Time: Thursday, 1:15 pm
“Hey Hunts?” Zöe walked up behind me, and I looked over my shoulder. “86 arugula.”
I blinked. “We’re seriously out of arugula? How did we run out of arugula?”
She shrugged. “I have absolutely no idea. I don’t even want to know. But just make sure that you let people know. We can sub in romaine or something.”
“Arright.” I turned back to the register and leaned on the edges, looking out the door at the parking lot. It was a quiet lunch, so with luck I’d only have a few people I’d need to explain this to.
The next few customers didn’t order anything that had arugula in it, making my job simple enough. About half an hour later, a couple walked in. The guy got a chicken salad sandwich with chips, and it took the woman a few minutes to make up her mind.
“Okay, can I get the BLT, but substitute lettuce for the arugula?”
I paused. “I…” There is no good way to say this. “Arugula…is lettuce?”
She looked up from the menu, and if looks could kill, I’d be six feet under already. “No. Arugula is disgusting and vile. I just want normal lettuce.”
My mouth opened, but shut again. Doesn’t really matter. We don’t have arugula anyway. “All right, so just like, romaine is all right?”
“That’s fine, whatever. And I’ll have a cup of tomato soup with that.” She set the menu down, and I typed out their order and took the payment. Another woman had walked up behind them in the middle of the transaction, so as the couple walked away I smiled up at the woman.
“Good afternoon, welcome to Mocha Time. Is this going to be for here or to go?”
“For here, please.” She smiled back and I started the order on the screen. “Can I get the arugula and feta salad, with chicken on top?”
I hissed through my teeth. “I can, but we actually don’t have any arugula at the moment. I can substitute romaine or our mixed greens instead?”
She shook her head. “No, no that’s okay. It’s not the same without the arugula. May as well get something else if I can’t have that.”
I had to laugh. “It’s funny. I just had a woman a few orders ago who absolutely hated arugula. Nice to see the whole spectrum here today.”
She smiled back at me. “It’s a very specific taste, I know. But I love it. Hmm…” She peered back down at the menu. “I guess I’ll get the garden salad instead.”
“Still with chicken?”
“Yes, please.” I punched in the order. “And I’ll take a diet Coke.”
“Sounds like a plan. One garden salad with chicken and a diet Coke. Anything else for you?”
“No, not right now. I might come back for one of those amazing oatmeal raisin cookies, but I’ll wait.” She laughed.
“Fair enough! $15.89 is your total.”
It figured. One against, one for. Who know arugula warranted such strong opinions? I’d never noticed that strong of a taste before. Maybe I’d have to try it out again.
I am not lost... 