It Could Have Been a Great Day

Jalal had the day off, and I didn't have Bible Study today, which means I had the day off, too. Trish had given us a couple of coupons for Cheesecake Factory, which we love but don't live anywhere near. So we literally drove to Buckhead in Atlanta for lunch. Our plans were to stop in Commerce at the outlets on our way home. First of all, our server at CF was not very friendly. She treated us like crap, I think because of Quinn, who by the way did not cry at all and barely fussed. He spent a lot of time playing peekaboo, blowing kisses to a fly buzzing around us, and saying, "Cheeseburger Fries!" in a super chipper voice. She let both mine and Jalal's teas sit empty for a lot longer than is acceptable. She was just not a good server. So Jalal tipped accordingly, which is still not that bad for most people. On the bright side, our food was awesome, and a piece of cheesecake layered with chocolate cake was a nice (completely unnecessary) ending.
Jalal was interrupted during our meal a couple of times. First the background. Jalal's bar and restaurant have both gotten fantastic ratings lately and are ranked pretty high up in the company standings. He decided (and his bosses agreed) that they deserved a treat. So they've planned a whitewater rafting trip. Because there were enough banquet folk agreeing to fill in for them, Jalal didn't have to call in corporate reinforcements. These interruptions started when the banquet captain decides she doesn't want to work tomorrow night. Yeah, tomorrow. Talk about last-minute! So she doesn't even call Jalal to tell him; she just tells one of her supervisors that she is trading the shift with another bartender, who doesn't even know the computer system! It's just a little ridiculous that people will come out and OFFER to do something and then change their mind when it's too late to get anyone else in to do it. The second interruption was the news that the supervisor closing tonight was throwing up. So, here we are in Atlanta at noon and Jalal has to figure out how to get to Spartanburg to work that evening. Another girl agreed to stay late, we spent about an hour rushing through the outlets, and then I ironed while Jalal shaved and dressed. He had just enough time to swing by the dry cleaners to pick up his suitcoats. Of course, since he was off today, we took them ALL to the DC this morning, dropping them off at 9:30, plenty of time before the 10:00, same day deadline. Since they didn't close until 7, and Jalal made it at 6:45, he was feeling pretty good. Until he pulled up and the employee turned off the lights and said, sorry man, we're closed. Jalal was livid, to say the least. He said, no, it's not seven, please go back inside and get me my suits. But the computer is shut down! Then start it back up. The guy does go inside and start up the computer, asked Jalal his phone number, and looked up the order. Then he informs Jalal that his clothes aren't cleaned; he only tagged them at 3:30. Hmmm. Can you imagine the emotion going on inside Jalal? I can. He gave the guy a piece of his mind about the fact that his clothes were supposed to be done by 5:00, that he was on his way to work at that moment, and that he needed them to keep their end of the bargain. After saying that we'll be taking our business elsewhere, he told the guy he wanted his clothes back. So the man hands him his bag of coats. Jalal says, "are they all here?" The man says, "Of course." So Jalal opens the bag to find one coat missing and a pair of pants that did not belong to him. Seriously? Well, he can't go to work without a jacket, even on his night off, so he had to wear one of the dirty ones. I can't tell you how ticked off he was. What a stinking day! It was supposed to be so much fun! Oh, and I didn't finish my edit until 11:30, on the road, and we couldn't find a single place to steal wi-fi from, so that didn't get returned to my boss until after close of business. Crummy all around. Thank God there was cheesecake! Love, Us.