Pass Key Should Call Itself Pass Me

Who knew I'd have something to vetch about so soon? Okay I know I live in a small town, in fact technically I don't think it is a town, I do know it isn't incorporated (that was explained to me but honestly I can't really remember what it means).

There are no real sidewalks, but there are two traffic lights; each at opposite ends of the 'town'. There is a Safeway anchoring a strip mall at one end (of course I live at the other end of town), and a Super Walmart anchoring another strip mall; both located off the major highway. And  once you leave the highway there are a smattering of independent business.

Now if you know me then you know that while I love the convenience and savings of major chains I really prefer to support independent store owners, writers, etc. Whenever I can I pay the slightly higher prices that come along with such independents. We are a non-vehicle household. That means we do one of four things to get around 1) walk, 2)  public transportation, 3) depend on assistance from friends, or 4) cabs (we do not do this often as well we aren't wealthy).   Well where we currently live option 2 is no longer an option as there is no public transportation here. That leaves us with option 1, 2, and 4. Thanks to modern technology we actually do okay typically with those three. Sigh, except for when it comes to delivery.

While there are plenty of restaurants to eat at they don't have delivery and when you are a non-vehicle house hold delivery is important. Wait let me be fair several local restaurants have teamed up with a delivery service (the quality of this is an entirely different post) that for an additional $8-$10 plus tip you can get delivery. Yeah, on our family budget it's a big enough treat for us to afford to order out, we can't afford that kind of delivery fee. So we eat at home a lot, or Subway, the other restaurants that are within walking distance haven't inspired us much.

Okay now that I have painted the picture of where we currently live let me get to the, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????" point of this vetch.

I am a freelancer and work online (yet again topic for another post). Patrick also works online but he is actually hired by his company so technically he telecommutes. His company has several telecommuters all across the US. And the corporate office often tries to do things to make them feel like they are part of the company, you know since they cannot participate in office parties, barbecues, etc. Well they awarded free delivered lunch to some of their telecommuters, of which Patrick was one to receive the reward. He was entitled  to a lunch with delivery totaling $15. Well, you saw the issue with delivery right. Now there is a restaurant that is about three blocks (if this town actually had blocks) from where we live. We ordered from them once when we first moved here but we were not impressed at all with their 'famous Italian sausage' signature sandwich so we never bothered to try anything else on their menu. Patrick decided this would be an excellent opportunity to try something else without us having to pay for it; at least if we were once again unimpressed it wouldn't have cost us anything. He'd simply walk over during his lunch break and pick up the order. Problem solved. You would think so wouldn't you.

Corporate office called in his order and was told that they do not accept credit cards over the phone. WHAT??? Not that they don't accept credit cards mind you, because they do, just not over the phone. What year is this? Can someone explain to me the logic in accepting credit cards but not over the phone? Heck at the very least then I should be able to order online (yes they have a website but no you cannot order online). It would make more sense to me if they didn't accept cards at all.