u235

It's lunch time and I hate to wait. So generally when I hit a 'place to procure food' I go for things that are quick - snag a burger and go, a bowl of soup, pre-made sushi, etc. Typically the fastest thing is the salad bar. Just grab a container, dump in a little of this and that, add dressing and voila - I have a box-o-food and I'm good to go.

Well usually.

Most people don't hover over the bar, they too are interested in getting their meal and getting out - so it's rare that anyone spends more than the time it takes to get a grip on a cluster of olives with salad tongs (it can be tricky) as they slide along. Further, most people will wait politely, pretending to pick over the fresh spinach leaves, as you corral that last renegade pepper. I even go so far as to wait a little before picking up my container, so as not to pressure the person in front of me.

It didn't work this time. As I slid along with the underlying layer of lettuce awaiting the adornment of carrots, beets, sprouts and the like I came up against a woman who was armed with the serving ladle and faced off against the bowl of mixed beans. With surgical accuracy she was cautiously extracting individual garbanzo's from it's brethren of kidney and pintos. For real. This was no ordinary bean counter, hell no. She was meticulously choosing each and every bean based on some criteria.

After a minute or two I started to edge closer, and she glanced up, grimaced and finally moved away. I grabbed a spoonful, dumped it unceremoniously onto my lettuce and moved on.

I think she was put off after that because she rapidly scurried down the rest of the bar and left. Clearly if you're the type that needs time to carefully architect your salad, peak lunch time is not for you. Next time I recommend either early (11:30) or late (1:30) when there will be hardly any traffic and you can pick over each legume to your heart's content.