The Sauce Of Your Frustration Is The Cheese

(I’m at a movie theater which has a large concessions stand with a coffee bar, hot foods counter, and coolers and racks to get pre-packaged items. At the end are two cash registers to cash out. I go up to the hot foods counter to order.)

Me: “Hi, could I get an order of pretzel bites with butter and salt, please? Oh, and I don’t need any cheese sauce with them.”

Employee #1: “The pretzels will be around a minute, but the cheese sauce is free.”

Me: “I know it’s free, but I don’t like it, and won’t eat it, so there’s no point.”

(I smile at him. He stares back at me like I’ve sprouted antenna for a moment.)

Employee #1: “Uh… sure.”

(While the pretzel bites are being made I pick up a bottled drink from one of the coolers. When I come back to the hot counter, Employee #2 is making my pretzel bites. When they are ready, he reaches into a warming rack with the cheese sauce cups among other things.)

Me: “Oh, is that for me? I don’t want the cheese sauce, so I’ll just take the pretzel bites. Thanks.”

Employee #2: *with a blank look* “The cheese sauce is free.”

Me: “I know, but I won’t eat it, so…”

Employee #2: “But… it’s free…”

Me: “I know it’s free, but I don’t want it.”

(At this point he is trying to hand me the pretzel bites with the sauce. Giving up, I just take them.)

Me: “Thank you.”

(The warming rack where the cheese came from is actually open to both the employees behind the counter, and the customers because there are pre-packaged hot dogs and nachos in them along with the sealed cups of cheese sauce. So I put the cheese sauce back, and go to check out around the corner.)

Cashier: “You know that the pretzel bites come with cheese sauce, right?”

Me: “Yes. I don’t like and won’t eat it so I requested the pretzel bites without it.”

Cashier: “Oh, ok, I just wanted to make sure you knew. Enjoy your movie.”

(At least the cashier listened to me, but really is not wanting nacho cheese sauce on buttered and salted pretzel bites that weird?)