Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Jack in ze Box...Schnell!!

Whenever I decide I'm going to eat well for the day (usually after spending the previous two or three days eating nothing but junk), it always turns out to be a bust.

I went to Jack in the Box in Vista, because it was near my parents house.

I saw an advertisement for their new smoothies. I thought I'd run in and grab a strawberry one while reading the L.A. Times.

When I walk in, I see they have a big machine right before you get to the register. You are able to put your order in it and do the entire transaction, without dealing with a pimply faced kid working on his day off from school.

But there was a woman at the register, so I went up to her instead of trying this device.

As she's taking my order (and in her defense, was zit free)...I hear this chick with ADD walk in. She starts screaming, "Oh my god! Look at this machine. This is like, so weird. What is next? A drive thru where we don't talk to people? You text your order in from your cell phone on the way in... Is this what the world is coming to?"

Another customer walks in, and she starts showing him the machine. I glance over, and he really couldn't care less. But she keeps explaining all the wild things that we'll have in the future. And she's talking about 100 times louder than she needs to.

I get my "healthy" lunch of a smoothie, and she asks if I'd like anything else. And, those crappy tacos just sounded good. And hey, it's two for a buck. I also got a Jumbo Jack, which aren't nearly as good as I remembered them when I was a kid begging my parents to take me here.

As I'm sitting there, I hear another couple ordering. It sounds like they aren't happy with the prices on the menu. The guy looks like he just got out of prison, with tattoos on his bald head and around his neck.

His woman has tattoos all over her back and arms, but none on her neck. I notice a huge swastika on the back of her neck.

I start reading about the Lakers, and she asks me if I could spare the 73 cents she's short on her order. I said, "I don't give money to people with swastikas."

There was silence, and I wondered why I just said that. I figured she would start calling me a "cheap Jew" or worse.

Instead, she just walked away uttering an expletive under her breath.

I thought about taking my paper and leaving. Then I thought...forget that! If her and that dude say another word to me, I'll just ignore them. If they continue, I'll get up and get in their face if I have to. Maybe I should put 911 into my phone, and be ready to dial it.

Then I realized, the 30 seconds thinking about it, was giving them way more time then I cared to. I finished the entire sports page, enjoying my lunch. They sat at the other end of the lobby. And they were well behaved. I then read a story about a school back east that had a "hit the Jew" day. I laughed at the timing.

I saw a homeless guy outside as I was leaving, and thought about giving him a few bucks, and telling him there was a couple inside that would surely give him some money.

Then I thought how uncool it would be to put the homeless guy in the middle of that.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Whenever I decide I'm going to eat well for the day (usually after spending the previous two or three days eating nothing but junk), it always turns out to be a bust.

I went to Jack in the Box in Vista, because it was near my parents house.

I saw an advertisement for their new smoothies. I thought I'd run in and grab a strawberry one while reading the L.A. Times.

When I walk in, I see they have a big machine right before you get to the register. You are able to put your order in it and do the entire transaction, without dealing with a pimply faced kid working on his day off from school.

But there was a woman at the register, so I went up to her instead of trying this device.

As she's taking my order (and in her defense, was zit free)...I hear this chick with ADD walk in. She starts screaming, "Oh my god! Look at this machine. This is like, so weird. What is next? A drive thru where we don't talk to people? You text your order in from your cell phone on the way in... Is this what the world is coming to?"

Another customer walks in, and she starts showing him the machine. I glance over, and he really couldn't care less. But she keeps explaining all the wild things that we'll have in the future. And she's talking about 100 times louder than she needs to.

I get my "healthy" lunch of a smoothie, and she asks if I'd like anything else. And, those crappy tacos just sounded good. And hey, it's two for a buck. I also got a Jumbo Jack, which aren't nearly as good as I remembered them when I was a kid begging my parents to take me here.

As I'm sitting there, I hear another couple ordering. It sounds like they aren't happy with the prices on the menu. The guy looks like he just got out of prison, with tattoos on his bald head and around his neck.

His woman has tattoos all over her back and arms, but none on her neck. I notice a huge swastika on the back of her neck.

I start reading about the Lakers, and she asks me if I could spare the 73 cents she's short on her order. I said, "I don't give money to people with swastikas."

There was silence, and I wondered why I just said that. I figured she would start calling me a "cheap Jew" or worse.

Instead, she just walked away uttering an expletive under her breath.

I thought about taking my paper and leaving. Then I thought...forget that! If her and that dude say another word to me, I'll just ignore them. If they continue, I'll get up and get in their face if I have to. Maybe I should put 911 into my phone, and be ready to dial it.

Then I realized, the 30 seconds thinking about it, was giving them way more time then I cared to. I finished the entire sports page, enjoying my lunch. They sat at the other end of the lobby. And they were well behaved. I then read a story about a school back east that had a "hit the Jew" day. I laughed at the timing.

I saw a homeless guy outside as I was leaving, and thought about giving him a few bucks, and telling him there was a couple inside that would surely give him some money.

Then I thought how uncool it would be to put the homeless guy in the middle of that.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Facebook Requests and Answering Machine Messages

Next Article

Top O’ The Muffin

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader