"We'll
take a kids' meal with nuggets, and two kids' meals with plain cheeseburgers,
and be sure they are plain, with nothing on them but the burger, cheese, and
bun. That's all. Nothing else. The kids won't touch them if they have that
other stuff on there."
"Yes,
sir. Anything else?"
"Five
breadsticks, and yes I know they only come with the salad, but we don't want
the salad, just the breadsticks."
"I'm
sorry, sir, but we don't sell them separate."
"Yes
you do, we've gotten them here before. Ask your manager. I also want.."
and so he continued his long and specific requests at the fast food restaurant.
It wasn't often that we were able to take all four children, all under the age
of five, to a restaurant, but this fast food place had a menu to accommodate the
varying appetites of the entire family. Once the order was complete and the
cashier handed him cups, my husband added, "Oh, I forgot, can we switch
the drink for those kids' meals to milkshakes?" The cashier was nice
enough, and finished our order.
I took
the children away from the counter and found tables I could push together to
house all six of us, and began placing napkins and straws at each place. Short,
swinging legs kicked against the wobbly tables and caused the straws to begin
rolling and jumping to the children's delight.
"Daddy
will be here soon with your food, please stop kicking the tables," was met
with excitement and giggles. But I noticed Daddy was stalled at the ketchup
dispenser to add more flavor to his chicken sandwich. It wasn't that long of a
wait before he returned with two trays piled with bags, chicken, burgers,
fries, shakes, and kids' toys. He was not smiling.
"They
got the order wrong. I'll be right back." He grabbed his sandwich and
headed back up to the counter, and I began sorting the food and reminding the
children to wait for Daddy before they started eating. We always prayed
together before we ate, so the kids sat quietly, sipping their milkshakes and
sneaking fries when they thought I wasn't watching. Daddy came back to the
table with a scowl.
"Idiots!
How hard is it to put a tomato on my sandwich? Bunch of morons." Daddy was
not using nice words in front of the children, but I couldn't help smiling as
the giggles erupted. He opened up his sandwich, and his eyes grew wide.
"What
is this?" he snarled as he jumped up grabbing his meal, and marched right
back to the counter. We could hear his voice from our tables.
"I
asked for a tomato and there isn't one on this sandwich. This is the second
time now. Is it that difficult to put a tomato on the sandwich?"
"Calm
down, sir."
"Don't
tell me to calm down! I asked for a tomato and you took my sandwich back there,
I was watching you! And you didn't put a tomato on it!"
"We're
going to have to call the manager, sir, please calm down."
"Go
ahead, call the manager! I would like to speak to them anyway! All I'm asking
for is a slice of tomato on my sandwich, is that too much to ask for?"
By now
every eye was watching Daddy and you could hear a pin drop. The air was thick
with tension, and I began to worry how this all looked to not only the
children, but to the restaurant filled with customers and workers. It felt like
everything stopped and everyone's attention was on Daddy. I thought how I could
quickly gather the children and the food and sneak out the door to our van
while everyone else was watching the scene at the counter. But I couldn't. The
kids were staring too. I was trapped.
Some
people in the dining area tried to get back to their own business and casually
began talking and eating again. As Daddy returned with his slice of tomato, I
almost hoped he would go to another table, but of course he didn't. He walked
to where the children and I were seated, pulled out the chair at the end, sat
down and loudly said,
"You'd think I was asking for a lump of
gold! It's not rocket science! They're like a bunch of morons!" I tried to
smile at the onlookers, but was only greeted with scowls and disdain. Everyone
was still listening and some staring when Daddy bowed his head and said,
"Let's pray."
At
least we were being a good Christian example.
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