Just Scan the QR Code

You ask the server if you can have a menu, please. He tells you to just scan the QR code. You don’t know what a QR code is. He asks if you have a smartphone. The server is young, much younger than your son who dropped you off here. Again, you ask for a menu. The server frowns and says they don’t have paper menus anymore. It doesn’t make sense, a restaurant not having a menu. He leaves. You can’t remember why your son couldn’t eat with you. A different server comes over, a woman with curly blonde hair. She shows you the menu on her phone. However, the print is too small for your eyes, so she reads off each item slowly and loudly. You want to inform her that your ears are working just fine, but her smile reminds you of a friend who died a while ago, so you let it pass. You want spaghetti with tomato sauce. She says spaghetti with tomato sauce isn’t on the menu. You don’t understand. It’s an Italian restaurant. She checks with the chef, and he confirms it’s no problem. The young man from before returns to refill your water. You ask for spaghetti with tomato sauce, and he replies that you ordered it already. When you receive your meal, you cut it into bits because chewing tires your jaw. The sauce tastes like it has meat in it, so you ask the server if it has meat in it. She says it does not. It takes you a long time to eat, and the food goes cold. You wonder where your son is. The server comes back with a card reader, but you hand her a fifty, insisting she keep the change. She thanks you repeatedly. As you’re putting on your coat, the manager asks if you meant to tip so much on an $18 bill. He says the server should have had more integrity. Yes, you assure him. Soon you’ll have no need for cash.