I Saw a Cockroach at Denny's

Cockroaches and Denial

    There is something special about second-dinner.
 It is comforting, calming, and gives you time to access your thoughts of the day. You don't have to carry them into your bed, cycle with them all night long, and wake up groggy the next morning. It can also make you gain weight. But that's for another Blog...
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    My husband and I excitedly headed out at about 10:00 pm for our second-dinner. It was during the early planning stages of our YouTube channel and we were swirling with ideas and plans. We had many late night planning sessions during those first few months, as both of us still worked full-time hours.

 We were anxious about spending some face-to-face time together too. So we landed at the only local spot that was close to our home, and still open at that hour, Denny's. Not the greatest food, but they had bottomless coffee for me and the Diet Pepsi's that flowed freely for Jason.
    We were seated in a booth way in the back of the restaurant that seemed to have lower lighting, which we were rather happy about, since we didn't need the bright lights to brainstorm. Plus, it was right by a window, and the night lights made us happy, relaxed, and it was kind of romantic, for a Denny's, anyway. We ordered our food. Gazed lovingly into one another's eyes, and talked YouTube.
 I was served my steaming hot cup of goodness, and Jason had already sucked down half of his Diet Pepsi when I noticed something crawling on the window next to me.
   "Ewwwww..." I said, "Look at the giant gross fly"... I didn't have my glasses on.
     I thought it was a fly. Jason started his investigation of the situation, but it was so high on the window that neither of us could tell what it was. So we went on talking for another couple of moments.
    The next thing I know this 1/2 inch "fly" was crawling right next to me on the window sill! By now I have figured out that it was, in fact, NOT a giant fly. I didn't really know what it was, but I knew it wasn't a fly. It was a creepy-crawly thing that was getting waaaaay too close for comfort!
    "Oh my God! That's not a fly! What is that?!?!" I blurted out jumping back in my booth-seat.
 

Not an actual photo of the Dirty Bug

"That's a cockroach", Jason said, in his calm-as-a-cucumber-Jason-way.

***Let me stop right here and give you a little personality background about us:
    I am an extrovert. I talk with my hands, and because of my public speaking experience, I don't whisper. I am artistic, intense, and a little goofy, to be frank. Type A personality.

    Jason is an introvert. Although his co-workers find him to be "the quiet type", he can be quite the conversationalist with me, but he does it in a a very low voice. The word he knows well from me is "what?". He is wicked smart, very witty, and very humble. Type B personality.
   He is the calm to my storm .***
   
     So, Mr. Calm said, "That's a cockroach". 
   I freaked out, and suddenly felt a little dirty. And upon closer inspection (but not too close), I realized he was right.
     It was the Dirty Bug. A cockroach. Oh...My...God...!!!!
I was so conflicted about this creature that was crawling around in the romantic, low-lights of the Denny's, hoping it didn't jump into my hair or, worse yet, into my coffee (God forbid! Not my coffee!!!). We passionately discussed saying something to the waitress.
    Then she brought us our food... We stared at it for more than a minute. Seeing if it moved.
   How could I eat it with that THING walking around right next to me? So I got up and felt I should be very discreet. I was really trying to do them a favor by not letting the other patrons at the restaurant know that their restaurant was gross and infected with diseased bugs. So I quietly let our waitress know that we had a cockroach joining us at our table for second-dinner. Once I returned to the table, she approached with a napkin, asked me where it was (right next to me, still crawling about on the window sill), and squished it, then said, matter of factly, "There, okay?"...
    I was not okay. Still really NOT OKAY.
 

We tried to make the best of a bad situation and carry on with our conversation and eat some of our food, but it was extremely difficult. I suddenly imagined (and felt) like my head had a thousand crawling itches, that my leg had something creeping up, that there might be cockroaches in my food...
     Finally, we just decided we couldn't relax any longer and got up to leave. As we left, we caught a glimpse of our waitress (who had disappeared after she killed "the beast", so she got little to no tip), and then I saw him...
      The Manager.
    Right there at the register.
 I again, tried to be discreet, but he had to be made aware of the infestation. And in my opinion, we really shouldn't have had to pay for our food.

So my title, "Cockroaches and Denial"... Here's why:
    The Manager seemed to be already aware of the situation, as he was a little nervous and jittery when I told him of the situation. He interrupted me, put his hand up as to, in a way, shush me, and actually said, "No, it was NOT a cockroach."
    "Yes, Sir, it certainly was a cockroach, and where there is one there are more, so this has to be dealt with. Plus we should get some sort of discount or something. This is ridiculous." I said.
   "It was not a cockroach." He insisted again. "But what do you want? What discount??" He was clearly agitated with me... The woman who had to eat with the Dirty Bug.
    I told him the discount amount (I should have asked for the meal to be free, but I chickened out), and he said, "Fine..."
    "Is this going to be dealt with?" I questioned back.
   "It is not a problem! I have been the Manager at this location for years and years and we have never had a problem with cockroaches."
    "You have one now", I interrupted.
          And here is where his denial got really good. 
    "Well, probably the cockroach got brought in to my restaurant on someone's purse (pointing to my pristine purple purse) or something like that!"

   Now there were others that could hear what was going on, and could hear the gross backpedaling of this desperate man.
     First, he was calling me a liar saying it wasn't a cockroach.
     Then, he was admitting it WAS a cockroach, but that I probably brought it in on my purse... that pissed me off.
Clearly, we've never been back.
   I wrote a very professional letter to Denny's and they wrote back to me telling me that the situation has been taken care of and thanked me. Not even a "Here's a Free Meal on Us". Just a thank you. Not that we would actually use a free meal coupon.
Our skin crawls at the thought of eating with the Dirty Bugs.

    But what made us more sick, was the denial. 
When we are backed into a corner, sometimes the easiest route may seem like making up excuses to absolve yourself of responsibility. But the truth, and a sincere apology, will always win out.
Every single time.

Jason and I spent many late nights (too many) at Denny's eating second-dinners before that night. . And if the Manager had said, "Oh my! I promise you this has never happened before and our protocol is to call immediately and get it dealt with, I am so very sorry." And then offered up some customer service on his own rather than barking, "What do you want?" to me, we might have returned to Denny's. But now. We won't go to any Denny's.

We're IHOP fans now. And I won't deny, that we have had about 4 second-dinners at IHOP since this happened.

In Conclusion, a little important wisdom as a cautionary take-away:
~Cockroaches are gross.
~Cockroaches carry diseases.
~Some say they are high in nutrition, but ewww... (and I've eaten scorpion, ants, cow brain, cow balls, goat eye ball, live octopus, and pupae dipped in sauces... so that's saying a lot for me)
~Second-Dinners can make you fat. But they are comforting and productive.
~Good customer service can keep people from writing Blogs about you.
~Come back to your table after you've killed the cockroach and
                                           you'll probably get a tip.
                                         ~Tell the truth.
                                         ~Denial is gross like a cockroach.
                                         ~ Just say you're sorry.

**About the Denny's cockroach photo above: I found many photos online about cockroaches at Denny's. I didn't make this one up on Photoshop. Think on that...**

Shelly Livingston
Wife, Mama, Nana, YouTuber, Minister, Woman Who Does Not Eat With Cockroaches
YouTube Channel (About Art and Life Building Stuff)
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email for all the hate mail from the Denny's faithfuls: shellyslifecreatesart@gmail.com
    Or supporters... That would be cool too....