That Time I Started A Movement

So, I think I started a movement.  Now, clearly I'm not talking about some huge significant movement which creates picketing, rioting or, you know, the typical looting that comes; but I may have single handedly brought down a local pizza establishment.

Let me rewind for you. Bear with me, folks, this is going to  a bit long winded, so here's hoping that all 10 8, okay maybe five of you stick with it until the end! It all starts with a T-Ball game...

This t-ball season has been plagued by rain. Seriously, this poor team has hardly had the opportunity to practice, let alone play a full season worth of games. Because of the constant H20, the Sand Gnats (yea, that's really our team name - go fighting fleas!), made up a game yesterday evening. Being that the game ended well after 7:00 p.m., there is no way I was cooking dinner afterwards! We were a hungry bunch, so we headed out to a local pizza buffet, one which will not be named in this post. Hotty McHubster and I ordered dishes off the menu and ordered said buffet for B and A. Now, I should preface this story by stating that this particular establishment very staunchly opposes buffet sharing of any kind. Seriously - signs EVERYWHERE.  I get it - one should only eat the food they pay for!

So here we are, kiddos enjoying their pizza, H.M.H. and I enjoying our calzone and nachos. All around great family night. Seriously, does it get much more Americana than Friday night baseball and pizza?! B asked for another slice of pizza, so I take her back up to the buffet for more food. On the way back to our table, I see the manager of the restaurant talking to H.M.H, and just naturally assume she's clearing away plates and chatting. As I get closer and can pick up the conversation, I hear her ask "My owner wants to know how many of those slices of pizza you're going to pay for!"  Understandably confused, I ask her what's going on. She proceeds to accuse us of eating pizza off the buffet when the restaurant clearly states that no sharing is allowed.

At this point I am utterly confused. As it turns out, while taking B up for more food, A offered Brad a bite of his own pizza. Now, what parent is going to turn down an offer from their three year old to share? I mean, as a parent, isn't sharing a core principle we teach our children? It's not as if Brad was ACTUALLY sharing Aiden's food - it was a SINGLE.BITE. The manager then waves her hand at Brooke's plate of half-eaten pizza.  I explain to her that Brooke eats only the toppings, ergo the pizza being half eaten (let me tell you, it was three small pieces of abandoned pizza, not a mass amount of food we're talking about here!). She doesn't care and holds firm that we are stealing from this restaurant. Mind you, this was at our table in full view of other restaurant patrons! 

Now, I am mad. Not just mad - seething - here we are, accused of being thieves, not only in front of other people, but our three-year-old twins, who have no idea what's going on!  I tell this manager that we are long-time patrons of said establishment, that we frequently order carryout and delivery, as well as dining in, but no longer will they receive any of our business. Manager shrugs her shoulders and says "good." I shuffle the kiddos out the door while Brad asks to speak with the owner of the restaurant in private.  

Here's where the story gets REALLY good, my friends, so kudos to you for having stuck around this long! The owner comes around from the back of the restaurant, looks at Brad and says, "What you got?!"  The manager, meanwhile, is standing next to her, snapping her towel, hopping foot to foot and ads, "Bring it on! I've had one bad-ass week!" Yes, this really.happened.  Brad asks to speak with the owner privately so as to not cause a bigger scene than has already been caused. The owner refuses and continues to accuse our family of stealing from the restaurant.  Clearly, this situation was going no where, so Brad throws up his hands and leaves. 

By now, I have the kids buckled in the car.  The owner follows Brad to the car, cursing and yelling at him, and screams at us, "You know what? You are not ever welcome back here ever again!" Meanwhile, the kids are in the back seat, confused, scared and, let's be honest, still hungry! B looks at me and says sadly, "But, Mommy, I wasn't done with my pizza!" Yea- try explaining that situation to a three year old!  This whole confrontation took place over the course of probably no longer than 5-6 minutes.

Now, you must understand, I am a bit of a social media junkie.  Admittedly, I utilize Facebook probably 10 times a day. I'm a recruiter  - I search candidates to see how they present themselves via social media. Heck, I've even been a guest lecturer at a local college, speaking to students about their social media presence and online image!  So after this whole event took place, you can bet I was going to publicize this! I am a member of a local Facebook page for our area. This page has about 20,000 followers and is set up as a place for area residents to post reviews, ask questions and converse about topics related to events in the area. Five minutes after I posted a synopsis about what had happened earlier in the evening, 25 people had commented. Five hours later, there were 350 comments. As I sit here typing this post, that number is nearing 800. Many of those comments are supporting our decision to publicly post what happened to us and relate their own bad tales from this restaurant. Some, of course, are bashing us and accusing of of theft.  Oh, and then there was the owner who posted and accused H.M.H of raising his fists and coming at her.  Seriously, that was an actual post from her (deleted within a few hours after I threatened to a libel suit). Another local business owner even offered our family a meal on the house to show that not all local business owners treat their customers so poorly.

Doesn't this whole story sound crazy? The whole situation is just that - CRAZY! I cannot believe the situation happened in the first place, let alone the response that has been received because of it.  Residents of our area - lots of them -are now boycotting this restaurant which, I believe, was struggling already. While this was not my intended outcome and I don't want to gloat, it just goes to show you: while the customer is not always right, no business owner should EVER EVER treat patrons the way we were treated, ESPECIALLY in front of our children! So, anyone looking to buy a pizza buffet?!

Aiden came downstairs pretty upset around 12:30 last night. This is a fairly common occurrence - he typically only makes it no later than 2:30 in his bed. As I do every night when he comes downstairs, I got him milk and then poked my head out the front door to lock my car. I always lock it when I get home, but I'm always paranoid about forgetting to do so, especially considering there have been more than a few break-ins over the last several months (including Brad's car).

This time, however, I couldn't find my keys. They weren't on the hook by the front door, nor in my purse. "Whatever," I thought. "I'll just find them in the morning". Regardless, I dashed out side to double check on the locked doors. Lo and behold, not ONLY was the car unlocked - but the keys were actually IN the ignition! WHAT.THE.WHAT?! I have NEVER in 34 years left the keys in the ignition before! Cue freak out when I find, not only are in the keys in the ignition, they are stuck there. At 12:30 at night.

So, I drag a groggy Brad outside to try and solve the problem. He's unable to remove said keys, so says to just lock it manually, we'll get into the car in the morning with the spare set. "Honey," I respond."I, um, well, don't exactly know where the spare keys are."

Regardless, I tell him to go back to bed, this is my problem, not his - I would figure it out. I pace around and around, looking for the second set of keys, calling Roadside Assistance (as it turns out, when the extended warranty on the car expired a few months ago, I FORGOT to add Roadside Assistance to my car - though, ironically, I remembered to add it to Brad's).

So, let's assess the situation, shall we?

1-Keys are STUCK IN THE IGNITION

2- Second set of keys are NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

3 - It is now ONE IN THE MORNING!

It was at this point that I remembered a few months ago, this same thing happened. I had just gotten a new battery and the contacts weren't completely tight and the keys got stuck in the ignition while I was at the bank. Earlier in the day, I had been vacuuming out the car with the kids. Kids + Cars = EVERY BUTTON BEING PUSHED AND EVERY KNOB BEING TURNED. That car was lit up like the 4th of July! Ergo, the battery was dead as it could be. It was also during this AHA moment that I realized that the second set of keys was in the purse I had changed out last week.

So, inside I go, drag Brad back OUT of bed to jump start my car at 1:00 in the morning. Crisis alleviated. By this point, BOTH kids were now in our bed watching tv.

Oh, and by the way, I had to call my mom to help out this morning. Why? The dead car battery when I tried to leave for work.

Another true story from the Hunckler Chronicles

Yesterday evening, I'm sitting on my bed watching Brooke poop in the bathroom. Yes, pooping is a family event in the Hunckler house. Neither kids likes to poop without an audience.

Aiden climbs on the bed and starts pointing at front of my head. "MOM!" he exclaims. "What IS that on your head?!"

"That," I respond with an eye roll, "Is Mommy's grey hair. You gave that to me".

"Here," he says, covering the gray hair with the rest of the hair on my head, effectively creating a bird's nest. "Let's just cover that up".