was the rollout of the new "79-89-99 Why pay more?" value menu at my friendly Lakeland area Taco Bell. They usually add 1 new item to the menu at a time, but this had at least 4. The engineer in me just had to know the details of each one, of course. Which begins a mini-rant: why do people accept flavored soybean oil as if it's a food item? I usually ask for this stuff to be taken off of my food so it doesn't bother me, but, probably because of the confusion created by the new menu, my food came with the crap on it. This wasn't just a sauce. The last two bites would have been nothing but tortilla and goop. Not good. This isn't just a Taco Bell thing because Panera, Subway, Quizno's, etc are all doing the same thing. I don't care if you call it Baja Sauce, Chipotle Sauce, Cheesy Jalapeno Sauce (tastes like Easy Mac..), Bravo Sauce, Avocado Ranch Sauce, Lime Sauce, Onion Sauce- I call it flavored mayo and will subtract the easy 10 grams of fat from my diet every chance I get. Give me my 0.25 guac and Fiesta Salsa (only made from tomatoes, onions, and flavored vinegar) and I'll be happy.
Don't worry, Taco Bell, I still love you, even though I drive now.
There was a system where, if you were on your lunch break, you could go to the cash register when there were no customers, ring up what you wanted, and pay half price for it while whoever was on cash at that time made sure you didn't screw up their till. Well, this system was rarely if ever used. Reason being was that no one really wanted something off the menu, we would all instead just make something up. Steak AND chicken burrito? With Guacamole? OK! Doesn't taste like you thought it would? Try again! (Little known fact: Taco Bell guacamole is almost 100% avocado, just like the stuff at Moe's, and only comes on the 7 Layer Burrito. You can add it to anything for $0.25) The good prices let the left half of my brain justify my Taco Bell habit, but what gets the right half of my brain going is the memories of all the different combinations I ate, for free, back in the day. Unfortunately, this means that I confuse the pants off of whoever's taking my order.
That was especially true today, because today was the rollout of the new "79-89-99 Why pay more?" value menu at my friendly Lakeland area Taco Bell. They usually add 1 new item to the menu at a time, but this had at least 4. The engineer in me just had to know the details of each one, of course. Which begins a mini-rant: why do people accept flavored soybean oil as if it's a food item? I usually ask for this stuff to be taken off of my food so it doesn't bother me, but, probably because of the confusion created by the new menu, my food came with the crap on it. This wasn't just a sauce. The last two bites would have been nothing but tortilla and goop. Not good. This isn't just a Taco Bell thing because Panera, Subway, Quizno's, etc are all doing the same thing. I don't care if you call it Baja Sauce, Chipotle Sauce, Cheesy Jalapeno Sauce (tastes like Easy Mac..), Bravo Sauce, Avocado Ranch Sauce, Lime Sauce, Onion Sauce- I call it flavored mayo and will subtract the easy 10 grams of fat from my diet every chance I get. Give me my 0.25 guac and Fiesta Salsa (only made from tomatoes, onions, and flavored vinegar) and I'll be happy.
Don't worry, Taco Bell, I still love you, even though I drive now.