Stall No. 4

I am like most people - I form judgments. It's inevitable. I was given brains, thus, I think, I rationalize, I see the good. And yes, I see the bad, too....

As a new member of the College of Business Administration Faculty, I spend most of my free time at the Faculty Room - checking test papers, blogging (we got a computer with internet access), reading, sleeping, etc. When I get bored, there is the canteen to go to. I love to eat! Well, that is if my eating disorder does not prevail. But because our office is located directly in front of the canteen, I can't help but check out the food, and ultimately eat.

There are five stalls, each serving its own specialties. The first two stalls are usually the most crowded. They serve more viands compared to the other three. They put the food that they offer behind a glass something.

The third stall serves viands in covered trays (that's what these things are called according to Erwin). And because the trays are covered, consumers need to take off the covers first before they will know what exactly the food being served is. That is not very convenient. And there is also an assumption that if you dare take off the covers and check out the food, the food servers will expect you to buy. They would ask, "Ano inyo Ma'am?" And because you do not want to offend them, you will be forced to buy. For that reason, very few dare check what's hidden on those trays. I have not yet bought any viand from Stall No. 3.

I don't really care about Stall No. 5. It could exist or evaporate. I, together with many others, probably would not notice.

So we now go to Stall No. 4. This is nothing personal. I am making this clear: I have nothing against the stall, food, owner and/or servers. I just have a lot to say. Hehe.

Stall No. 4 does not attract many buyers. They serve just two viands which do not look enticing. The owner and her helper are not engaging people. And they are guilty of so many other marketing violations.

The owner is probably the slowest moving person I've seen. Her clients are already filling and she couldn't care less. If she is texting, she would not put down her phone until she's finished. And she texts a lot! And you may be giving your order, and she would only look up at you (for a long time). It takes me three times at an average to say what I want before she makes a move.

But why do I keep coming back? Because I wouldn't really be able to say a lot unless I go there a lot. Well, I may not like her and her marketing mix, but I am addicted to her banana cue. This post was supposed to be entitled "Banana Cue", but a specific experience earlier made me change the title and the course of this story. For now, on banana cue, I'd like to share that I have never been this attached to any food as I am to this one. I consume around four in a day!!! This is the only reason why I tolerate seeing that owner and her helper.

So, let us go now to the specific experience... I liked the look of her chicken-something viand and placed my order, one-half cup of rice and that viand. Then, the helper said, "Hindi kami naga-serve ng half Ma'am." Without second thoughts, I said "ok" and walked away. Haha. I heard the slow-moving owner call me and say, "Ma'am, ok lang po." I'm so mean, but it gave me a little happiness to have turned away from them. They forgot one thing: they need consumers more than we need them. We make the choices.

I did not get mad. I had fun. I hope they learned their lesson there: be flexible. I'm not a person who keeps grudges (but then, how can I when I claim to have had fun). Geez, I'm so mean.

Anyway, I came back for the banana cue. And will come back again and again for it. I might try the "half-rice" order again. And the walk out. Hehe