Another Pet Peeve

As most children did yesterday, I asked Dad where he wanted to eat for his Fathers Day dinner.  Let me rephrase that: I asked where he would like carry-out from.  He doesn't mind going out to restaurants, but it's a Sunday tradition for us to change into our comfy clothes after church and get carry-out and eat and then relax.  He said he would like to have some fried shrimp from our awesome 'hood fish place, Mike Linig's.  The place has been there for over 80 years, and it's a south end landmark.  People drive from a county or two away just to get fish at Mike's.  It's about 2 miles from our house, so needless to say we're frequent customers.  On weekends, the wait can be almost an hour for your food.  And people don't seem to mind waiting for it, either.  Yep - it's that good.

As I pulled in the parking lot, I saw a pretty long line going to the little desk-on-wheels where you place your orders.  During the week you can go inside but they have the outside area for the busy weekends.  I parked and made my way up to the end of the line.  I was behind a grandfather and two granddaughters, who from what I could tell, were picking up food to take back home where the rest of the family was.  It was a good ten-minute wait before we made it to the PAT taking our orders.  The grandfather and the girls got up to the PAT and when the PAT said "What would you like?" The grandfather was still looking at the menu and said "Give me a minute."  WTF?  He had enough time to decide what he wanted while he was waiting in line - he was there for at least the ten minutes while I was there in line.  That's more than enough time to decide what you want from a fish place that has a limited menu.  His granddaugthers must have felt our pain because they both started whining and said "Come on, Grandpa - hurry up."  Then after what seemed like an eternity, the grandfather finally said "We'll have six fish sandwiches.  To go."  Then the PAT still had to ask more questions, like what kind of bread he wanted.  By the time he finished ordering and it was my turn to order, my nerves were shot.  I quickly rattled off my order, got my ticket and walked off.  I went inside the restaurant to wait for my order, and saw the grandfather at the bar ordering soft drinks for him and the granddaughters.  I shook my head and was thankful I didn't want anything to drink.