Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Mmmmm...Rat Hair


Yesterday, I brought a grilled chicken salad in for lunch. It was left over from my book club the night before. I didn't think to bring in a salad dressing for myself, so I ordered some raspberry vinagrette and a slice of bread from the little Italian restaurant in the lobby of the building I work in. I often order salads or pasta from this place. The food is excellent but the service is very slow. So I usually get it to go.


I travelled down to the restaurant and saw my bread and dressing waiting for me, tied up in a nice plastic grocery sack. The waitress came over and said, "That'll be a dollar fifty, please."
"OK," I said, thinking it a bit steep for two small containers of dressing and a hunk of bread, but whatever.
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I handed her two dollars and told her to keep the change.
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"Thanks," she said as she started walking back to the kitchen. Then she turned her had and said, "Enjoy the rat hair!"
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"Uh," I said, furrowing my brow, "You too!"
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I left the restaurant confused. I had no idea what she actually said. She couldn't possibly have said "enjoy the rat hair," could she?
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I explained it to my co-workers when I returned to the office. They thought it was strange too. Eventually, we figured out that the lady probably said, "Enjoy the Raspberry!" Somehow, I didn't feel one hundred percent reassured.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Some Guy said...

Rat hair should be part of any well-balanced meal. Don't knock til you've tried it.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 12:06:00 PM

 
Blogger Phil said...

Has this women ever behaved strangely before this? Have you ever seen rats in the building?

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 1:24:00 PM

 
Blogger Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

Phil, I've never observed this woman behaving strangely in the past and I haven't seen any rats in the building, though I presume there are some. I'm in downtown Cleveland after all.

Chris, I had no idea you were a rat hair connossoir.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 1:51:00 PM

 
Blogger don'tneedtoknow said...

I think it's weird either way.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 5:45:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that reminds me of that line Hanks says in "Dragnet":

"do you have any idea how much stuff falls into an industrial sausage press, including rodent hair and bug exrement?"

how can you get "raspberry" out of "rat hair"??

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7:40:00 PM

 
Blogger Mombi said...

I don't think I could have handled the mystery. Once the shock wore off, I think I would have had to call the restaurant and had her clarify.

But maybe I just can't deal with unsolved mysteries.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:22:00 PM

 
Blogger dirty said...

I never understand people wherever I go. Either they all speak complete nonsense or I can understand English...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:24:00 PM

 
Blogger dirty said...

can't understand English...too much sugar today.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:36:00 PM

 
Blogger Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

Elizabeth...it is a bit weird; but it makes my life a little bit surreal and I kind of like that.

BO...it reminded me of a line from Are You Being Served? where the staff were complaining about British biscuits. Mr. Granger(I think) noted that the biscuits would never sell in America because the quantity of rat hair in the British Biscuits exceeds the quantity allowable in the US.

I think I got rat hair from the "ra" and the "er" from raspberry. She kind of said it over her shoulder and there was background noise.

Mombi...I'm satisfied with the conclusion we reached. Besides, I didn't want to give the restaurant any ideas. BTW: Thanks for stopping by!

Dirty: This happens to me a lot too. Sometimes, what I think I hear is far more interesting than what I actually hear.

Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:10:00 AM

 

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