When I worked at a pizza place in my youth, we had many regular customers. One who stuck out in my mind was the Colonel, a man who may or may not have had an actual military background. He had a very distinct order that he placed every time he came in, and after a while he was requesting his favorite cook (although honestly, there wasn't a lot of difference between the six of us. Also, I'm only saying that because I was not the cook he requested). We all wanted to take care of this guy for reasons I'm not entirely clear on.
Since I left that job, it's been kind of a latent desire of mine to become a "regular" somewhere. This would be reliant on several things:
1) A low turnover of staff, so that they recognize me each time I come in,
2) Something distinctive about my order - easier to remember, and
3) Repetition, repetition, repetition.
I thought I was a regular for a while at the Chick-Fil-A in the Student Union at Arkansas. I was very particular about my grilled chicken sandwich, and eventually that stuck in the lunch employee's mind. However, I failed to achieve true regular status, as going to Chick-Fil-A in the evenings resulted in the same service that everyone else got - nothing special about me!
I am close to regular status at the mall pizzeria near this campus. I go in at the same time every Saturday, ordering a slice of pizza and small Coke with no ice. If you look at my three arbitrary categories, I have them...the same staff seems to be working most Saturdays, the "no ice" is distinctive, and I have been in there for Saturday lunches about 40 of the last 50 weeks. I believe I am a regular there, but because of the pre-assembled nature of their pizza, there is no real way for me to tell. The woman who works the counter calls everyone "Honey" - not just me.
So Wednesday nights are my new attempt to achieve regular status. We got to Ruby Tuesday's and order the delicious Triple Prime Burger. A gay friend's ex-girlfriend is our waitress each week, and I have finally figured out the appropriate mix of ingredients that enhances the sheer succulence of the burger. Now it's on to number 3 - repetition. Ideally, I'll be a regular by the end of the summer - just in time to have staff meetings on Wednesday nights and lose "regular" status. Blerg.
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3 comments:
Every Friday night after work in the ED to La Huerta's. Mango margarita and chicken enchiladas with a sour cream sauce instead of the red sauce. I miss that.
we are regulars for our thursday night, 7:45 call for a cheese and sausage BBQ plate. the place closes at 8, so you have to call by 7:45. the same lady is always working, and when craig and i missed a week, she commented the following week how she hadn't seen him in a while. but we did this during TV season, and haven't kept it up with summer. we'll have to get back into it come fall.
You are a regular in mine heart, and to quote a certain wordsmith, you look "alarmingly like Good Ol’ Charlie Brown."
I love "alarmingly" there.
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