Perambulation and Paninis

I've been feeling well enough to head out with the family for the past few days. Yesterday we went to the grocery store and I rode along in one of those motorized shopping carts. I have to say that it took a few minutes to figure out how to get it unplugged, switched on and ready to use. The first one I sat into (and got configured) had a left foot pedal to make it go. I assumed that it would have pedals on both sides, but alas no. So I had to switch to one with hand controls. It was all a learning experience (not the least of which was where I was going to put my crutches). Once I got settled in the hand-control cart, with my crutches to my side, I took off at top speed (maybe 3 mph). In the time it took me to get on the road (so to speak) my wife had wrangled the 3 kids out of the car and into the store. My kids were fascinated by the motorized cart and had to be told on multiple occasions that they could not ride along with me.

I'm sure that I had been guilty in no small part of being oblivious to people in wheelchairs and motorized carts but something that never occurred to me until being in the situation myself was the situational perspective that you have while seated. It really puts you at a communication disadvantage because you are not at eye level. Even saying "excuse me" is more difficult when you are not being looked at in the face. So as I scooted around, I found myself in several situations where I couldn't proceed forward and the barrier was a shopper who was completely unaware of my presence. I tried excusing myself, I tried beeping the horn, I even said loudly to my children "we can move forward when this lady gets out our way". Most of the time, they just moved on without so much as a tip of their hat. It really amazed me that sitting in this big cart, I suddenly became invisible!

Sleep was OK - each night for the past few nights I have been having nightmares. I'm not sure if this is related to the way I slept each night or if I still have some odd chemicals in my system. I used to believe that I had nightmares when I slept on my back and that would seem to have a ring of truth to it given that I seem to return to my back as it is the most neutral position for my foot/toe. Last night was must the same as those before it - I woke up in the middle of the night with discomfort in my toe, mainly joint pain. I suspect that in my dreaming, I'm wiggling my toes which is irritating the whole toe and in particular the pin in my joint).

Talking about chemicals in my system, I've gotten quite a ribbing from my friends relating to what seemed to be an almost immediate physical addiction to the narcotics and the related withdrawal thereof. I still feel like I have rogue junk swimming around my bloodstream. In particular I'm still suffering from occasional nausea, sweating, tingling, not to mention my entire gastrointestinal works which haven't been right since the operation. (Too much information?)

Today, my wife had arranged to bring the kids to a museum for kids (with fun exhibits for kids to interact with). They have free admission on the first Thursday of the month. The original plan was to take the kids away so that I could get some rest, but I was feeling good this morning and decided that I would tag along. It is fun to see the kids play around and learn at the same time. It was a bit crazy there (because it was free admission) and on multiple occasions I had to swipe my cast away at great speed to avoid a child stomping on me. When we were done we went to a bakery for lunch. We had been there once before and thought the food was good.

I asked my wife to order me a Ham and Swiss grilled panini. Assuming that it came with a bunch of other items that I didn't want, I asked my wife to specifically say "just ham, cheese and bread". I was sitting over at our chosen table but overheard the conversation so I know for sure that my order was meticulously communicated. More than 10 minutes went by and we received our order. Dear wife's salad, the kids' simple sandwiches and my grilled panini were all delivered to the table. Right away I noticed that my panini had sliced tomatoes. I have to say that I am a very picky eater but having had to wait for our sandwiches to arrive, and the kids were already tearing into their meal, I chose to remove the tomato slices and put up with whatever taint would be on the sandwich (not much I grant you). I bit into the sandwich and immediately tasted very strong mustard (I guess it might have been a mild horseradish either). This was the deal-breaker. I could deal with the tomato but not the dressing. I hobbled over and one of the kids brought my plate. I explained that I wanted only ham, cheese and bread but that it had come with tomatoes and mustard. I said that I had removed the tomatoes but unfortunately the mustard had ruined it for me. She apologized, seemed to understand what I was saying, and told me that she would have a new one made immediately and it would be ready in 5 minutes or less.

15 minutes later, they returned with panini #2. This time it had Ham, Cheese and Bread only. Oh and mustard..... I returned to the lady at the counter and explained that the replacement sandwich also had mustard. She gruffly muttered under her breath and stormed off to the kitchen. At this point I should mention that my 3 kids were done with their meals, my wife done with here salad and I was done with my coffee. The kids were ready to go home. When she appeared back, a member of the kitchen staff followed her with a sandwich which was loaded into the grill:

"I watched them make it this time, and they didn't put anything but ham, cheese and bread in it."

Hmm - I thought about it for a few seconds. She had clearly gone in and told the kitchen staff that the guy from table x was complaining again and why had they put mustard on his sandwich. They probably said that they didn't so she decided to "watch them" make another one so that she could be sure it was just sill Mr X and his odd taste-buds.

"My family is ready to go home now, they have finished their lunch and I don't have time to wait until this sandwich is ready. I will just take a full refund please."

Interestingly she was completely taken a back at my request. It was though I was the first person ever to ask for a refund! She went off and consulted with coworkers (who all looked bemused) and eventually went to the register and punched in some numbers, and withdrew cash from the drawer.

"Sorry about that."

Being of the analytical type, plus having had some experience in the hospitality industry, I dissected the entire situation with my wife on the journey home. We both agreed that I was the victim of a poor system in place for communicating orders from front of house to the kitchen. For the record, the other sandwiches, the salad and the beverages were all very good and yet I suspect that we will not give them any more patronage in the future.

Oh, another fun TMI activity for today was a bath. I'm not providing any details except to say that it is very difficult to bathe while keeping one leg completely dry.