Free Fries

As a general rule, New Sara tries to be a largely positive person.  I figure I'm the only one in charge of my response to the world & I'm the one that is most impacted by my response to the world so I might as well make that response pleasant.  I'm no Dave--that man makes Pollyanna look like Oscar the Grouch with PMS--but I do ok.  That being said, I've got a pet peeve & it's time for me to fire up a rant.

You know what I hate?  "Free" fries. 

It is important to me that we still go out to eat.  Not only for my sanity & enjoyment, but also to keep me grounded.  The journey to goal is just practice for the lifetime of maintenance & it isn't realistic to expect that I will never eat out again.  I need to have the skills to eat out, enjoy it, but not blow a whole week's calories on one meal.  Like I said, it takes practice.

We went out last night & I dutifully ordered my meal, trying to balance what is tasty with what is healthy.  I made my list of substitutions, among them being to swap the mountain of fries for some steamed veggies.  Out came the food & there were the fries.  That's not what makes me annoyed.  I was a server for a lot of years.  Mistakes happen, mistakes get corrected.  No big deal.  What makes me annoyed is HOW the fry mistake gets fixed.  Allow me to illustrate.

Problem: Erroneous cheese on a sandwich.  Solution: Removal of said cheese, likely a new sandwich.
Problem: Fries instead of veggies.  Solution: "You can keep the fries for free!"

Like it's a blessing.  To be fair, I was the perpetrator of the Fry Fix many many times, & to all of those whom I fried, I'm very sorry.  Now, as a grown-up who sees value in things over & above free fries, I just want them to take the plate, scrape the fries in the trash & bring me my stupid veggies.  I'm aware of what a great deal it is & I'm aware that they are delicious...all to aware.  I see a pile of those beautiful potato treats singing their siren song & I want to dive in 'til there's nothing left but the grease sheen on my face.  I did everything right, I made good choices (which is hard enough)...please don't tempt me a second time. 

I only ate one of those wicked little waffles* last night, but it was enough to get my blood boiling.  "Free" fries: quite possibly #1 on my pet peeve list.  Or maybe it's #2 after that robo-dial call "This is Rachel at 'card services.'  Please call immediately in regard to your current credit card account..."


*Disclaimer: I hate waffle fries.  They're just a bunch of crunchy skinny fries all stuck together.  Steak fries, on the other hand, make me weak in the knees...mmmm....steak fries.