Never a dull moment in the life of Stacey

Wow, a bunch of awesome stuff has happened in my normally average life. One of my besties n DR roommate Misty came to visit from DR/Wisconsin so she could come to the French district convention in North Carolina with my family and me. I'm not going to get into the convention program because i know many still haven't attended yet so i'll be considerate and say nothing other than it was AMAZING and it actually made me cry in public which NEVER happens.
Now, for some strange reason, whenever the two of us get together crazy experiences seem to ensue. That being said cut to Wednesday when we arrive in the middle of nowhere town of Salisbury, NC. It's about 10 pm and Misty, Girardo and I are STARVING. Seeing as how we dont know the area very well we're at a loss for what to get to tame our hunger pangs. So Misty calls the front desk and ask if there are any fast food places open late in the area (bc most of the place in the hotel's restaurant directory close @ 9 pm since we're in Hicksville, USA). The front desk woman says "Oh yea, there's a Wendy's right across the street." Perfect! So the three of us head out on foot since we figure that if its across the street, no need to contribute to the growing hole in the ozone layer by burning gas in a car.
So we walk to the front of the hotel, look right & see nothing, then look left & see more of nothing. Then we squint and turn our heads slightly on an angle n see lights further down. But no Wendy's sign. Hmmm... why not? We're always up for an adventure so we walk towards the light. So there are no sidewalks, no streetlights, not much of anything really but we just keep walking, in the hope that we'll stumble upon this elusive Wendy's, whose existence I'm honestly starting to doubt at this point. Then finally like an oasis in arrid desert (i'm sorry for the excess of drama, just getting a little carried but we were REALLY hungry) we see the Wendy's sign. And Misty says "What kind of across street is this? We're really in the country!" Truer words never spoken. But here's the best part, after walking to Wendy's Misty sees a Waffle House sign and says "Hey let's go there instead!" Now normally I'd object but since she'd been in the DR so long without one I figured I'd indulge the request. So further on we walk.
We eventually reach Waffle House and walk in. It REEKS of cigarette smoke bc apparently one can still smoke indoors when you live in the middle of nowhere. We then seat ourselves at one of the only empty tables and wait for someone to wait on us. Now just by looking at the rag tag waffle house team, we should have run for the hills but i try to not judge a book by its cover. But all the three of the employees were a strange mixture of redneck and emo, sporting dark goth hair and multiple facial piercings and tatoos but opening theirs mouths and sounding like characters right out of the Beverly Hillbillies. Regardless, we wait... and wait... and wait... Until finally a woman walks over to us and ask if she can take our drink orders and we say yes and make our requests. Then she asks us if we need menus. [Wait, do we need menus? Am i not in a restaurant? Do i seem to have the daily specials tatooed on my arm? Or do i look like i know the value items by heart? Yes i need a menu!] We say yes we'd like menus please and she says ok i'll be right back with some for you. So apparently being "right back" means something COMPLETELY different in Salisbury bc we waited like 10 minutes before she even brought our drinks back. Then she just walked away! No menus, no order taking, NOTHING! Then she walks over and answers the restaurant (of u can even call it that at this point) phone and proceeds to have a conversation with someone I'd have to assume was a manager. She says to said person (and imagine the most redneck accent possible, then multiply that x 10) "I would do my job if someone named DAVID would help me" And it just so happens that her tatooed counterpart standing right next to her is wearing a nametag that reads David. Burn! Then she gets more upset, then says "Well you know what? Tonight's my last night anyway" and she hangs up and we three can just feel the screwing over that was about to take place with our meal. She then walks away then walks back over again and asks if we're ready. We would have been if we'd had menus. So she finally gets us some then starts to take our order and we have a glimmer of hope of salvaging our night, only to have her answer her cell phone halfway thru my turn & before Girardo can even go, so she can converse with "manager" again. And she says "No, i havent even had one drink all day" then gets mad and hangs up and walks away again. And i think "Yep, we're screwed. Not only is she quitting but she's also and alcoholic. GREAT."
So a couple of minutes later "David" comes over to us to ask if we've been helped and we say know. Then he walks away and she eventually comes back and asks us uf we're done ordering. [Seriously?! Are we done?! You walked away before we could even get a word out! No I'm done! Are you done throwing a tantrum?!] And we say no and she finishes taking our order. So as we wait for our food, Johnnie (our waitress) is standing nearby writing stuff and Misty, with her heart of gold, asks her so nicely i alomost felt bad for being mad on the inside "Johnnie, are you really quitting today?" and Johnnie says yes and complains about poor working conditions and how she's been there 3 years. So Misty asks "Do you have any children?" Johnnie replies "Yes and I'm a grandma." And our jaws drop! She didnt look anything over 36 or 37. So I ask "Wow, how old are your children?" And she says "My daughter is 16" Oh. Then awkward silence. Then FINALLY our food comes out and we start to dig in and its amazingly, spectacularly, wonderfully... cold. What a bummer.
All that drama, frustration, & displaying the fruitage of the spirit only to get crappy food that's already bad for you? Epic fail. And to add insult to injury, despite the fact that the food and service were a royal disaster, we still tipped her about 18% because we felt bad that she was quitting in these tough economic times with a kid and grandkid to take care of. Darn Misty for making me feel compassion! Lol!