Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Stumbled onto junk food troubles

 


This would have properly been a post in anticipation of the Oscar’s this Sunday, but I had much greater things to discuss that required immediate attention (that, and I haven’t covered as much ground with the nominated films as last year). And is there any greater idea in human history than food delivery to your door? Is there any progression more important than food delivery apps? Be it Deliveroo, Uber eats, e-food, Wolt, Domino’s house system or any of the lesser known ones, they have taken the one necessary trouble of eating in out of the equation; human contact. I would not dare extensively complain for this feat of humanity; in all the good it has done for me, I can take a few mishaps here and there. But some are just funny, and deserve to be mocked. Lovingly and respectfully, but mocked nonetheless.

One such instance was this weekend. Let me start by saying that I was once again attempting a vegan month. Notice the past tense in that sentence. I have prior managed a maximum of 22 consecutive days, but this time round motivation was scarce. I lasted a good four and a half days. And yes, the half day counts, because I didn’t add feta cheese to my aubergines and it deeply pained me. I had already given in to cheese, eggs, milk, chocolate and meat by Sunday night, but they were all on the relatively healthy side. This is what I tell myself to make me feel better for my nutritional treason. Nonetheless, Sunday evening I was to be healthy and, frankly, vegan once more with a roasted sweet potato and carrot soup. But then McDonald’s was suggested and it all went south. Who in their right mind would stick to their 'liquid vegetable' guns instead of that sweet, fake, plastic chicken nugget? These were great, by the way; excellent chicken nuggets by the old fast food clown. The problem was with the sweet, fake, plastic hamburgers we ordered. More specifically, with the filling. Meaning the lack of filling. We literally got two empty buns. No toppings, no burger, just bread. And listen, I am very understanding; Covid has obviously placed a huge amount of pressure on fast food chains and delivery services and mistakes are bound to happen. I can handle mustard sauce instead of mayo, but I most definitely need something to spread either on top. This was another level of forgetfulness or, as I like to imagine, another level of vengeance from a fed-up employ. I like to think they sent out empty burgers all around the area as a small-scale plot to cause an uprising and, slowly but surely, begin their world domination. Maybe I am enjoying this prospect so much, because I, for one, got the chicken nuggets, which, as I mentioned, were excellent.

This was not my first time dealing with main ingredients missing. Again, mistakes are justified, especially in times of pressure, as long as they regard the secondary characteristics of the junk food. A couple of years ago, back in Guildford we had made one of our standard Domino’s orders. They were relatively frequent, now that I think of it; I am not sure how well this reflects on us. We would always go for Pepperoni Passion, and at this stage, I would like to ask anyone who isn’t on a special diet, why they wouldn’t go for pepperoni in an American style pizza. It should be a prerequisite. We ordered our two pepperoni pizzas, waited for ages because it was a busy night and when the pizza finally arrived, noticed something missing. The pepperoni. The sole topping of the pizza. Nothing in its place. In retrospect, and after my recent McDonald’s experience I guess I should be grateful there was any dough in the box to begin with. We called the store and they informed us that they had just run out of pepperoni, so they proceeded to send the order ahead without it. So there was a logic behind it; but not a particularly good one. What were the chances we would appreciate this imaginative solution in that particular case? Thankfully, a friend took it upon himself to call the store and deal with it, because deep inside I know that, had I called, I would most likely have ended up apologising for asking for pepperoni in the first place. The outcome that night was excellent; I got reimbursed, I think they brought us new pepperoni pizzas (including pepperoni this time), we kept the pepperoni-less ones as well and also got a voucher for two free pizzas at another time. Which is precisely why I am adamant; these stories are more entertaining than a trouble with the system. I am still eternally grateful for food delivery.

I guess the McDonald’s mishap was a necessary slap in the face for betraying my healthy soup alternative. I don’t remember what kind of karma I might have been paying back at those Domino’s days, but I have no doubt in my mind that there might have been a fresh salad that I discarded for the sake of fried carbs. I might have created some brand new karma by manically laughing during both those scenarios’ instead of sharing other people’s frustration, but then again Joaquin Phoenix got an Oscar for similar behaviour’s in ‘The Joker’. I managed to squeeze a pop-culture, Oscar-related reference at the very last minute. All is in order. Unlike the orders I described.

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