Today, May 4th, 2009 something truly terrible happened. Well, it wasn't that bad but my friends and I were pretty pissed. After school, as always, we went to get a snack. However, we were not in the mood for pizza, so we decided that we would split a burrito from Qdoba despite the risks of catching swine flu (yeah, right). Qdoba is the franchised burrito chain a block from my school where the food is delicious, and the prices are fairly reasonable. So my friend Noel and I walked in and went straight to make our order. The place was empty so we guessed that they were probably in dire need of business. The guy at the register took our order and placed the tortilla in the cooker. We were excited for the scrumptious meal to come. We ordered our burrito with ground beef, cheese, beans and rice. All this time the guy at the counter was chatting us up, and being really nice. When the food was about to be paid for, I shelled $4.75 out of my wallet, as that had always been what I had paid for the burrito. As we asked the price, an absurd thing tripped and stumbled from his mouth, "$8.19," he said. Noel and I both began to nervously laugh. "You're kidding, right" we said " It's only $4.75." "No" he replied, his tone becoming more and more cold by the second. "I'm not playing around with you guys." "Give me the money." Now, naturally we had no idea what to do because, between the two of us, we only had $6.75. When we told him that, he became outraged, and committed the unspeakable crime that I must write before you now. He took that juicy, beautiful, amazing, slice of heaven, rolled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash. Our mouths dropped. Why would he even think of doing that? For a brief moment we both thought of jumping the counter, slapping him, and running with the burrito. However, our inner adults took over, and we walked sullenly out of the chain. Our lives scarred forever. All I know is that if we ever see the same guy at the counter, we won't give them our service or our money. Oh, and by the way, I ended up spending the money on a slice of pizza at Pizza Box which was surprisingly satisfying.
9 comments:
I love your blog - I'm going to send it to my husband who writes about food for the Observer. If you're interested in food writing (not just criticizing, I mean) check out the guardian/observer/times newspapers and do a search on Alex Renton. Keep it up, you have a lot of charm.
Ruthie (who was at school with your dad in Brussels).
Julian, you have written this story even funnier than you told it to me the night it happened. Your writing has become even better! Keep eating out!!
Love, Bubby
Julian, you are leading the fight against false inflation. Keep it. Also, look for a vegy burrito.
Love, Grampy
That is hilarious. I think you should contact the management and let them know what happened. And why the crazy increase for a burrito? Don't they know we are in a recession?
Julien, If you were writing for a newspaper, I would subscribe to it in an instant just for the pleasure of reading your reviews. You are incredibly funny and smart and write very well in a lively manner. This is an hilarious anecdote. Bravo and keep up the good work while watching the calories.
Manou
Julian, I don't usually go to fast food places but Qdoba is one that I actually like. What a crazy story; I can't believe that person actually threw your burrito. That's why they doubled their prices; they throw away half their food. Great story; thanks for sharing these. Tante Loupi
J, This is the best written one you've done - it's a very cogent narrative! Little did that guy behind the counter know with whom he was dealing!
xo,
LvS
Next time, make sure to take a picture of the guy so you can post that to your blog.
I agree with Norm. Next time, snap the dude in the act of ripping you off. But it sure did sound good in a nasty fast food way! Loved the story!!!
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