Today, I went to a cafe for lunch, hoping to cheer myself up. I ordered a chinese chicken salad and coffee.
This cafe has a cute gimmick. They print a scrambled word on the bottom of the “special menu” each day. If the customer can unscramble it, he can win a free dessert. Most patrons don’t bother playing. Some spend their entire meal scribbling on their napkin, trying to decipher it. I took one glance at the scrambled letters — and immediately saw that it spelled “unpreparedness.”
“Is the answer — unpreparedness?” I asked.
“Yes,” said the waiter, but he seemed uneasy with me.
“Did you hear the answer from another customer?” he asked.
“No, I just figured it out. I’m usually not that good at this, but I figured the root was “ness.” And maybe my mind is so unscrambled already with stuff going on in my life, that it was easy for me.”
“Did someone leave the answer on the menu?”
“No, I just figured it out!”
“In one second?!”
At this point, the patrons to either side of me where eavesdropping, and shaking their heads at my immorality, as if they had just encountered Bernie Madoff stopping off for a quick bite before going to prison.
“So, you really figured it out?” the waiter asked again.
He clearly thought I was a fraud, much like the policeman thought of the young Indian winner of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in “Slumdog Millionaire.”
With no proof of my deception, the waiter was forced to give me a brownie at the end of the meal.
It was a minor victory.
Mmmmm….brownie.
People are just so untrusting these days, they just assume you are ripping them off. That’s pretty sad.
Hmm. You were unprepared and look what it got you – a free brownie. Maybe “unpreparedness” is the key. (That probably only makes sense to me. Sorry. Just thinking out loud.)
I just had a weight watcher chocolate ice cream sandwich – yummy – just like your brownie!
Bravo!
See…life is full of sweet surprises…keep the hunger going!
This used to happen to me all the time in middle school when it was close to a holiday and the teachers didn’t want to do anything anymore so they’d hand out those mimeographed word finds and I would find all the words right away and they always thought I cheated and I never understood why I was being punished for doing what they asked.
I think I’ll go play Word Challenge now (on Facebook. Best game ever for nerds.)
You need to eat in restaurants with harder puzzles or smarter people.
Let me get this straight–they’re mistrustful of you because you’re smart?? I thought the Bush years were over.
Minor victory is still a victory
What an ass. The server, not you. I hope the brownie was good.
Admit it. You’ve been playing Word Challenge.
I hope the brownie cheered you a bit.
i love those word games, you either get them right away, or you spend hours not getting them, it’s how your brain clicks i think.
enjoy that brownie!
You can tell us the truth. We’re prepared for it. Who did you hear it from? Is there some blogger who posts the word of the day each day?
Weird that he would question you so hard. Who cares if you heard it from someone else. If you had the right answer they should honor that.
Wow, how weird is that server, who cares. I am glad you got that brownie and I hoped it helped cheer you. XOXO
Egads. You can’t even win something that’s rightfully yours without putting up a fight anymore. Neil, I’ll bake you a whole pan of brownies just for the hell of it.
That’s the kind of crazy thing that would have flown me into a blind rage. I hope you didn’t give that guy a good tip.
Apparently, that waiter’s never played Word Twist on Facebook. Dude. All I DO these days is scramble and unscramble words. It’s an addiction!
uyo redsvede het winboer
What a victory indeed.
One Sunday morning I was listening to the Will Shortz Puzzle of the Week on NPR & the answer just popped into my head. Turns out it was supposedly a hard puzzle. A mini but satisfying victory.
word scramble, distrust, brownies yada yada, have you voted for my header yet?
Awesome. I’m going to gather up the Word Twist addicts to have a meeting there. I’m sure your waiter will love us.
Not so cute a gimick afterall
Next time stand up and yell, “the scrambled word contest is a fraud.” Perhaps you will get your whole meal free.
@ Noel.
Got it instantly. You’ll have to do better than that. I’m not sure how, though. There’s only so many ways* you can scramble the word “the”.
@Neilochka
A post that doesn’t involve Sophia, or a woman who might replace her. This is progress.
HB8
*9
Come on. You are clearly a genius.
This reminds me of Harvey Pekar. I like that.