Ted the Penguin

The power of unwanted lettuce

Everyone makes mistakes. If we didn’t, then we’d all be perfect and actually quite boring.

Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.

~Dr. David M. Burns

Society tries to teach us that mistakes are bad. If we screw up then we are failures and don’t know anything. Unfortunately, we often perpetuate this idea in our every day life without even knowing it.

Tonight after visiting a friend at his new house, I stopped by Taco Bell on my way home. The drive through line was quite long, so I parked and went inside. There were only 3 people in the back working and there were already several people inside waiting for food.I got in line and waited. Ahead of me at the counter was a mother with her little girl waiting to order. The mother looked stressed and was going back and forth talking to someone on her cell and sending text messages while the little girl quietly looked around the restaurant.

After a few minutes later, a lady came up to the register in-front of them and said, “What can I get you today?” Without looking up from her phone, the mother replied to her daughter, “Tell her what you want,” and the little girl ordered. The employee then turned to the mother and asked, “Is this for here or to go?” “To go,” the mother said, and then rattled off 5 or 6 more items, pausing in-between each to think about it. At the end, the employee quietly asked again if it was for here or to go, apologizing for not remembering. The mother quickly retorted back in an annoyed voice, “I already told you once, it’s to go.”

After they paid and got their cups for soft drinks, I ordered my food and sat down a few tables away from them and waited myself. After about a minute, the little girl was playing with her mother’s phone and it rang. She answered the phone and put it on speaker; the voice said something about “How was my little girl’s day today?” and the mother seemed to smile at this. The mother took the phone after another minute or so, turned off the speaker, and proceeded to get into a very heated conversation with the person on the other end, who seemed to be her husband. At some point they called her order and I had to motion to her and say, “Ma-am, I think your order is ready,” before she motioned to her daughter to go over to get it, reminding her to say please and thank you.

After taking the bag, the little girl very politely thanked the frazzled looking Taco Bell employee and brought the bag back to her table. The mother smiled at her daughter, congratulated her on being so polite, but reminded her about saying please when asking for the sauce packets. She than proceeded to take everything out of the bag, looking for a soft taco. When she found it, she opened it, made a face and looked at it in disgust. She got up, went to the counter, yelled to the people behind it that she had asked for no lettuce and extra tomato on the soft tacos, turned around and walked back to her daughter who was happily eating.

While they were making her new tacos, they called my order. I grabbed it, thanked them, and went to go get some extra napkins. As I was preparing to leave, they finished the lady’s tacos and brought them out to her. She grabbed them from the slightly frightened young server and said something about stupid kids and not being able to listen to simple instructions.

I had to walk by them to reach the door, and as I passed them I turned to the mother and said, “Excuse me, but everyone makes mistakes. And she,” I motioned to the server who was taking someone else’s order, “is somebody’s little girl too.”

She gave me the most dumbfounded look as I walked out of the restaurant.

I probably shouldn’t have said anything, but people like that drive me crazy. Oh well.