My love-hate relationship with Subway

Subway is always a great fast food alternative.  It is fresh and healthy and in general makes me feel good after eating it rather than the sloppy (but amazing) beef brisket sandwich at Hog Wild, Mmmmm...

However Subway has one fatal flaw!  They can't seem to get a handle on the amount of sauce to put on their sandwiches.  Usually I get the chicken teriyaki sandwich on either the honey oat bread or the parmesan bread with provolone cheese, toasted, with cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, banana peppers, salt & pepper and of course the teriyaki sauce.  But they always drench the sandwich in the sauce and it doesn't matter which Subway I go to (there are now 3 very close to my house) or who makes it, they ALL do it.  It must be a mandate handed down from the big guys at corporate to program the saucy bath into their brains as part of their training or something.  I pretty much always go through the drive through so by the time I get home to eat the bread is soggy.  I hate soggy bread!  Not to mention all you can taste then is the sauce.  Why bother with the rest of the food if you a aren't going to be able to taste it?

So, I always ask them to go easy on the sauce.  They still seem to go wild with it and drench my sandwich.  So then I started really emphasizing that I barely wanted any sauce on it.  Still they usually put way too much.  I was left thinking "if this is 'easy on the sauce' what do they normally do, dunk the sandwich in a tub of it?"

Finally I figured out the perfect solution.  I decided to ask for the sauce on the side.  That way I could put on the exact amount that I wanted and it wouldn't be soaking into the bread on the way home.  Brilliant!

Now Monday I came home from work and Jenny was exhausted, apparently growing a baby wares you out, and the kids and I are starving.  So I throw the kids in the car and run by McD's for them and go across the street to the brand new Subway, with my scheme in mind that will fix all of my problems.

First I had to wait a few minutes before they would even take my order.  Obviously this guy was new because he kept telling me "one moment" as I ordered so I would pause for him to catch up.  I asked for the sauce on the side and he said "No problem".  Then I pulled up and waited, paid, waited more.  The manager came to the window and said it would probably be about four minutes and asked if I would like a cookie while I wait.  No problem I would love a chocolate chip cookie to share with the boys.  Then Jacob told me that Ethan was a asleep.  This is an inconvenience because it is too close to bed time and now he will have trouble falling asleep after he eats.  That's not good. 

After waiting about four minutes like she said, the new kid brought me out my sandwich in a bag, but there was no side of teriyaki sauce.  I pointed that out to him and he hesitated for a second and said "oh right... ummm yeah let me get that."  That's not good.  While he got the sauce I opened my sandwich and sure enough... it had been baptized!  He brought me the sauce and I said, very nice but firm "you already put the sauce on the sandwich didn't you?"  He looked at me sheepishly, "yeah".  I handed back the sandwich to him and told him that I was going to need a new sandwich, again very nicely.  (I don't usually do that sort of thing but as you have read above this has been an ongoing battle with them for months and I am determined to break them of this over-saucing habit.)

At this time there is a girl in a car behind me who has started honking her horn in order to get someone to take her order because she has been waiting so long.  They aren't short handed, I could see at least 3 employees and the manager through the window and there didn't appear to be any customers inside either.  After waiting another 5 minutes I am began to wonder what was going on so I peeked through the window.  It looked like the manager was making my sandwich I could see her putting on the veggies, then she reached for the teriyaki sauce... NO... WAIT... STOP!!!  

A different girl brought me the sandwich and the manager was standing behind her.  She handed the bag to me and I said "You put the sauce on the sandwich didn't you?"  Her eyes got wide and her mouth opened but with nothing to say.  The manager behind her heard what I said and she closed her eyes and hung her shoulders in disbelief of her own carelessness.

"Would you like any chips or cookies?", she asked as I put the car into drive.  "No I don't want to wait any longer, that's fine" I said in frustration as I pulled away.

How was the sandwich?  Really not that bad.  Will I go back?  Yes, and someday Subway I will break you of this terrible sandwich drenching habit of yours!  Every sandwich should have the right to live free from the threat of being soaked and hopefully someday soon no bread will have to go soggy again.  You may have won this battle... but I will win this war!!