Lat night we thought we'd go eat at Chili's. I was sorely disappointed in my experience, and I think I'm done with Chili's. The worst part? That I went back after I had the same experience last time.
Gripe #1: The raised their prices. A rack of baby back ribs + two sides? Just shy of $17. You know who has better ribs than Chili's? A LOT of people, man. Riskey's, Coulter's, Rudy's, Al's, Dickey's, Red, Hot & Blue - you get the idea, right? None of these places has the stones to charge that much. A burger and fries? $9. Get over yourself, man.
Gripe #2: The cross-promotion with Shiner Bock beer is overwhelming. I get that you use Shiner Bock Beer in your BBQ sauce and in your burgers. You don't have to mention Shiner Bock in some iteration on every single page. It's annoying, man.
Gripe #3: You changed the menu and removed a lot of things that we liked to eat. The Fajita Pita, for one. Toni liked those. I get that you are trying to stay abreast of eating "trends" and that Brinker International has spent thousands in market research to determine what people like to eat, but you guys are making the same mistake that Bennigan's made - you're giving up on the stuff that made you famous and built the client base that you depend on.
Gripe #4: Quality control. Braums has a better chicken sandwich than you do. Know why? They put a bigger piece of chicken on the bun, man. It's not rocket science. And the "world famous" burgers? Dry and unremarkable, man. Really forgettable stuff.
Gripe #5: Waitstaff. Your servers are insincere and follow a script instead of interacting with us as real people. Here's how it goes every time:
"Hi! Welcome to Chili's. My name is ___________ and I'll be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you guys off with (insert focus item being marketed this week)?"
While I acknowledge that suggested selling and upselling is a tried and true method of increasing your businesses per capital income, when it comes across as the sales ploy that it is, the overwhelming barrage of being marketed to it becomes irritating and offensive. Instead, try training your staff to treat and interact with your customers like human beings instead of ATM machines. I know Brinker International has developed these sales strategies and has an extensive track record of making them "work", thereby increasing the restaurants profit margin, the stock price of Brinker stock, etc. but, man - I for one have had enough of being marketed to when I go to a restaurant. Jeebus, man - I just want to eat, ya know?
I may go back for the Chocolate Molten Cake, but if I find someplace else that sells it I'm gone for good.
Toni and I are stressed, but we're going to work through it. Please keep all advice to yourself, as what feels like a constant stream of unsolicited input is a frequent contributor to that stress. Toni got screwed out of a date night tonight, but I'm going to make it up to her tomorrow.
I had another tattoo idea - : MOLON LABE
From the internet (a reliable source, right?)
The Greek phrase Molōn labe! (Μολὼν λαβέ; approximate Classical Greek pronunciation [molɔ̀ːn labé], Modern Greek [moˈlon laˈve]), meaning "Come and take them!" is a classical expression of defiance reported by King Leonidas in response to the Persian army's demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae.
Molon labe has been recently used in the 2007 feature film 300 in which Leonidas speaks this famous line in English in response to "Spartans! Lay down your weapons!" as "Persians! Come and get them!"
I think I like this one as well, even though it's been adopted by a lot of gun nuts (probably because it's cool). I was recently informed that I'm a gun nut, so apparently that's something I need to acknowledge and make my peace with. I have no intention of getting "cured" from that one.
Anyway, I think that's it for tonight. Toni made dinner, and we have more work to do tonight. Odd how much emphasis I put on work, huh? I put it before my wife and kid, even. I hate to think that I learned that, but I have no other excuse.
I mean, is it wrong to put work in front of your family? Probably.
Is that God's will for me - to damage the relationship with my wife so I can get more work done? I doubt it.
Will I lie on my deathbed and wish I had worked harder? God - I hope not.
Will focusing on work (and really, let's call it what it is: the result of work, which is money) add joy to my life of the life of my wife and daughter? Nope.
Is this one of the reasons that God says that then love of money is the root of all eavil? I imagine so.
Am I doing it still? You bet.
Is it a learned behavior; something that's a part of my core belief system? Yep.
Is this a problem? Like say, a characher defect, something that I might need to address before it damages my life to such an extent it starts hurting my family? I don't want to answer that one, so it probably is.
Want to know a reason I don't want to acknowledge it? I think I learned this behavior from my Dad, this working. And a bit part of what's wrong with that is my tendency (in fact, a complete and concious willingness) to push my wife as hard as I push myself, and that's wrong. Will I have to admit to msyelf that maybe Dad was wrong on this one? Maybe so, man, and I don't want to do that. That's a hard thing for me to do, not only because I want my dad to be right about everything, but because it means that I have another layer of shit I have to fix on my own; another core value that I need to change, and that's tough, man.
Huh. I didn't think I'd end up here. I just wanted to write about Chili's.
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11 comments:
Gotta call B.S. on this one, Ian.
"Want to know a reason I don't want to acknowledge it? I think I learned this behavior from my Dad, this working. And a bit part of what's wrong with that is my tendency (in fact, a complete and concious willingness) to push my wife as hard as I push myself, and that's wrong."
Don't make excuses. A strong work ethic is a good thing. Dad never sacrificed his family for his work - if he had he would have made a heck of a lot more money. There was never a time he would not stop whatever he was doing and help us or mom or someone else. He glued parts back on toys, came and towed us when our cars broke down, and helped us anytime we asked.
He never missed a minichurch or an elder meeting or a football game. He came to every halftime show and play. He never bought himself anything except pipe tobacco and coffee and worked hard at boring jobs far beneath his intellect so that he could be home more often.
I know you have to work a lot to pay bills and get out of debt, but that's not dad's fault. Just take responsibility for what you can control and quit blaming your parents.
I was at a seminar just yesterday and one of the talking points was balancing work and family. They provided the following quote that I plan on hanging up at my desk: "What I really regret is that my high need for achievement led me to neglect time with my family, so that they paid a greater price for my ambition than I did"
B- you know I love you as a brother as well as your wonderful family. Why do you choose to openly and publicly criticize your brother instead of calling him or contacting him in some other way to see whats up?
Your parents are great people and Ian is in no way attempting to disrespect them. They call and, as I notice, Ian talks with his dad weekly more than you and he (Ian) talk to each other.
If Ian did not respect LJ, he would not have put so much time and work into Scott Company- especially when the economy/orders were faltering and MANY people advised him to quit.
Whoa - I'm not blaming Dad in any way, man. Everything I do wrong is ultimately my fault.
I know you and I practically worship the ground Dad walks on, and with very good reason. That hasn't changed for me.
There's a difference between blaming (failure to accept responsibility for one's own actions) and acknowledging where you learned a behavior. Once you figure out where you learn something, it becomes easier to figure out how and why you have a tendency to engage in those behaviors, and then change, modify or adapt those behaviors as appropriate.
A strong work ethic is a good thing - no doubt there. Working 60-70 hours a week, getting mad at your wife when she doesn't do the same, and being too exhausted to spend any quality time with your daughter aren't as good.
I hope that makes sense - I'm not blaming Dad - I'm simply saying that I learned to work that hard (and maybe too hard) from him. In my mind, I have to compete with that, or at least keep up. I feel like Dad spent every waking minute working on something, and that's a difficult standard to hold one's self to.
Yes - he stopped working to help and be there for his family when it was necessary, but he always had to stop working, which means he was working to begin with.
Again - not blaming, just saying where I learned what I think I learned.
I hope that made sense.
I think this comment was much more clear than the actual blog post.
I think what you were driving at in the post was sorta a C.S. Lewis-y sort of thing. All of the sinful (evil) characteristics that we have as humans are in actuality Godly traits only corrupted.
So you take a Godly characteristic (such as a very strong work ethic) from wherever you learned it and when sin gets in the way it turns into something bad.
Hey Toni - I love you too and thanks for loving my brother and the rest of our wacky clan.
You're right, I should call Ian more. But I addressed what Ian said here because it was said publicly here and I thought it disrespectful to our dad.
Ian - thanks for clarifying. I love you and I understand what you mean by finding out where our tendencies come from. I disagree with you in regard to dad teaching us to work too hard because I did not learn that from him. While he did teach us to work hard, he did not teach us to get mad at our wives when they do not work as many hours as we do and I thought you sort of lumped those two things together, but I admit I could have misread that. I think that holding Toni to an unreasonable standard is more where you are frustrated rather than the hours you are working.
I have no recollection of dad ever getting upset at mom because she woke up at 7 instead of 5. I suspect that is because mom was very busy keeping her family clean, clothed, and fed as well as caring for any number of other households in our family or our church. Though imperfect, dad appreciated (and still does) how much his wife was doing and overlooked any flaws because she is, like your wonderful bride, an incredible and God-sent help mate to him. And that is something we can both learn from him.
I don't worship the ground dad walks on (though I know what you mean)I just love him and appreciate all he and mom did and continue to do for us. They are, next to the Lord, the greatest influence on who I am today. I give them credit for the good and take responsibility for where I lack and try to learn from what they taught us, both the positive and the negative, which I think is what you meant in your comment.
The only person holding you to that work-every-minute standard is you, not dad. Or anyone else for that matter. And I think that too is what you are tying to say. Unless I misunderstand again - an ever-present possibility.
Oh and by the way, I totally agree with your Chili's rant. Their Margarita chicken used to be a whole heck of a lot better. But that molten whatever is freaking good.
Kent and I love (d) the Kickin Jack Nachos at Chili's. A couple weeks ago, we went and they were gone. In their place? A soggy, football stadium like nacho that really sucks. We are also done with Chili's. Hey! We can be done with Chili's together. Pizza House though? We are definitely not done with that and y'all need to come and go with us.
Work, for your father was also his hobby. At least part of it was. A lot of time he spend just doing some kind of experiments/research because he loved doing that sort of thing. Some of his efforts paid off some didn't.
He still spends his days even here "doing something" fixing things or tutoring students in chemistry at the school. He will also sit and read lots of books. He will continue to get up at 5:AM until his life on this earth is over or he is no longer able to do so because that is who he is. That is the direction he has chosen for himself.
He would not expect either of you to make choices based on how he has chosen to live his life. (not that you have)
I think he did a great job of raising his sons because I see what fine men you both are. Just so you know he loves and is very proud of you both. Just my commentary.
Ok, I have to say something because the word verification is "uncle"...no joke! hahaha
Anyhow, I do have something intelligent to say...I think = )
I have a neighbor down the street who reached out to me in friendship, I responded. But once she saw how "busy" I am, she made the decision that I was too busy to be her friend.
She never gave me the chance to create room in my daily life for her...which I would gladly do!
It's not that I AM busy...it's that I STAY busy. I like being active, doing stuff, working on stuff, up and moving around, accomplishing stuff.
I have plenty of free time...and what makes me happy is to be busy, active and working during that free time. That doesn't mean that I don't have time for a friend!!
I think this is what your mom was saying (by the way, do you think they would adopt me? you and Brandon could have a sister!!). When LJ had free time, he did the same stuff...worked on things...because that's what he enjoyed.
From the outside, it looked like he was working ALL the time. But from the inside, to him, he worked and then he played, which still looked like working to the rest of us but was fun for him.
So if you're not enjoying working during your free time, STOP! Do something you DO enjoy...whatever that is as long as it's healthy for yourself and those around you.
I'm going to write to my neighbor and explain what I just told you...pray for me to word it right. She's a new believer and I'd really like to be her friend!
I hate work.
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