Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

It was to be a reward for mall walking when we would have preferred napping or reading yesterday afternoon. But C and I did almost three miles at the Orchards Mall and promised ourselves ice cream for our efforts. We went to Steak ‘n’ Shake because it’s known for having the real deal and not soft serve or some other artificial or watered down version.

Charity – her name was on her badge – seated us, gave us a couple minutes to study the menu, and took our orders.  They weren’t complicated.  C ordered a vanilla shake, and I ordered a chocolate hot fudge brownie.  The picture on the menu showed a brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge (I even asked to make sure it would be hot fudge and not chocolate syrup), whipped cream, and a cherry. It looked yummy.

Twenty minutes later found us still without our ice cream and agreeing that our husbands would be walking out the door about now.  That’s when Charity returned and said the cooks were backed up because the drive-thru was really busy. It struck us as odd that drive-thru customers got preferential treatment when those of us who took the time to park and come in are the ones who also tip.  It also struck us strange that cooks needed to be involved in ice cream concoctions.

Forty minutes into this mission, C’s shake and a brownie covered with hot fudge arrived. But the ice cream, whipped cream, and cherry were clearly MIA. Eventually, they arrived; but my dessert never did approximate yummy.

I will say Charity worked hard to make the situation right, offering profuse apologies with every stop at our booth.  She even had the manager come by, who explained that the cook in the back was in a bad mood.  Probably more than you’d want to tell a customer, but by now we were all old friends.  We’d been there longer than it took to walk the three miles at the mall and we’d probably ruined our dinners too.

In the end, Steak ‘n’ Shake didn’t charge us for the ice cream. Still, next time we reward ourselves for walking, I’ll suggest we get guacamole and chips at the Mexican restaurant up the road.