http://market-ticker.org/archives/830-The-Singular-Problem-With-Credit.html


there you go, some mild "entertainment."

see anything interesting on  your trip so far?

Bob + Greenpeace = hilarious disaster all the time.

Maybe they shouldn't have used all that paper to print their green energy literature on!

X

bahahaha! epic spam. It reminds me of a more super-liminal approach to advertising. maybe a Shakespearean play with the lead role every 10 minutes yelling "Buy Wow Gold!!"

I know what I am getting b0b for Christmas...everyone loves wow gold!

This is a perfect example why “mom and pop” stores fail.  I wanted to take my girlfriend out for a good ‘ol time classic date at the local pizza stop.  We travel to the struggling downtown portion of Kalamazoo to support our community and visit what we thought would be a good local restaurant.  It should be noted we came into the place around 5:00pm on a Thursday.  We walk in on an empty and desolate place.  It’s ok to have no one in your place because you can’t help that, but there is no staff even remotely visible until we set off the tone alarm; there is no atmosphere.  There is no music of any kind playing and it feels like we have to whisper it is so quite.

So we are greeted by our server who is wearing a crooked, sports team ball cap and who seems to be a little testy at us for making him do any work.  He does not smile at us or greet us in anything but, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

We order our drinks and begin to look over the menu.  We have some inkling of what we want because we have a coupon we received for a free large pizza with two toppings.  However, we want to do more than just purchase drinks.  So we look at ordering breadsticks (Sicilian bread is what they call it).  We receive our drinks as we are still looking over the menu and I say, “Thank you” to our young waiter.  He does not respond at all and leaves us to go to the back.  My girlfriend and I exchange glances but maybe I didn’t speak loud enough.  After all, I still want to whisper in this ultra-quiet restaurant.  Our waiter comes back and we place our order for the bread and pizza with two toppings.  I wanted to make it a thick crust which was only $1 extra.  I also show him my coupon for the free pizza that I received from my great local insurance providers at The Arra Insurance Agency, who I assume wanted to support a local, independent, downtown Kalamazoo business.  He writes down our order and I say, “Thank you” again, but a little bit louder this time.  He turns and walks away.  My girlfriend and I start to laugh about this and begin to talk about the restaurant and not in a good way either.  That’s pretty bad considering we’ve been there all of five minutes.  Well our server comes back and informs us that he couldn’t make it a thick crust and still redeem a coupon.  I thought, well ok, maybe he has to ring it up on the computer and it won’t allow him to do that.  I thought this might have been a possibility so it was no harm at all.  I tell him that the regular crust would be fine and thank him again.  Again, he turns and walks away without a “you’re welcome”, “sure”, “no problem”, or any other response that would be appropriate!

Looking around the restaurant there are a few pictures on a wall, a lot of empty tables, and a high top with a laptop and paper work out on it.  A man, who I can only assume is “Fat” Joe is working on it from time to time and I can only assume he is the one making our food.  He must have switched places with our young waiter because he comes over to set our plates down and I thank him.  Now he turns around without saying anything and walks away!  No small talk or anything!

My girlfriend, who works in the restaurant business, at this point almost wants to leave but I convince her to stick it out for now.  “Big” Joe then brings out our food and has to have us move the plates he sent down.  The food looks good and I again say thanks.  To which he actually replies, “Yep,” and turns and walks away.  He doesn’t ask if he can get us anything else or even fill up our drinks which are almost depleted.  My girlfriend is begging me to leave at this point.  I tell her we should eat at least most of the breadsticks first to see how the food is.  The bread is really good and I go to dip it in the marinara sauce.  I take a bite and my tongue almost forms ice sickles.  Who serves marinara sauce at a freezing temperature?!  So, at this point, I’m done as well.

“Big” Joe, who really isn’t that big to be honest, comes back over and asks if he can get us anything else?  I ask him for a box and I try not to be too harsh about it and I say that I forgot that the pizza was to go.  He’s skeptical and repeats my statement in a question.  I respond in the affirmative and he begins to pick up our pizza.  My girlfriend tries to stop him and says that he can just bring a box.  At this point, we trust nobody in this place and are concerned for the continued quality of our food (e.g., no spit).  He refuses and says, “I have to take something away”.  We are laughing in shock at how atrocious our experience has been, even if the food was good!

We continue to eat the bread as he comes back with our pizza in a box and the check.  I look at the check and laugh.  Above I had stated that they couldn’t honor the coupon if I wanted to add $1 to it for thick crust.  Well the check is just a standard, written out check from an old diner era.  They didn’t even offer to bite the bullet and just make it that way.  I pay the bill and tip even more what I thought was deserved (which was nothing).  We exit as quickly as possible and “Big” Joe gives us a disheveled sighing “Thanks”, as he goes back to work on his computer in what I can only imagine is him trying to figure out how to save his business.

Big Joe’s Pizza and Sub resides downtown Kalamazoo at 210 S. Kalamazoo Mall.  Do not visit this establishment.  The service is lousy, the atmosphere is nonexistent, and the quality is laughable.  Big Joe is a prime example of why small businesses fail.  We would have had a pleasant date if we could have had some decent service and we didn’t feel like we were in a library of hushed whispers.  If you’re a small business wanting to make your stay in downtown Kalamazoo, I feel you don’t have to wait too long for a prime spot where Big Joe’s Pizza and Sub will reside for only a little bit longer.

Who else has a story to tell?  Step right up!