Friday, November 4, 2011

How Much Chocolate is Too Much Chocolate?

To say that my kitchen is not 
exactly functional for normal use 
right now would
be an understatement.

It is much more like a factory.

The boys come in and put their 
Hot Pockets in the microwave
or frozen pizzas in the oven
but regular cooking is rare
at this time of the year.

Sad.
But true.

So, the other evening 
Mom, Chelsea and I met Warren
at the Olive Garden.
Not our usual place to grab a bite
but it just sounded sooooo good.
Our server was one who seemed to 
be going through the motions 
enthusiastically.
What do I mean by that?
Well, she was very animated but you 
could tell that it was all canned, 
so to speak.
Very been there, done that.

I wasn't overly impressed but 
we weren't there to be entertained
so it really didn't matter.

However, as time went on 
there was a thaw in her personality.
She began doing special favors.
We began chatting and her sense of 
humor became evident.

Finally she left the bill and a huge
handful of mints.
Our eyes got big and we each had
a "few".  Then she came back and 
dropped another huge handful on the table
declaring that she couldn't remember if 
she had given us our mints yet.
We laughed and I showed her my 
empty wrapper and asked if 
we made those disappear if we would 
get more.
Well, that was all of the encouragement
this lady needed.
Next thing we knew there was a goblet
full of Olive Garden mints in the center
of the table.

So, we ate some.
Then she asked if we wanted 
any dessert?
I pointed out that I thought we 
had kind of "done that".
She put her head back and 
roared.  She also agreed.

We prepared to leave with goody bag
in hand when didn't that silly lady 
bring another goblet full to dump 
in our bag.

Sheesh!
Chocolate mint overload.

So....if only the story ended here it would
have been more chocolate than this family 
needed, but alas, it does not.

You know by now that our Chelsea
is just a bit of a Starbucks fan.
So, our next stop before heading home 
was our favorite Starbucks store.

One of our favorite barrista's was there for 
the first time in a while.
He said he was happy to see us since it 
had been a while and we told him that he
was the one who had been missing.
He agreed.
He'd been on his honeymoon.
We were so happy for him!!

So...
I'm standing there waiting 
for for our drinks to be prepared 
when this young man
walks over with two very 
chocolaty desserts and says
"Shhh....don't tell anyone, 
but these are for you."

Did I mention....
they were very rich and very 
chocolatey and we had just eaten
about a ton of Olive Garden mints??

Oh. Dear.

But what was I to do?
I thanked him enthusiastically
and took the chocolate.
We shared it.
It was delicious.
No mint.
Just caramel and pretzels.

I so appreciate the servers of this
world.  Their jobs are not easy.
Recognizing that they are humans
with families, lives and struggles
is a good thing.

It makes our interactions with them
so much sweeter.

"Hug" a server today....
they will be shocked!
O.k. so not literally.
But just try asking them about 
their day...and smile!!
Not everyone they deal with 
is as nice as you are.

Who knows,
if they happen to be cleaning
out the dessert case at the end
of the night they may choose
to offer something to you
instead of putting it in the trash.
LOL

12 comments:

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Oh Becky Sweetie...
How wonderful was your evening. My goodness gracious, I would say that you had a great CHOCOLATE evening out. Are you still eating mints this morning?

Love the Starbucks as well. Yummy and warm for the tummy. Marydon and Harold got me hooked on The Olive Garden while I was there visiting. It is a wonderful place to go isn't it? Those breadsticks are so wonderful.

Have a glorious day sweetie. Always happy to see you. Many hugs and much love, Sherry

Vee said...

You must be a very special family when you're out "on the town." I think your light shines and people notice. (My niece just started with Starbucks this week; it's the only job that she, a college grad, could find. She's grateful, but I'm worried that we'll all become Starbucks dependant.)

Faith Caroline said...

Just shows that being nice pays off!!! I'm going to be extra nice to servers in hopes of chocolate . . . or does that defeat the purpose of being nice? :)

Zuda Gay Pease said...

Yummmm...chocolate!!! :) Servers get so much flack from so many of their customers that I am positive it makes their day to have some who are polite and actually notice that they are people. :) Sounds like a lovely evening...I love Olive Garden...we only get to go there maybe once a year or so when we are traveling someplace. We keep hoping that one will come to our nearest city, but they don't think it is big enough. :(

Tricia said...

Now that night was a blessing full of chocolate for you and yours!! What a wonderful tribute to the great servers of this world!

sherry said...

serious amounts of chocolate, laced in caramel and crunchy pretzels? oh dear, yum. no mint though .. that'd be like chocolate toothpaste. ha..

Diane Shiffer said...

Becks, as I read this I thought of how well this speaks of you and your family.... how kind and gracious you must be to bring about this kind of reaction from those who serve you. I have been on the other side of the equation and I clearly remember how precious it was to deal with customers who were respectful and pleasant (kinda like you guys;-})

MYSAVIOR said...

Fun story!
My Jenifer was a server for 12 years and my Jodi, besides being a nanny for 6 years now, is a server now where her husband, Jon, manages a restaurant. They were always complimented on their sweet personalities (mostly). There are always some customers who didn't appreciate them.

♥♥♥
Sue

sammysgrammy said...

sounds like a delicious evening to me, Becky. I love Olive Garden too !!

Susy said...

I love the lens through which you see the world. Every day an adventure ~ and you look for the best in people and situations. xo

Theresa said...

Oh what a fun night! I love Olive Garden... YUMMY breadsticks:) Sounds like you guys perhaps had chocolate overload:) Have a blessed weekend, HUGS!

Barb said...

Hi Becky, wow, talk about chocolate overload...yikes, but how fun?!

Love your writings.

Barb ♥