12-foot lizard sighting!!!!

I reluctantly agree to go to the Farberware of sandwich shops, "Cosi", which has only about 18 locations in my 5-block midtown radius. I'm not wearing my glasses today so the menu tacked up above the sandwich-preparing area is impossible to read. Thankfully there are small take-out menus at the head of the line but I still feel rushed. You can supposedly "create your own sandwich" by choosing from among their ingredients but before you can even read the pre-selected specials you are being barked at to order... so i'm like.... "#10 please" whatever the hell that is. Whatever, it's on very good warm flatbread though so I'm not complaining too badly, it's just that the ordering process is fucked.

So I snag a little table with my extra-large lemonade and my really fucking delicious sandwich and eavesdrop on the conversation next to me... "yes, we're introducing several new breads... you see those brown bowls? those are the first thing the customer sees when they walk in.... we've got the squagels [??] and [something else] in the pipeline... blah blah" so finally I'm like "hi, re you in charge here?" The man who was talking says "yes, my name's Andy. I'm the CEO of Cosi" and he shakes my hand! "Everything okay for you today?" I say yes, it's a great sandwich. But I have some criticisms, would you like to hear them? "Oh, I hear them every day. Was the service alright?" Oh yes, the service was very fast, no complaints. But I felt a bit... RUSHED ordering my food and then I related the whole poor placement of the menu thing, the small font they use, and of course he tells me he's been working on this very problem—in the new stores the menus are placed at the head of the line so you have a chance to figure out what you want BEFORE being barked at. "And if you have any questions for Subway you're in luck, because this is Subway's CEO!" Ha! THEY ARE ALL IN ON IT TOGETHER! (favorite overheard bit: "so, you working or traveling?" "oh, working mostly.")