MAKE THAT TO GO

Believe it or not, Mr. Bobo has made enough trips around the sun to develop more than a dozen opinions and attitudes about what goes on around him. Of course, all of Mr. Bobo’s opinions are well-informed and carefully thought out. Well, maybe not all of them. Maybe some of them. Maybe not. Hell, maybe they’re all off the cuff. But once in a while, one of those opinions gets rubbed and scratched and clawed at until it festers and becomes what we lovingly refer to as a pet peeve.

Look, here’s one now:

Customers who ask for their orders TO GO, and then enjoy their delicious W. D. Deli food at a table in the restaurant. I understand that some people might have a Howard Hughes kind of thing going on where they hate the thought of eating from a plate that someone else may have eaten from at sometime, regardless of the fact that it has been cleaned, sanitized, and run through a steaming commercial dishwasher. Those people need to order their food TO GO and eat from disposable stuff because of some psychological disorder. They are most likely wearing Kleenex boxes instead of shoes. I’m not talking about those sweet people. I’m referring to the ones who just order their food TO GO for sport. The disheartening thing about this behavior is the lack of concern for the environment and the happy-go-lucky carelessness of a person willing to waste paper and plastic for seemingly no good reason.

Having said that, we are happy to package your Tortilla Soup and Cobb Salad and Italian Panini and Orange Cake to go. We enjoy our TO GO customers and appreciate the fact that they enjoy W. D. Deli food enough to call in an order, come pick it up, and then take it back to the office, or home, or to the park and enjoy it wherever they are. We are extremely thankful for that business. And if you are enjoying your lunch at the deli and decide that you just can’t finish that Turkey Club, someone will gladly hand you a to go container to take the rest with you.

Now here’s an example of the complete opposite:

An amazing woman came in the other day and ordered food TO GO and brought her own reusable lunch bag in for us to fill with her delicious lunch. You’ve got to love that.

Oh yeah, and this guy. I love this guy:

He’s the one who came in a few weeks ago. He stood at the counter, took a deep breath, and then let loose with this:

How’s your tuna? Do you make it here? Is it fresh? I like tuna, but I hate to order tuna because sometimes it gives me diarrhea, so maybe I shouldn’t get the tuna. What do you think?

I’m pretty sure that my eyes involuntarily crossed at this. I don’t remember what he ordered, but I’m fairly certain it wasn’t tuna. It might have been egg salad, but egg salad probably makes him gassy. The next week, the weather turned a little cooler and he came to W. D. Deli in the mood to have some soup. He stood at the counter, took a deep breath, and asked what soups we had. Marjie, the cashier on duty, explained that we had four soups on Monday - Chicken Tortilla, Tomato Basil, Three-Bean Chili, and Baked Potato soups. He looked a little confused, and Marjie then directed his attention to sign on the wall:

He said:

I want broccoli and cheese soup. Do you have broccoli and cheese soup?

He was not being mean or aggravating or irritating. More amusing than anything. We love our customers. We love the relationships that develop over the years with our customers. Customers become friends. Sometimes they’re like family. Once in a while they become part of our staff. Sweet Katie Rose has been coming to the deli since she was about ten years old. During her high school years , she worked at W. D. Deli for a while. Now she’s a sophomore at Texas A & M. We can’t wait to get her graduation announcement, and then we’ll see what wonderful things Katie will do.