Starbucks, Donuts and Pizza

Yesterday was a good day for the seniors in the freebees department.

A health group enticed the seniors to an early morning breakfast pitch of their health plan with donuts and coffee; but not just any old coffee …. Starbucks!

Not wanting to hear the pitch or make myself sick by eating a donut, I deliberately arrived after the fact. Donuts were long gone, but there was still plenty of coffee remaining.

Then there was pizza delivery.

Activity Director wasn’t present. She sent a substitute to cover, who seemed young, but who handled her business very well.

First off, there’s always plenty of pizzas, but not as much chicken, giant cookie, bread sticks to go around.

Substitute decided it would be fair to allow not only just one pizza, but also one side (i.e., either chicken, a giant cookie, or breadsticks, rather than one of each). That way, she correctly rationalized, the sides would not run out before everyone had an opportunity to get at least one of the three. Once everyone had an opportunity to get at least one of the sides, she said it was open season if there were extras.

There was no “you have to be on the lease” this time around and no lining up. Substitute called folks up to the table, one at a time, in the order they’d signed on the regular sign-in for pizza sheet. Once a resident was called up to the table, Substitute asked, “What kind do you want?” and handed that choice to them – thereby eliminating the food handling problem.

No one was disrespected, treated like a child and most everyone was happy -- the only exceptions being Old Guy and the Greedy Grabby woman, both of whom operate from the standpoint of rules not applying to them.

Greedy Grabby, seeing this young person in charge, thinking she could walk all over her, ignored the “one side” rule and grabbed chicken, a big cookie and breadsticks to go with her pizza, then ignoring Substitute’s plea to “Take one side, please”, took her loot, sat down, and waited for the open season phase to get more.

When Substitute gave Old Guy the pizza he requested, he did his opening the box thing, inspecting/handling the pizza, then shook his head no, to indicate he didn’t want that kind, pointed to another, attempted to put the one he’d touched back in rotation. Substitute put her foot down … “No! You handled it. You have to take it.”

Old Guy moved to ignore her, but she pushed the pizza back towards him and repeated “No! You have to take it.”

I was so proud of her that I went up to and commended her. Others began to clap for her.

After all was said and done, having gotten away with taking what she wanted the first time, when the table was open to take what was left, Greedy Grabby moved to open a pizza box.

Substitute said, “What kind do you want?”

“I’m trying to see”, said Greedy Grabby.

Substitute got firm and said “No! What kind do you want?”

Greedy Grabby didn’t like it, she tightened her lips, but with all eyes on her, after having seen the Substitute praised and clapped for when she’d put Old Guy in check, Greedy Grabby finally said what she wanted and Substitute handed it to her.

I’d like to say Old Guy and Greedy Grabby weren’t themselves. That all that caffeine in Starbucks sent them over the top.

That would be a lie.

Those two are always of the entitled mindset.

And that’s it for another episode of Pizza Tuesday.

Later in the afternoon, the skies opened and we had a flash flood.

Last five days, I’d been startled several times during the day by sudden loud shrill flash flood warnings, and nothing happened. We get a flash flood yesterday afternoon, and not a single warning.

Go figure.