Lunch: Pastrami on French bread (w/Russian dressing, provolone), Texas chili, oily garlic toast thingies you get free off the end of the salad bar, Coke, free ice cream cone
I haven't eaten here in forever. Naturally, everything has changed.
Me: "manager's special with pastrami po-boy and Texas chili."
Smiling Counter Girl: "What kind of bread?"
Okay, they didn't used to ask that. "The Po-boy bread?"
Smiling Counter Girl: "The French bread?"
Me: "Uh, sure."
Smiling Counter Girl; "Did you want anything on it?"
Me: "Do you still have the Russian dressing they used to put on it?"
Smiling Counter Girl: Well, it's a build-your-own sandwich now. The only sandwich we automatically put the Russian dressing on is the Reuben now."
Me: "So if it's a build-your-own sandwich, would one of my options be the Russian dressing?"
Smiling Counter Girl: "Um...Oh! Sure."
She inputs into the register, which is also new. They used to write down the order on paper, put it on a clip, and send it down a zip line. Then you'd pay at a different station. But they're all computerized now. The old pay station is now a self-serve touch screen for people ordering the salad bar. They can do the whole order themselves with no human interaction. Lucky bastards.
Smiling Counter Girl: "Anything else on the sandwich?"
Me: "Provolone."
Smiling Counter Girl: "Anything else?"
I review the register screen and see only a sandwich. "I asked for the Manager's Special, with Texas chili."
Smiling Counter Girl: "Oh! You wanted the Manager's special?"
Me "Yes."
She now has to re-input the entire order, which she does cheerfully.
"What kind of soup did you want?"
The sandwich that eventually arrives is amazingly basically the same sandwich I used to get by simply saying "Pastrami Po-Boy". The plate includes chips, but no longer includes the pickle spear.
I miss the pickle spear.
And the zip line.
Zip lines are cool.
