A new restaurant called "Chow" has opened up in my neighborhood. It also has a meat and deli counter, and some vegetables. I picked up four tomatoes and some basil. I wandered around for a while aimlessly, and then I found somebody wearing an apron.
"What would I do if I wanted to buy four tomatoes and some basil?" I asked.
"Well, first you would give me the tomatoes and the basil," he said. I gave him the basil and the tomatoes. "Then you would follow me over to this cash register." I followed him over to the cash register. "I would then look at this chart, and type $3.30 into the machine," he said. He looked at the chart and typed $3.30 into the machine. "I would then look at this chart and type $1.39 into the machine," he said. He looked at another chart and typed $1.39 into the machine.
I took out a five dollar bill and put it on the counter. "You would then give me a $5 bill," he said. He took the $5 bill, put it in the cash register, and got out three dimes and a penny. "I would then give you three dimes and a penny." He gave me three dimes and a penny. He put the vegetables in a bag, which he handed me. "I would then put the vegetables in a bag, and hand them to you," he said.
"Would I then say 'Thank you'?" I asked.
"You would," he said.
Posted by DeLong at January 16, 2003 08:53 PM | TrackbackI find an increasing number of shops vis-a-vis which I have to feel grateful to bring my business. It's a bit odd in the middle of a recession. The other day, I called an insurance agency and asked if I could talk to a sales person.
- First name?
- Jean-Philippe {spelling out}
- Gene, Ok.
- Actually it's...
- Last name?
- {My last name spelled out SLOOOOOWLY}
- Hmmm. Model of the car?
- Actually it's a motorcycle
- Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
{I hang up}
Reminded me of an add by Progressive that went like this: when you told your insurance company you have a Fat Boy, did they tell you that you're a little hard on the kid? So, I called Progressive and they served me very well. I can understand motorcycles aren't the guy's business (although there was no way I could guess from his website), but why did he think that therefore he could just as well kick me in the face? Who knows, I might have considered him for two other orders of insurance business I had on my mind, provided he had politely given me a referal for my bike...
Okay: fools are fools are fools. But there is quite a bit of regularity in my sample, and I don't think I do anything to provoke this (or do I???). Maybe I am too polite? Of course, I still find great service every once in a while, but I think it's endangered spiecies.
Posted by: Jean-Philippe Stijns on January 16, 2003 10:27 PMWhat more needs to be said? Brad DeLong lives in California. He should move to Texas.
Also, why is a Liberal critical of the Progressive Insurance company? The owner just contributed eight million dollars to the ACLU. He obviously has no time to spend training employees.
Posted by: David Thomson on January 17, 2003 01:09 AMWelcome to the world of programming, Brad. That's what the logic inside a program looks like.
Posted by: Chuck Nolan on January 17, 2003 04:31 AMBrad, you realize that you could only have such an interaction in a highly-educated part of the country where the subjunctive still exists...
Posted by: Paul on January 17, 2003 05:08 AMBrad, you realize that you could only have such an interaction in a highly-educated part of the country where the subjunctive still exists...
Posted by: Paul on January 17, 2003 05:10 AMNot far from Texas (Bensonville, Arkansas), I once engaged in some interesting transactions at a Waffle House. We noticed some specials on the menue: eggs, pancakes, grits, coffee, juice, all for a single price. We went for two of those.
Soon enough, our breakfast appeared, sans grits. This was probably a good thing, since the grits would probably have been some sort of instant grits slop anyway, but I asked about substitutes (some instant hash browns might have been nice). The reply went "Honey, we don't substitute for the grits because they're free." No hint of the subjunctive
I saw there was an opportunity for a conversation about pricing bundled and unbundled goods, but I let it pass.
Posted by: David on January 17, 2003 06:20 AMDavid, once again, the conservative comes up a bit short on reading comprehension *kidding!*
Written by Gene-Phillip *ha ha, I slay me*:
[i]So, I called Progressive and they served me very well.[/i]
See? Once again, the progressive comes to the rescue. I bet the first guy was a Republican *kidding again!*
Brad: The guy at Chow was incorrect in his answer. You didn't ask him what [i]he[/i] would have done had you given him the tomatoes and basil, thereby signalling your intent to purchase said produce. Anyways, it seems like this is a very inefficient way of selling stuff. Find your stuff, search down a guy and give the stuff to him to carry to the register? Weird.
Posted by: Adam on January 17, 2003 09:39 AMUgh....mixed up my html and ezcode. argh! Imagine that the stuff between [i] and [/i] are italic
Posted by: Adam on January 17, 2003 09:43 AMThis is wonderfully clever. Imagination. Imagination.
Posted by: on January 17, 2003 12:51 PMIf I were to read this post, I would chuckle and smile. And then I would try to come up with a suitable comment.
Posted by: Curtiss Leung on January 17, 2003 01:52 PMShould one really have to deal with all of that irony (starting with "Chow") to buy tomatos and basil? I live in Berkeley, and I suppose so.
Posted by: RPM, Esq. on January 17, 2003 01:57 PM"Should one really have to deal with all of that irony (starting with "Chow") to buy tomatos and basil? I live in Berkeley, and I suppose so."
Real Texans don't eat tomatoes and basil. It might be a death penalty offense. This is something they sell only in Berkeley, California.
No longer will we discuss the red or blue states. The distiction will now revolve solely around which state permits the eating of basil and tomatoes.
Posted by: David Thomson on January 17, 2003 02:17 PMI found 12,500 "tomato, basil, Texas" hits on google, and the first one was a delightful Lemon Garlic Chicken with Tomato Basil sauce from Texas Monthly. http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/recipes/9506.sauce.php
David, you really have to get out more.
Posted by: Dave Roberts on January 18, 2003 02:19 AM>>Real Texans don't eat tomatoes and basil. It might be a death penalty offense. This is something they sell only in Berkeley, California. <<
Real Texans do eat lots of dishes with lots of tomatoes and lots of cilantro...
Posted by: Brad DeLong on January 18, 2003 08:24 AM>>Should one really have to deal with all of that irony (starting with "Chow") to buy tomatos and basil?<<
Yes! It was a significant addition to my quality of life that day!
Posted by: Brad DeLong on January 18, 2003 11:58 AMWhat kind of tomatoes?
Posted by: nameless on January 18, 2003 05:24 PM