As I trundled, bleary-eyed, toward the office this morning, I was listening to a nationally-syndicated radio talk show. As I eased my petroleum burning man machine down the exit ramp to join the Goodyear-ed lemmings, my ears perked as the deep pipes of the radio ad-man painted a scene of fresh vegetable and cedar-plank grilled salmon. Mouth watering, fruit-by-the-foot in hand, signal twinkling - blinkblink, blinkblink - I wondered, where can I find such a palatable feast? MCL. A cafeteria. A cafeteria whose peak dinner hours are between 3:30 and 5 pm. A place where trays serve as the waitstaff and Buick LeSabres (with POW hats in the back window) are more common place then the need for a refill of my Iced tea. Dream shattered…that’s right, Langston…not deferred…shattered!
And then, it went further. The hearty voice bellowed. “MCL, now with free Wi-Fi.” I almost crashed, guffawing - alone - in the cockpit of my auto.
Recently, my father needed to forward me an email from an old friend. This high school friend and I had lost touch and she wanted to re-connect and send me pictures of her family. Her parents, being friends of my parents, told her to send the email to them. They would then, forward it to my parents. Who, in turn, could forward it on to me. Connection made (and this time without Kevin Bacon…screw you, Flatliner!)
And so it was to be. My high school girlfriend, unseen or spoken to in 17 years, typed a very nice letter, including pictures of her husband and two daughters, truly catching up on old times. She sent the letter to her lovely parents, who simply pressed the “Forward” button on their email program, and typed the address of Holmes’s parents’ email account.
As the email poured in to my parents’ INBOX, I can only imagine the excitement felt by Old Holmes. With an extended index finger, Old Holmes pressed “Print”! He then, addressed an envelope, placed a First Class stamp on the outside and delicately folded the printed page, sliding it in the crisp white envelope.
Three days later, as I opened my mailbox to pull out the ValPak coupon mayhem, I found this envelope, with my “forwarded” email.
So, really MCL, is Wi-Fi really the best service offering for your demographic? Really?
WOW!! There isn’t any place like that restaurant around here. I don’t think they are so bad, but yes, they do attract the older crowd. The only all you can eat places around here are Ponderosa (Ick) or a variety of Chinese restaurants. I have heard comments from people that they would love an American style buffet.
My only complaint about buffets is that it is so easy to over eat. People (myself included) want to “get their money’s worth” and “try a little of everything.” You can’t do that in a regular restaurant, but if its all out in front of you, people tend to go nuts.
This is one of the most adorable “parent” stories I have ever heard. And let me take this opportunity to make a public apology for forcing you, Mock, and Dame to take me to MCL that one time. The good news is, incidents experienced painfully are seldom repeated. Unless you have a major craving for pie and meatloaf served on a plastic plate atop a cafeteria tray.
In a nearby city we have an Old Country Buffet. Maybe its in a different class than MCL.
Actually MCL is not an all-you-can-eat. It’s a cafeteria, not to be confused with a buffet. I have spent many a Saturday lunch with Grandma at MCL. Where she complains about how old everybody is there.
Seriously…the dart is lodged in the neon Bud Light sign…holy crap!