Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My husband and I recently began the 'No White' diet. We do have some questions as far as allowable foods. If anyone knows or has advice on the following foods we would appreciate it! brown sugar, salt, any cheese(cheddar), mayonaise, type of salad dressing(?), bacon bits, beans, fruits, where to eat out and what to get. I know this is alot to ask about, but any advice would be great. thanks!

I'm confused. It's not a question of math or fractions at all to know that "nine-tenths" is the same as "point-nine." I think that's pretty standard. I think the poor deli worker's confusion was not that she didn't get the math, but that she had never heard someone ask for such a specific amount. To speculate about her education is frankly uncalled for, particularly in a post with spelling errors and a complete disregard for capitalization and other grammatical niceties.

Definitely a case of a customer trying to show his superior "intellect". When someone purposely embarrasses a service employee, I have no sense of humor.

I'm not sure that luck has anything to do with certain venues not having employees who know basic skills and/or know how to provide good service.

If a certain performance level is asked of an employee and then they are held accountable for that level of performance, then the level of service and skills should be met, aside from the usual mistakes and accidents that happen to everyone in any activity on a daily basis.

Most employees will rise to the level they are held to. Look to the management, not the employee - when service level is consistently low.

As far as fussiness goes, as I said that's fair play when a service or goods are being exchanged for the customer's money. The customer has the right to ask for what they want or go somewhere else. And every person on this earth is a little nutty, including myself who is major-league nutty.

I admit to detesting the use of the word "douche", particularly when given as description of a woman. But I guess that's just a style thing. :) That I find it offensive certainly does not mean anyone else has to!

Yours in detailed fractions and ounces,
Karen

umm, hi, redhead here.

i don't feel insulted, offended, or perturbed by anything in this thread, be them comments directed to me, or anyone else who posted. in fact, i'm shocked to see how many responses there are! i figured i'd come back in a week, and there would be one response of "yes, you're weird. don't you know deli etiquette calls for asking for things in quarter pound increments, and you should take whatever the deli employee gives you?"

i wanted to know if my deli counter requests were weird, and the major response so far has been: pretty much

i was interested in know if other people also ask for odd amounts at the store, or just kind of take what they are given, and the general response has been: people pretty much take what they are given, even if it isn't exactly what they want.

so my questions have been answered. if i'm of the opinion that the college kids working at the deli should have at least an 8th grader's understanding of math and fractions, then anyone else is welcome to the opinion that i'm fussy, anal retentive, weird, etc.

SE is as fun as ever for me.

if you are going to put yourself out there and share, please take your "Eats" seriously and not yourself. Check the egos at the enter key. ;-D

crazyspice at 4:39PM on 03/18/08

Was that a directive given, crazyspice?

As far as redhead needing a bodyguard, I doubt that she does. The name-calling and tone of some of the comments bothered me (That's me with a capital "M" actually!) so I take responsibility for my personal opinion on that (this is aside from the fact that personal attacks are against the SE conduct rules that are posted, regardless of how very funny they may be to those who enjoy that sort of thing).

I'm afraid my empathy lies with the poor girl at the deli counter who has been denigrated and judged, unfairly IMHO. She was neither discourteous nor rude, just confused. I'm sure it was the first time she had ever heard such a request and it threw her, but she tried her best to comply. And I'll bet she didn't laugh and mock. She probably had to stop her heart from racing, and think about what just happened and how she could better serve next time. When I first read the post, I thought you were joking. I'll bet she did too, at least for a moment.

deli counter worker: so, like, a little less than a pound?
husband: no, nine tenths of a pound. that's exactly how much my wife and I can eat before it goes bad.

here's my question: are we overly anal retentive about quantities .....

To answer your question. I think yes, you are. Answering a specific question is not an insult. It's just my opinion.

@crazyspice: I agree that if you're big on precision--I am--and can't laugh at yourself, things go hard with you. Then again, insults (this ISN'T directed at you, by the way) don't show much of a sense of humour, either. I think the level of objectivity that people show in their responses is some indicator of their sense of humour.

If this isn't making much sense, I should explain that--inspired, incidentally, by your description of a bourbon marinade for steak--this evening's thorough efforts to determine PRECISELY whether whiskey, tawny port, or vodka would make the best venison marinade have left me a bit... marinated ;)

This is sooo OT, but Karen Resta, since you mentioned "fantasy," I can't get "Dear Mr. Fantasy" out of my head. I may have to download it when I get home!

And, hopefully, those folks who thrive for precision and perfection, intellectual or otherwise, will keep in "mind" that laughing with others as we laugh at ourselves is what makes us, well,,,,,,,,,,,us.

@Karen--Aahh, this is your mitzvah. *nods sagely*

Ha, ha! No, crazyspice, fantasy does not come in a bottle (in my house at least!). :)

Imagination, like any other thing in life - needs to be exercised daily if one wants to have it in good condition.

But back to redhead and her dilemma.

When I first read her initial post, I said to myself "That's a little nutty to be that precise" and beyond that, the topic was not all that interesting to me.

It became interesting a bit later, though - due to some of the responses she garnered. Some of those posts evoked an emotional response in me. Whereas previously the "problem" did not seem to be a big one, it became one in my mind when the name-calling began.

Though I understand this is part and parcel of internet site entertainment and should be read as that, my habit is sometimes to jump right in when personal comments are made from one poster to another who happened to post their thoughts about a topic. Direct and (here is the important part) personally directed comments thrown out at someone, unhindered by tact, always make me slide right over to the side of whomever it is that these comments were directed at.

So I've taken up the side of redhead in her way of doing things. Just because.

And rhetorically I will attempt to find reasons for her to continue, for the tactics used in argument against her seemed worse than anything she posted that she was doing.

SE has been getting a lot more of these personal attacks posted lately - someone else mentioned this in another post recently. It's a shame. It turns debate into noise.

Off for more coffee (the drop of fantasy in it tastes wonderful, you should try it sometime!),
Karen