And how was your evening?

I was going out at around 7:30 and asked my youngest son if he needed anything. He ordered a pizza online a local from Pizza restaurant, paid for it online and they usually are ready in about 20 minutes. I got to the Pizza place at 8:00 and was told they were backed up and it would be another 45 minutes. I made a few more stops then called back at 8:30 to make sure the order would be ready. I was told 15 minutes so I showed up at 8:45. The young man who greeted me checked the computer then told me that the order was never placed.

I ask how they could tell me a time to pick up the food if it had never been cooked? He pointed to another young man in the back and said he would put it in right now and for me to come back in 15 minutes. I'm wondering why on the first of the month there are only 2 young new employees working alone? I don't say anything but go back to the car and drive to another establishment, and wait 15 minutes until 9:00. When the time is up I go back to the store and guess what?

They still had not put the pizza in the oven. The one young man asks if I would like a credit and I tell him that the order was paid for online and it was my son's dinner and I wanted the pizza.He promises this time they will make it and apologizes saying they are backed up. I hear the other employee tell someone on the telephone that orders are now taking 2 hours. I go back to the car and edit a Vocal article using my cell phone. I call my son to tell him what is taking place so he will not worry, At 9:15 I enter the restaurant for a 4th time and attempt to get my food, and this time it is ready.

I thank the young men and ask why they are working alone. I am told that they cannot keep employees and that their co-workers are no call no-shows. I wonder why the manager did not come in to help these young men on such a busy night and I take my order and head for home. It's now close to 9:30 and is 1 and 1/2 hour longer than all of this should have taken. Yes, I was distressed but I tried not to show it. I had a right to be angry and report this situation but I will not.

As inconvenienced as I was I felt sorry for these employees as other customers canceled orders and expressed their irritation. I vented on the phone to my son and as I was driving from place to place.I rehearsed how I was going to complain to the manager the next day but I decided not to. These young men were new and never should have been left to work alone. There was a time when a manager would have come in to help because he or she was on salary and that was part of their job.

Businesses do not seem to work this way anymore. By the time I returned home it was close to 10:00 and I have been out for almost 2 and 1/2 hours. I should have been back around 8, so 2 hours of my time was wasted and I cannot get it back. I told my son that if I can help it I will not go out to any restaurants or fast food placed on the first few days of the month. I'm sure some of the excess today is also because of people getting their stimulus money. As I am driving I see cars lined up at the ATM at a branch of the bank I use. The pandemic has caused backlog everywhere, even in the Suez Canal. This is life in 2021. Things are rushed, delayed, and often not done in a professional manner.

It's now 11:00 as I finish this tale and I'm sure someone reading has had an even more stressful day. Sit down, kick off your shoes, fix yourself a drink. and asked someone else, "How was your evening?" I felt like crying in the midst of this whirlwind of events but now that it is over, in looking back I realize it was not that serious. I actually want to laugh about it.