Remembering the “Moby Jack”
I thought it might be fun to describe a job experience I had as a fast food restaurant manager in Chicago, where I worked many years ago. The following is a humorous true story from my book The Comedy of Everyday Life. The “Moby Jack” is a fish sandwich on the menu:
One of my first truly responsible jobs was as a manager at a Jack in the Box restaurant in Chicago. The restaurant stayed open twenty four hours a day, and it provided me with a number of opportunities to learn new skills. During my employment, some incidents took place that helped me experience more remarkable situations than I ever would have believed possible. However, the paper hats took a while to get accustomed to because of their corny appearance. Then there were the clever names for some of the menu items that took a while to say without feeling somewhat humiliated. For example, the “Jumbo Jack” or quarter pound hamburger, “Bonus Jack” or double burger and the “Moby Jack” or fish sandwich. After a while, however, the paper hats and menu names became second nature for me.
As one might guess, the customers often provided the greatest challenges. Since the store happened to be near several pubs and because we remained open all night, after midnight we’d get a lot of intoxicated customers. When they came in, they usually had no idea about their food order. This indecision brought about the wrath of the ten other patrons in line who were also inebriated.
Eventually in desperation, our employees decided to deliberately order for the dawdling and unsteady patrons: “Sir, is that a Jumbo Jack, large fries and coke?” Then the customer would usually nod his head “yes” and the line would keep moving. This plan didn’t work every time, but when it did work; the ordering was well - more orderly.
Not only did the customers have issues, my bosses could present challenges as well. For example, my store could often be pretty busy during a twenty four hour period. Because of the sales volume, the store could be clean but messy. One morning my supervisor decided to show me a very clean franchise store across town. When we arrived, the store did appear about as clean as a hospital room. We visited for about a half an hour, but then I noticed not a single customer had come through the drive thru or had entered through the front door. In addition, the tacos, fries and burgers had been wilting on the counter for the entire length of our visit. I decided to refrain from making any comments, but the situation reminded me of the Bible verse: An empty stable stays clean - but there is no income from an empty stable. (Proverbs 14:6)
A more problematic and embarrassing incident occurred at night when a young couple burst into the restaurant with a grievance. They asserted that they had discovered a small worm in their taco lettuce. To be fair, our store bought all the lettuce in huge bags from local businesses. Nevertheless, they blamed me personally, and the young lady was very intimidating. I apologized profusely and gave them all their money back. They were so darned appreciative that they threw their free food all over the parking lot and offered up some colorful expressions as well. The whole situation definitely did not provide a positive impression for the store, especially since everyone in the parking lot stood around gawking.
Another experience that proved to be difficult to manage developed when the power went off one night. Before the staff could lock the front door, a number of patrons slipped through. At first, I tried to explain that we couldn’t fill orders without electricity, but then I realized they wanted free leftover food that would simply be wasted. To be honest, I don’t remember what I did, but choose to believe that I gave the food away.
As a store manager, there could be times when local authorities would get involved with the store’s compliance with various laws and codes. Once, the health inspector accused me of dumping left over grease down the sewer drain. Since the barrel for the store’s grease was only ten feet away behind our fence, the accusation appeared to be baseless. But, then the inspector escorted me to the sewer drain, and I watched him skate around the greasy drain. (One citation comin’ up!!)
The forty five Jack in the Box stores in the area are now gone, and I quit a long time before their departure. But to this day I can’t stare at a fish sandwich without remembering the classy sandwich called the “Moby Jack” - definitely not a whale of a sandwich.
I hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. See ya next week!
Quotes:
“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I’m halfway through my fishburger and realize, Oh my God. I could be eating a slow learner.” Lynda Montgomery
“I was at a restaurant. The sign said “Breakfast Anytime! So I ordered French Toast in the Renaissance.” Steven Wright
“When you go to a restaurant, the less you know about what happens in the kitchen, the more you enjoy your meal.” Jeffrey Wright
Photo credits: andy-millar-NNtdOuq1hqc-unsplash; hybrid-storytellers-sUUDQQSmBZw-unsplash
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