Saturday, January 8

Even Without Wasabi

There was a long line at the take-out sandwich counter at lunch today. When the woman ahead of me finally got in position to place her order, she said to the server in an annoyed tone, "I understand that you no longer have the roast beef and wasabi!" The server courteously replied, "I'm sorry, mam, but that is true." "Huuumph!" she retorted in a loud voice. Then she turned to the server standing right next to the first and repeated the identical statement, to which she got the same reply. He kindly offered to make her a roast beef sandwich with spicy mustard, since they no longer carried wasabi. She contorted her face, made an even louder sound of displeasure, and stomped out.

What causes someone to wait in line for 15 minutes for a sandwich she knew they didn't have, and prevents her from finding something acceptable from the hundreds of possible combinations they did have? When we are tired, hurting, needy, or off balance, any of us can focus on what we don't or can't have, rather than what we do have or can create.

I'm grateful to this woman for the reminder that there's always a varied menu of options, even without wasabi.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I can understand this woman. She had obviously set her heart on Roast beef with wasabi, and hoped that what she had heard was not true. As a lover of wasabi myself I understand the frustration - after all spicy mustard is not the same as wasabi in any shape or form or taste. What I always do is carry a small pottle of Namida 100% Pure Wasabi Powder with me, so that I can add my own wasabi if necessary. This can be found at www.wasabi.co.nz/order.html. Sometimes you need to change your lunch order to suit the circumstances, but then again some circumstances are just not acceptable on the day.