The Onion Ring Debacle

One of my favorite interactions with another human regarding laughter happened last summer while I was at work. At the time I was working at a pizza restaurant that I still work at to this day, and if I remember correctly, we were in the process of closing up for the night. At my job there is an “up front” area that is visible to anyone that walks in, and an “out back” area that is hidden in the back, each area has its own responsibilities. The “up front” workers mainly deal with the customers and cook the pizzas, whereas the “out back” workers prepare most of the food and it is also where the fryers are located. There is a wall that separates these two areas that has a doorway and a window that is used exclusively for the “up front” workers to order whatever fried food that needs to be made. Taking orders can either be boring or exciting, on that night it started off pretty boring.

Apparently, at some point that night, a customer called to complain that they found a metal ring in their pizza. All of the “up front” workers were trying to figure out whose ring it could have been. I happened to be running fryers that night, and one of the “up front” workers got my attention through the window and asked, “Do you know if anyone out back wears rings?” Puzzled, I just stared at her because for some reason my mind immediately went to: onion rings, one of the restaurant’s most popular appetizers, instead of the more obvious option. Since I was just idiotically staring at her, she began to describe what she meant. When I finally understood, I told her what I thought she was talking about.

Once all the confusion about the ring was cleared, everyone involved in the situation had a big laugh at my stupidity. Meanwhile the angry customer was getting their lawyer involved and preparing to sue. The customer was actually totally fine with it, but to my knowledge, we never figured out where the ring came from. Something that at first seemed like a major health code violation truly helped me understand the benefits of laughter, as it helped break up the monotony at my job that night.

“Onion rings” by TheBazile is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0