The Respect Fairy
by Dusty Wallace
“Excuse
me, ma'am. But this chicken is undercooked,” I said. “It's nearly
raw in the middle.” I spread the meat apart with my fork and knife
and showed her the pink center.
“I'm
sorry, sir,” the waitress said. “I'll have the kitchen cook up a
fresh serving on the double.”
That
sounded reasonable to me. “That'll do fine,” I said. “No
hurry.”
The
Old Pine Diner wasn't what you'd call fancy eatin', but I didn't
think fully cooked food was beyond expectation. In fact, I rather
enjoyed simple diners. The service was almost always excellent and
you could usually see right into the kitchen.
At
the Old Pine, I could see my waitress approach the cook with my fried
chicken thigh and calmly explain the situation. He took the plate
from her and she went off to serve another customer. It was at this
point he should have thrown the food in the trash and began cooking a
new piece of chicken.
