Tuesday, September 19, 2006

let me paint you a picture

Three customers stand at the front of a line of several students at a campus Chick-fil-a at 12pm in the following order: guy, girlfriend, boyfriend. The employees at Chick-fil-a can only finish one type of product at a type (apparently): chicken sandwiches (with or without pickle), waffle fries, and chicken nuggets (sold in packs of 8 and 12). Since these three items are highest in demand, students often wait in line until their product of choice has been served. Students desiring a product that does not meet the criteria of the customers in front of them in line are welcome to proceed to the front of the line and obtain their food. So here is what happened on this particular day. Guy wanted a meal that consisted of a 12 pack of nuggets and waffle fries. The items available at this time were chicken sandwiches and 8 packs of nuggets. Frustrated at how long it was taking to produce 12 packs of nuggets, Guy decides he will forget about the last four nuggets and goes ahead and grabs an 8 pack of nuggets. Unfortunately, waffle fries are not available at this time, so he has to wait regardless of the fact that his nugget needs have been satisfied. As he is waiting, a 12 pack of nuggets enters the serving area which is exactly what Girlfriend has been waiting on ever since she suggested going to Chick-fil-a to Boyfriend. She grabs the 12 pack as quick as Boyfriend says, "Isn't that guy waiting on a 12 pack?" You see, Boyfriend has just guilted Girlfriend into turning her nuggets over to Antsy-Pants Guy by making it public information that he wanted 12 nuggets and not 8. If Girlfriend does not give Guy the 12 pack, she thenceforth would be know as the Chick-fil-a bitch so naturally, she gives the 12 pack to Guy. Guy returns his 8 pack to the serving area at which point Boyfriend snatches 8 pack and runs off. Girlfriend is then forced to wait 8 additional minutes for the next round of nuggets. Here are the flaws I see in this story:

1) The moment Guy grabbed the 8 pack of nuggets is the moment Guy FORFEITED his right to 12 nuggets.
2) Boyfriend is selfish. Boyfriend knew that Guy would take the 12 pack therefore relinquishing his ownership of the 8 pack which is what Boyfriend had been waiting for.
3) Boyfriend is inconsiderate. As soon as the 8 pack became fairgame, Boyfriend should have turned to Girlfriend and said, "Would you like the 8 pack?" If Girlfriend had said no, Boyfriend should have said, "If you want to go ahead and grab the 8 pack, I'll wait on the 12 pack and bring it to you and you can make the $1 up to me later."
4) Chick-fil-a had three employees working. Instead of having all three employees working on one item at a time, Chick-fil-a should have one employee working on one item each during peak hours. Come on guys, I got a degree in this.