I stopped at a Popeye's restaurant on the way home from a departmental meeting this afternoon. The man in front of me was having a problem. What he wanted was listed as $6.99 on the overhead board, but he was being charged $7.58 for it. The clerk spoke broken English, which made communication difficult. She kept telling the man that it rang up as $7.58, and he kept explaining that it should be $6.99. It was civil, not acrimonious. I sidled up to the man as he waited, telling him that he should stand his ground. He had a coupon for the item, which may have caused the problem. Finally, exasperated, and with his food already in hand, he left. He thanked me for my support.
I wanted to give him some money. The fact that he had a coupon told me that he might have needed the 59¢. (Is that a fair assumption?) I had only a split second to make a decision. It occurred to me that he might be insulted by my gesture, so I stayed put. Should I have risked insulting the man? Remember: I found a $20 bill while running a few months ago. I'm looking for a way to pay it forward, even if it's in chunks.
By the way, the same thing happened to me as happened to the man! I was charged more than the price listed on the board. And then—I'm not kidding—the clerk told me that the restaurant was out of mayonnaise and tomatoes. I had already paid and had spent 15 minutes waiting. I told her I would take it as is. This is the second time this has happened to me. When I got home, I discovered that my sandwich had tomatoes on it, so all I had to add was mayonnaise. (I also added fake cheese.) It occurred to me that the Popeye's restaurant was being run like the United States Post Office. Very little was done to please customers. How long do you think this restaurant will stay in business?
