oops i did it again.....

Ever do something you swore you'd never do again? Seems that I've fallen into that trap quite a bit over the years. I did it again yesterday.


I was in the Cool Springs area around lunchtime yesterday. Before heading back to the office, I decided to stop and get a quick bite to eat. During busy/high-traffic times, I tend to eat at the closest place. Why drive across the street, get stuck at a light coming and going, when you can eat right next door? I settled on the A&W/KFC. Settled is a nice word to use.


About a year or so ago, the bride and I dined at this particular A&W/KFC. I kept telling her how great the A&W chili dogs were, and how she needed to try one or she'd die one day with a huge regret. So we went, and the chili dogs were incredible. But the restaurant itself was less than clean. In fact, I'd been in cleaner men's rooms at the state fair. After looking around a few minutes, we noticed that the KFC side of the restaurant had an all-you-can-eat buffet. That was the problem. Don't get me wrong, I love to get my money's worth. But something we've noticed about buffets is that they tend to attract people who - let's see how do I put this - have more than ample stomachs in which to store their food. And these people didn't seem to have a problem in throwing their napkins, utensils and unwanted food (I know, who would've figured???) on the floor.


When I went back yesterday, I noticed two unsettling things. First, as I was walking away from the counter with my meal, one of the employees climbed up on one of the food preparation areas and stood on the counter (with his shoes directly on the countertop) so that he could unplug a monitor. Yeah. Although he did take a rag from underneat the buffet and wipe it down. Whew! The other thing I noticed as I was finishing up my meal. I looked for a trash can to take my tray and dump my wrappers and napkins. I found one. There were chicken bones, several of them that had been gnawed on sufficiently, lying beside the trash can on the floor. Yummy!


Some of you may be wondering if I mentioned these problems to the manager. I started to, but she was busy getting the dirt out from underneath her fingernails and I didn't want to bother her.....