Taco Bell and IQ
Tim Kimberley
>The following is a *true* story. It amused the hell out of me while it
>was happening. I hope it isn't one of those "had to be there" things.
>
[the story was about a problem in a Taco Bell, where a $2 denomination
was unfamiliar to the staff. It is told at considerable gloating length,
prolonged by the protagonist's enduring reluctance to clarify matters
before they got out of hand.]
Well, I would say to "Captain Sarcastic" that it's a very unpleasant thing
to sneer at those less knowledgable or educated than oneself. In this case
you reflect no credit on yourself: quite the opposite, in fact.
On 4 Jan 1989 I spent a $2 bill at the Taco Bell near the Greyhound station
at Pendleton, OR. The man there accepted it graciously, while expressing the
opinion that they are "unlucky." He also tactfully declined to mock my weird
accent, which he struggled to understand. I don't mind that he never heard
of London: WTF should he anyway? Of much more interest was the fact that the
driver had fucked off to a motel, leaving us poor passengers freezing through
the night in an unheated snowbound bus. An unforgetable experience, though
not a story to dine out on. It was a simple matter to tell me WTF is a taco
anyways.
William L. Houts
: >The following is a *true* story. It amused the hell out of me while it
: >was happening. I hope it isn't one of those "had to be there" things.
: >
: [the story was about a problem in a Taco Bell, where a $2 denomination
: was unfamiliar to the staff. It is told at considerable gloating length,
: prolonged by the protagonist's enduring reluctance to clarify matters
: before they got out of hand.]
: Well, I would say to "Captain Sarcastic" that it's a very unpleasant thing
: to sneer at those less knowledgable or educated than oneself. In this case
: you reflect no credit on yourself: quite the opposite, in fact.
What snivelling bullshit! It's not like CS had quizzed the guy on the GNP of
Botswana, or asked him to compare and contrast the fifteen different
socio-political forces which conspired to bring about the Protestant
Reformation. He was just trying to buy a burrito, and the man whose job it
was to sell him that burrito didn't know his own business. Perhaps
expectations are somewhat lower in the UK, but in America one generally
supposes that a retail salesperson will know (at least) what denominations
of cash are in circulation.
Faced with a situation he found uncomfortable or incomprehensible, the
manager responded with ugly innuendo and threats. Sounds like bottom-rung
primate behaviour to me. He was, at least, a partial asshole (he did try
to make amends) and in my opinion deserved more than the mild ridicule which
he is now receiving --in absentia-- from Captain Sarcastic.
--
------------------------------/ / w \ "This must be some kind of movie.
William L. Houts / /\__L__/0 \ You're so dramatic.
abr...@cyberspace.com \ _ H _ / Where'd you learn to talk
------------------------------\ (_) (_) / like that, anyway?"