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My personal trainer would be really mad at me if she read this article, so shhhhh....
There are two Taco Bells that I sometimes "visit" close to home...one in Delavan, Wisconsin and the other in Janesville.
The experience I've had in the Delavan store has given me nightmares. I'm trembling as I write this. If you eat fast-food once in a while, and have appropriately low expectations for your fast-food experience, you probably shouldn't read any further. But if you can handle a fast food restaurant going nauseatingly out of its way to give you something better, then read on.
- In the Delavan Taco Bell, everyone-and I mean everyone-greets you with a smile and a hello. It's like the Stepford Taco Bell. Even those making the food in the back, should they glance your way, will give you a wave, a smile and a hearty hello. It's disconcerting. I get dizzy with confusion. They're like happy zombies coming from everywhere. I swear if I have to answer how my day is going one more time...
- Often there is one of these little monsters opening the door for you and greeting you on the way in. Don't these people have anything else to do?! Can't they go screw up a drive-thru order or something?
- During the busy time, they always have multiple registers open so there is very little waiting. This is so frustrating! When I go to a fast-food restaurant I count on the slowness of the lines to give me an excuse to decry human stupidity, to get properly stressed, frustrated and depressed. No time in this place. They take the term "fast-food" seriously. Pests.
- If they get any part of your order wrong, you get free food, no questions asked. Their mistake is a perfect opportunity to unload my aforementioned stress, but instead of getting into a nice verbal brawl, they defuse it with kindness and service. Ugh!
- When you finish eating...and sometimes just before...someone is on top of you asking you if they can take your tray and garbage for you. I find this insulting. What? They don't think I can bus my own table? Forget them! I will fight for the right to throw away my own garbage and shelve my own tray! Maybe I can back them off with fire...that's it...I'm bringing a torch next time.
- And here's the kicker...they serve after meal mints. Really. This is Taco freakin' Bell, and they're walking around with a bowl of mints! Are you kidding me? You think I'm going to let them take away my onion breath! Not a chance. They make me feel like I'm eating in a big ol' posh restaurant. If I wanted posh, I would have gone and paid for posh.
No, when I go to a fast-food restaurant, I want slow service from miserable people serving me cold and/or wrong food. I want to sit among crumbs from previous customers in a dirty, dank setting. I want to bus my own table and walk out with caustic breath. That's the fast-food experience I pay for!
Which brings me to Janesville...
Here's the interesting thing: These are both Taco Bells; they have the same equipment and the same menu; they have the same tables and chairs; they have the same cash registers and security cameras; they are both in relatively small towns in Wisconsin, about 30 minutes down the road from each other.
But they are not the same restaurants. And the experience eating in them is as different as night and day.
Why?
There is one difference and one difference only: Leadership.
Now, back to Delavan. Shhh. |
