This has been an extremely sad week for me. My life changed forever on Monday around 11:00 am. I approached the counter of the restaurant Teriyaki Stix in the Cougareat only to find that they had changed their menu and no longer offered the meal that I have been eating everyday for the past few months. They no longer offer “Noodles.” Noticing the item’s absence on the new menu, I asked the cashier to confirm my greatest fear. She did so and I began to walk away defeated. That’s when a large man, who appeared to be a manager at Cougareat, who just got done ordering in front of me said, “But they have noodles. They have Chow Mein now!” It was a slap to the face! Baffled, I starred right back at him with what have must been the most disgusted look and said, “But they don’t have ‘noodles’ anymore!” All physical evidence pointed that this man knew his food, but apparently not. For the record, chow mein and the normal noodles formally offered at the food chain are VASTLY different!
Anyway, this is just one of the few marking experiences I’ve had with relation to Teriyaki Stix and it reminds me of an interesting series of events that occurred there about 2 years ago…
I wasn’t accustomed to eating at the restaurant, but for some reason I was craving Orange Chicken that day. I got in line and waited my turn. I had no idea the mystery that would unfold before me because of my decision to dine there that day. When I received my order, I noticed that the bottom of my bowl had a strange surface. It felt grainy. When I got back to my table with my friends, I looked under the bowl and found a small note: Have a great day ;)
I wasn’t sure how to feel about it at first. I guess I thought it was cool since it was the only thing other than the vending machine that I purchased Mike n’ Ikes from that told me to have a great day. So, I discarded the note and forgot about the incident until the next day.
I guess I liked the Orange Chicken because I found myself going back for more the same day. Things were pretty much the same as I ordered except the cashier seemed especially chipper and said that I could get free veggies on top if I so desired. I so desired. When I received my meal, I discovered an amazing piece of art. The cook had placed the veggies into a smiley face on top of my food. It was pretty cool!
I looked around to see if he did the same to the other orders before and after me. The cook hadn’t. That was strange to me. I got lucky I guess. I showed my friends back at my table and we started talking about it. Somehow, we came to a comical conclusion that the cook liked me since they gave me a note the day before and arranged my veggies in a special way that day. We laughed and I decided I would get my lunch there the next day to see if the cook was cute and maybe I’d slip her a note too.
The next day came and I returned and ordered the usual. At first, I forgot to check to see if the cook was cute. Then I felt a note under my bowl again and peered through the window to the back to see who this admirer was. I met a pair of eyes. Eyes that were bushy. Eyes with very defined bones outlining them. These eyes were man eyes! It was a dude! All the cooks were dudes!
I frantically looked around to see if others received such notes with their meals. They didn’t. I had been singled out… by a man… a man who liked to single out other men! I briskly returned to my seat and related my horrifying findings to my friends. They all laughed at my plight. But I was determined to set things straight… well, not necessarily the guy, but the situation.
However, when I returned to Teriyaki Stix the next day, the cook was nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was his day off, I thought. But, after that day, I never saw him again. To this day, my friends and I joke about this situation and say he got fired for flirting with his male coworkers. But, the mystery of the Teriyaki Stix cook will forever go unsolved.
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