"...cup or cone?"

Work is proving to be more entertaining than I thought it would be. Although I should have remembered that when you work in a service industry, particularly one with food, you get some interesting stories.

Now, I enjoy my job, I'm not bashing on it in any way, I'm just merely going to share some stories about some customers who I found funny.

Okay, so when you go into a store, you sometimes have to stand in line. Now, when you stand in that line, you either should know what you want to order when you approach the counter, or you should be thinking about it in the very least. But either way, by the time its your turn to tell me what you want, you should have arrived at a decision. Coming up to me after waiting in line for five minutes and saying "I want a scoop of ice cream" and then staring at me like I'm psychic does not help. I KNOW you want ice cream, I HOPE you want ice cream since you just waited in line, but please be aware that we have 16+ different flavors so being specific would help. I would love to read minds but that is just not one of my skills haha. Especially because after you say you want ice cream, I have to ask you a bunch of different questions such as "what kind of ice cream?" "....cup or cone?" "...sugar cone or cake cone?" It really gets quite tedious. I LOVE the people who come up to me and say, "I would like a single scoop of (insert ice cream flavor here) in/on a (insert cup/sugar cone/cake cone here)" Makes everyones life easier, wouldn't you say?

A lady one day came up to the register about to pay for the two double scoop waffle cones she held in her hands. While I was ringing her up she asked me if I had a bag for her ice cream cones. I looked at her for a minute, sure I had heard her wrong. "What?" I asked.
"A bag, for my ice cream." she says again. Now, please take note that it is well into the high 80s, maybe 90 degrees that weekend, ice cream melts pretty fast upon leaving the establishment so I stared at her again, positive I was going insane or at least needed a hearing aid.
"A bag. For your ice cream CONES??" I half re-stated, half asked again. Wanting to make sure. She nodded and I just was like, uhhhh I don't think we have those kinds of bags. I looked around hoping my boss was around, or at least someone to share this craziness with as I was trying my hardest not to laugh in her face. Luckily my boss had overheard and he comes over and tells her, I'm sorry I don't think we have those kinds of bags. She looks throughly disappointed, saying that oh I suppose thats okay, I just wanted to take them home and put them in my freezer for later.
After she left my boss and I let the laughter escape. I mean, what was she going to do with a bag?? Put her ice cream CONES into the bag? I mean, come on, everyone knows (I hope) that ice cream melts? She would have opened her bag later to find a messy, sticky, disgusting pool of melted ice cream with two soggy waffle cones at the bottom...I don't know what she was gonna do with that or what she was thinking.

I get a lot of questions by people asking if we have any soy based products. Now I can understand if you are lactose intolerant. I used to be too so I feel your pain. And asking for soy based products is okay, because we DO have soy milk for coffee drinks. However, asking me if there is any vegan products will get you a blank look. If you are vegan chances are you are trying to be healthy(?) and stepping foot into a store comprised solely of the most fattening sweets on this earth is NOT helping your diet so please, don't ask me for something healthy. I will point out the fruit on our menu and maybe the ham sandwich with wheat bread but stay away from the ice cream and fudge. So anyways, this lady comes up to me and starts to tell me she doesn't eat a lot of carbs, trys to stay away from fatty foods, etc...goes on this whole schpeel and I'm like, yeah yeah, okay, typical story, what can I make for you though, is what I really care about....and thinking she's going to ask me to make her some fat free, sugar free coffee drink, I am suddenly hit with her order of, get this, large cup of coffee with LOTS of room for half and half. LOTS of room for half n half, thats what she said. I stared at her for a minute, trying my hardest not to laugh and thinking, you DO know that half n half is like the worst thing you can put in your coffee right?? You DO know that your no eating carbs/fat just went out the window for today. Naturally I gave her what she wanted with a smile but I was highly entertained all the same.

Another funny story is we have this ice cream called Merlot Raspberry Truffle and it actually has a taste of red wine to it. Well most people don't know that, they just think its a name and one day this mom and little boy come in and start sampling the ice cream. He points out the Merlot Raspberry and his mom says okay, I'll have one scoop of that please, in a bowl. First I'm thinking, thanks for specifying :) I love you and then I'm thinking, a little kid wants a wine tasting ice cream? Ummm he's like a foot tall...I look at the mom and restate her order just to make sure. She smiles and nods, Yes, he likes raspberry. I smile back and start to scoop it, and after handing it to her I tell her, "You know it actually tastes like wine..." She looks surprised as she looks down at her little son, looking barely old enough to ride a bike let alone know what alcohol tastes like and says really?? I half laugh and grab a sample spoon, giving her a taste and she laughs and says you're right, it does taste like wine. Then eyes her son and says well I hope he doesn't know what he's tasting yet.
Better watch that one mom. I still don't even like the taste of red wine and I'm 21!!

After working in the food industry, I will forever be careful with how I order my food from now on. I am going to pay EXTRA attention to the menu and try and give an order that is not confusing or that requires too many follow up questions. I was telling my "...cup or cone?" story to someone and they mentioned that it's exactly like Subway and how they must get annoyed with customers come up to them and say they want a footlong and then stare are them. They're probably like, on what bread?? I was appalled because I have done that on occasion. Not anymore. I've learned my lesson!

Again, I find work amusing and highly entertaining. The regulars that come in all have their distinct personalities and I love having some familiar faces pop in when I work. Plus, I know what they're gonna order so I don't have to pelt them with millions of questions. My boss is also one of the best bosses I've ever worked for. When my mood turns annoyed because of a difficult customer his humor instantly turns it around. That is definitely a highly valuable trait in a boss. :)