The other night, my friends and I ventured to a campus favorite late night bite café, The Bandersnatch. It’s a hike for us, about 15 minutes (which is from one end of our campus to the other). It was 1:25 am when we began our journey, and the only thing keeping us going was the famous pizza bagel and Oreo-Nutella milkshake at the end of the trek. Upon our arrival, we waited in what was a very short line. There was one person in front of us; the time was 1:41 am.
My two friends and I got to the counter and were ready to give our order. After I ordered my pepperoni pizza bagel and that sweet and savory Oreo-Nutella milkshake, the man behind the counter looked at me and said, “We are no longer taking orders.” My heart sank to the lowest of lows and I felt defeated. I trekked 15 minutes up the treacherous hills of Denison University to have myself a pizza bagel and an Oreo-Nutella milkshake for you to stop me from achieving my goal of devouring your late night treats? Rude.
Since when are establishments allowed to close 20 minutes before their scheduled closing time? I know how to make a pizza bagel and a milkshake with minimal ingredients. I know that it would easily take less than 20 minutes to complete a task such as this. I was willing to not only take my order to go, but to pay three times the normal price of a pizza bagel ($4) and milkshake ($3), but my begging did not prevail. The servers of The Bandersnatch turned me down, and I felt defeated.
What frustrated me the most was that there was no one else behind us in line, and the employee behind the counter was willing to take the order of the customer in front of us. I don’t think a couple more orders would have made a difference, but you know, whatever dude.
I know I may sound ridiculous, but I know what I wanted and I was willing to do just about anything to fulfill my need for a pizza bagel and Oreo-Nutella milkshake. I was this close to hopping over the counter and making the damn food myself, but I felt that it would not be the smartest move on my part, especially if I ever wanted to return.
I will have you know that I did return to the Bandersnatch a couple weeks later. I got my pizza bagel and Oreo-Nutella milkshake, and my hankering for those savory treats was satisfied. I arrived in plenty of time so that there was no way they could deny me once again.
Look, all I’m saying is that if someone is willing to take their order to go and pay $36 for a pizza bagel and a milkshake, I think you should just let them have it. I was there 20 minutes before the café closed, which was more than enough time to make me wanted I was there for. You’re a café that has roughly three things on the menu; let’s not take our job too seriously and deny loyal customers.