Will that be hard serve or soft serve?

Numerous times I have been in the situation at my job where I have to repeat myself, clarify, or anything of that matter to the customer. No big deal, as I know sometimes people simply can not hear me over the machines inside and the people talking outside. When I was working one time in particular, though, this old man was quite adamant about his demands.

I asked the gentleman after he ordered a vanilla hot fudge sundae with everything on it, “will that be hard serve or soft serve?” The back and forth “whats” and the repeated question caused an unknown impatience to arise in my brain. I finally stated what the difference was. At this point, it was all going just fine, because I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but he gave me the worst answer possible.

“Regular.” the old man said to me.

What does it even mean?

It’s completely acceptable, though, because the customer is always right. I smiled and said, “Do you mean soft ice cream or scoop-able ice cream?” As I already explained to him before, the very distinguishable differences between the two.

“I just want real ice cream,” he says to me as I’m about to lose it. I remember, though, to be patient with the elderly, as they grew up in a completely different time with different expectations.

I am still smiling. Although inside I am not. While I let him stare at me like I am the most incompetent person on this planet, I decide that I will make the true decision for him. Based on his age, attitude, and stature, I’m making the decision to get him hard serve, which is what most older people consider “real,” anyways.

It was beautifully prepared for him, and I was right- he wanted hard serve. This was all no big deal though, the entire encounter lasted maybe less than five minutes. No big hold-up for the line, and I forgot about it minutes later when I continued to do my job.

Thank you, patience. What a wonderful man.

“fro-zen-yo Hot Fudge Sundae” by Mr.TinDC is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

“#9407 almond soft serve ice cream (杏仁ソフトクリーム)” by Nemo’s great uncle is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.