Free Pizza

Thursday: Pizza night. I was not really feeling like pizza, but Anne and I went for it anyway.

At the pizza restaurant, the new girl was our waitress again. She has an irritating habit of wrinkling her nose when she gives her huge smile. (Admittedly, however, it is kind of nice to see a constantly smiling face.) I was surprised that she actually remembered our drink order. We have only seen her one other time.

When she brought us our drinks, I had a business card ready for her. I had written the url for my new blog, www.storyunfolding.net , on the back of it. I told the waitress about the site, she thanked me for my card, then she walked away.

Within moments, the manager was at our table to ask how everything was. Keep in mind that this is the exact same manager that I chewed out on our last visit, two weeks ago, about the condition of the evening pizza buffet. Also keep in mind that during all the months Anne and I have been eating at this restaurant on Thursday evenings, we have not seen him walk into the restaurant to talk to customers even one time.

I answered the manager's inquiry with a smile, "Much better than last time, thank you."

He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, then said, "Oh, yes... I remember you." A brief conversation followed where he remembered that I was the one who was dissatisfied with the condition of the buffet, and he disclaimed the difference between Thursday nights and Wednesday nights. (Whatever. It is not my buffet and I really don't care.) He then walked back into the kitchen to do "manager stuff."

Here is the fun part. When it was time to pay our bill, I went up to the counter with my VISA. A police officer was in front of me, in uniform, picking up pizza for himself and the other officers on duty. As he was waiting for his credit card to go through and I waited behind him, I asked if he was getting dinner for the office. He said yes. Then I asked if they got a discount. He said no. Then I made a comment about how different Wisconsin is from where I lived in Texas and how, down there, lots of restaurants will give free food to officers in uniform.
The police officer, aware that the store manager was right there, responded that it was okay. They did not mind paying for their own food. This is when the manager stepped up. "Next time, let us know when you are ordering who you are ordering for and we'll see what we can do," he offered. Unused to this kind of thing, the officer declined.
"No, really," the manager insisted. "I'm serious." He explained that giving the officers a complimentary pizza dinner is part of the restaurant's community relations and that all he wants in return is a nice letter to the corporate offices.
My eyes were wide as I stood watching the exchange. Nodding, I said, "Free food. Do it!"
"When do you usually come in?" the manager continued, "Are you working on Saturday?"

The officer confirmed.

Long story short, the area police will be eating free pizza this week and the pizza restaurant will receive kudos to the coporate offices, all because of yours truly's big mouth. (PSST ...It also helps to be a famous author.)