Another Thing I Like

Ok, so I know I said goodbye to Big Bacon Classic but I had a slip today - luckily it wasn't BBC, if I have just a taste of that tasty burger all is lost, instead I had Harvey's. But you see I had to do it. My mom called and asked me to pick something up after work - I was going to pick up pho but then all those warnings about Listeriosis got me paranoid and pho places are usually shotty (not that I mind eating from shotty places, I did go to U of T, we'd have eaten anything so long as it were free or cheap) but my mom is 56 and they say listeria usually harms the elderly and I'm not saying she's old but you know...

Anyways, the point is, I'm a hero because I saved my mom from potential harm. So I went to Harvey's , ordered two hamburgers (NO CHEESE!) and got sugar-free drinks; the only real harm in my meal was from the onion rings but considering what a hero I am, I figure I deserve it. Here's where another thing I like comes into play:

Whilst at Harvey's, I was served by the nicest cashier EVER! I don't mean super-duper bubbly or tried to make small talk with me or anything like that - I arrived, he said "Hey man, what can I get you?" I told him my order, a snafu with the Interac machine occurred, he apologized, told me to get my drinks and he'll prepare the food while the system reboots. He started making the food even though I didn't pay for it! This blew my mind because I was so put off cashiers from the Timmy's story.

Ahh, the Timmy's story. So I was with the then-bf at a movie theatre and we got something at the Timmy's there, our total came to $2.90 - we had $2.89 (!) and a $20 bill. We asked the cashier if she would mind taking the $2.89 so we wouldn't have to break the $20 resulting in needless change. Yes I know, the tills must match up at the end of the night/week whenever they are checked but I had enough faith in humanity that someone, somewhere, would throw in a measely penny just so I could keep my wallet from hitting George Castanza proportions for the rest of the night. Her response was "oh but the total is $2.90". So I handed the $20 bill and took all my craptastic change and grumbled away. I know, it's not the most horrific story and my European side is screaming (PAY YOUR BILL IN FULL!!) and my Canadian side is saying (IT WAS ONLY ONE PENNY!) so I grasp the conflict but as a man, nothing sucks more than a huge wallet. Side note: that's pretty much the only thing that sucks being a man, suck it women!

Another "makes you go hmmmmmm" story about cashiers I remember was at the Pita Pit on College in front of school. At this particular establishment, the cook and cashier had a system - when the order was placed, the cook would begin, almost immediately preparing the food to be cooked, so say you order a Chicken Souvlaki Pita, the cook would hear this and taken out the pre-cooked chicken. Here's the weird part, he would put the meat on his spatula, hold it above the searing hot grill and wait until you paid in full for the meal. He'd literally stand there, staring at the cashier until the cashier would turn around and nood and then the cook would go at it with super-human speed. I understand that students in university are dumb-dumbs (pretty much anyone younger than me is considered a dumb-dumb) and I'm sure they've must've had the problem of a student ordering something and not being able to pay for it while the food already started getting ready but why not just wait until the transaction is over before cooking? How much time could you possibly save? 1 minute?

Needless to say when I saw this fine young man (he was probably 21) was awesome and not just for preparing my burger, topping it off the way I like it, and letting me fill up my drinks all before paying he was also incredibly polite! There was an elderly gentleman who ordered before me and stood by waiting for his burgers while I went to go fill up my drink cups. When his burgers were cooked, the awesome cashier referred to him as "Sir" - "Alrite Sir, sorry about the wait, what would you like on the burgers?" followed by (after he was done topping off the burger) "Would you like me to throw some ketchup in the bag for you Sir?"

Think about it, how often do you use the words Sir or Ma'am when talking to someone elderly?

So awesome Harvey's cashier located at the Home Depot on Mavis Road - this is for you, you're awesome, polite, and professional. It shows you take pride in your work and give your Mom & Dad a hug for me because they did one hell of a job!