I ordered 8 tacos for me and B from La Casita ("the little house" in Spanish) taco shop, a place we’ve been trying out in Santa Paula. After placing the order, the woman at the outside order window (probably the owner) looked up at me with a slight squint and asked, "Is that for here or to go?"
I looked at her for an extra millisecond then said, "To go." Had I ordered twenty tacos then I would have stared at her for a full second. I rarely eat more than four tacos but I’ve seen people take down twelve easy. Coronas are usually called on to aid that process.
As I waited for my order, another fellow walked up to the very low window and placed his order. This is the lowest take out window I’ve ever seen. The first time I tried this place there was a gentleman taking the order and he and I both had to hunch to get the order through. This is why I think this employee was the owner, cause it’s just her height.
I grabbed a plastic chair and sat down to Twitter. With today’s ABC news report on Twitter there were tons of new users so I thought I’d post some helpful Twitter Tips. I was about to post when I heard someone yell something by the order window. I thought maybe my order was up so I approached the window but the owner wasn’t at it.
The other customer chuckled, "C’mon he’s hungry." I smiled because he could see I was anxious to get my order and take off.
I stepped forward and peeked in the vertically challenged window then the owner approached and said it would be just a couple of minutes.
"He’s hungry," the customer chortled again.
"She must think I’m hungry also," I told my new sidekick. " I ordered a bunch of tacos and she asked if I was going to eat them here."
The owner was still at the window and smiled slightly, partly from embarrassment and partially because she knew I was making fun of her question.
The customer said that he once went in and ordered two huge buckets of chicken, by himself, from Kentucky Fried Chicken and they also asked him if he wanted it for there or to go.
My friend Miguel told me a similar story only he was at a KFC in Oakland and was standing behind a woman who placed a similarly large order. When the attendant asked if she wanted it for there or to go, she went off on the attendant. "Do you think I’m going to eat all this chicken by myself? What are you trying to say?" And so forth.
During a pause in the verbal barrage, the attendant rolled her eyes at the customer and said, "Girl, I don’t know what’s going on in your world!"