I've resisted the whole Google craze as long as I could. I was never a fan of simple, especially when it came to computers. The more complicated, the better. A search engine with a white screen and a box just didn't do anything for me - I wanted more . . . more colors, more functions. But over the past few months, I've noticed that I need simple in my life. In fact, there are probably a few areas where I could stand to simplify to better manage my time and increase my productivity. It would also rid my life of some clutter - both mental and physical.

I found myself using Google's Blogger and exploring some of the simple yet neat features that it offers. I've also discovered Google Toolbar isn't annoying, but actually very helpful. I can login on my computer at school (or any other one that has the toolbar), and my bookmarks that I use at home will show up on the toolbar. Google Reader is a great (simple) way to keep up with all the blogs that I read. When I use Google Toolbar to access my Google Reader page (one-click access), I can immediately see all new items from any blog. I can also share items on my own blog with just one click. A box on the right side of my blog allows my readers to read items from other blogs that I've found interesting.

One of the first items that I shared using Google Reader was my friend Michael's complaint about the horrible service he had received from the satellite Internet provider and its subcontractors. The satellite Internet is something that we dealt with at church for over five years, and it's one of the things that I definitely DON'T miss about being on staff. Being a couple hundred feet from the DSL line, we were never able to talk SBC into installing service, and for some reason, cable was never an option. We were stuck with satellite - like it or not (we always chose the not). To follow up on Michael's "good example of BAD customer service," I'll provide my own such story from this past weekend.

Our Academic Team is approaching the end of a very interesting season. This past Friday, we made up the meet that was postponed due to the snow storm that provided for a very unique Capitol Day experience. With no other available dates in February, the other coach and I settled on a Friday afternoon. The meet was horrible - we lost by fifteen points (our worst defeat yet) to bring our record to 3-4. Leaving the school, I allowed the team to vote on where we would eat - between White Castle, Arby's, Burger King and Taco Bell. They chose Taco Bell.

There was a Taco Bell in the town where we were, and there was one in a town we were driving through. I told the bus driver we would just eat in the town where we were so we wouldn't have to get off the highway . . . and I said that it would be cleaner, anyway. Around 5:15, we piled off the bus and headed into the restaurant. It was the worst mistake I've made in a long time, and one that I'll regret for a long time to come.

I should have realized, when we walked into the restaurant, that seeing six people with individual orders waiting on their food was not a good sign. Furthermore, after watching the employees preparing the food, I should have drawn a conclusion that their speed was anything but adequate to keep up with the light volume of the restaurant, and so we should turn around and walk out. Unfortunately, by the time I realized that, five of my students had placed their orders and we were past the point of no return.

Our first order was placed at 5:22. We had sixteen people in our group, with eleven orders between them. The last order (mine) was placed at 5:36. Should it take fourteen minutes to take eleven orders? I would definitely think not. But I'm easy to get along with, and I try to be patient, so I didn't get upset. I started getting upset, however, when I realized that none of the people who were waiting on their food when we walked in had been served in the time that it took us to place our orders.

As I stood in the restaurant waiting for my food, I started taking mental notes about everything going on around me (well, more behind the counter than around me). On the bus ride home that night, I jotted down a few of the things that stood out:

1. At one point, the lady taking orders had been sweeping. When customers entered the restaurant, she put the broom between her legs as she took their orders.
2. An empty hamburger container (like the ones at Wal-Mart) was sitting at the end of the assembly line. It had raw hamburger dripping from its edges onto the counter where they were preparing the food.
3. One man assembling food was doing so without gloves on his hands.
4. Another man who had been assembling food was carrying around brochures without taking off his gloves.
5. My assistant and some of the students watched one man who was preparing food as he dropped the guacomole squirt bottle. It landed with the point hitting the ground; he picked it up, put it on the counter, and continued using it without cleaning it off.
6. Everyone was moving slowly, including the managers. And yet, they had the hardest time keeping the food picked up off the assembly line, and they still couldn't find time to completely wrap the food before putting it into the bags.
7. My order number was 127. After I had waited about thirty minutes for my order, another man who had been waiting a much shorter amount of time said that he was tired of waiting, and so he politely asked one of the employees if they could fix his order out of turn. She gladly took his receipt and another lady's receipt and fixed theirs before the rest of my group's and five other people who had been waiting longer than they had.

Forty-five minutes after I placed my order, my number was called. My six crunchy tacos were finally ready! When we walked out of the restaurant around 6:30, they were serving number 133 and were taking orders above 150. My final complaint about the service of the restaurant is that they took people's orders and their money, knowing full well that it was taking close to an hour to prepare the food, and yet they would not warn the customers. Unsuspecting customers who thought they were making a quick fast food stop were waiting longer for their food at Taco Bell than I waited on Saturday for my jumbo shrimp platter at Landry's; longer than it took to wait for a table then order, eat, and pay for yesterday's lunch, including the unlimited salad, at the Pasta House.

Most restaurants are busy on Friday evenings, especially between five and seven. And most restaurants take some time to fill orders for large groups. However, this restaurant wasn't keeping up with the flow before we ever arrived, and our group wasn't really that large. This season, we have eaten at Subway and McDonald's and never had to wait more than fifteen minutes for everyone's order to be taken AND filled. My wife takes a group of fifty students and parents to Jefferson City each year in May. We stop at McDonald's on the way back, and they are able to serve us in under twenty minutes. There is no excuse for a restaurant to not be able to serve eleven orders in a timely manner. Needless to say, we will not be returning to that establishment any time soon.