Saturday, October 4, 2014

A Sight I Didn't Relish

(I think I'm going to be writing one more post about the SD Book Festival, but this one isn't it. Check back on Monday and we'll see if it happens...)

Christopher is in the midst of travel prep for his upcoming vacation, so a while ago we blocked off this weekend to kind of zone out and relax. And, well, we've kind of kept to that, but every weekend there is a list of things to be done. So today we found ourselves at Costco. And, as we almost always do when we go to Costco, we had dinner while we were there.

If you haven't been to Costco, then I should explain that they have a small fast-food counter where you can get things like a slice of pizza (or a whole pizza), or a hot dog/soda combo for $1.50... And churros. (You can't forget the churros.)

I pretty much always get the hot dog combo, and then add ketchup, mustard, relish, and onions to it.

Well, a few visits ago they removed the onion dispenser thing. But I was still able to get the ketchup, mustard, and relish. So I was okay.

Today, the relish dispenser was empty. So I just skipped it. I usually just do ketchup and mustard at home, so I went with that combo. I mean... a buck fifty is a buck fifty. I'm not gonna worry about it.

The mother at the table next to us came walking from the counter with a small plastic cup of onions. Which I'd never thought to ask for at the counter. But I'll definitely think to do that in the future.

She also apparently told them that the relish dispenser was empty and needed filling. Because someone came out to fill it just after she sat down. At which point, I had the unfortunate "pleasure" of watching the relish get replaced.

Based in my experiences with cafeterias, I kind of assumed that the pump just sat in a big jar of condiments. And it sort of does... but not quite.

The guy who came out to swap it out reached into a cabinet and pulled out a gallon bag of relish. The pump nozzle, which was attached to about an 8-inch tube, was pulled out of the old, empty bag, and then shoved into the new bag - kind of like putting a straw into a Capri Sun.

Rationally, I know that there is no difference between a jar of relish and a bag of relish. Fiscally, I realize that the bag is probably less expensive and better for the environment. Emotionally, I'm kind of hoping that I've forgotten about seeing that by the next time I need to use the relish pump.

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