It's a Team's Life
Covid Surcharges
When the restaurants closed in the truck stops leaving only fast food-to-go options, we stopped eating in restaurants. In the past seven months, we have tried a couple of times to eat at what was formerly fast-food restaurants we enjoyed. We waited in line at an In-N-Out Burger for our food and then waited some more. Bob made the mistake of leaning on a stool at a counter and was quickly told that was unacceptable from across the room. That will be our last time to eat at an In-N-Out restaurant.
We tried a Mexican food restaurant near a truck stop that had outdoor dining. We had to order just inside the front door and then move to an outdoor table. The weather was decent, the food and service were good, yet we had to hang tight to our napkins as the wind tried to blow them away and fight off flies and ants. It was not worth the hassle.
Many restaurant owners are becoming creative, trying to keep their doors open by using outdoor seating and to-go containers. Their expenses have gone up, yet they have had to limit their indoor dining space if they can have indoor dining. The wait staff now has to battle the elements to deliver food outside, and I have to guess limited menu items in many places.
Some of the changes that I have read about for our future dining experiences:
Paying a Covid Surcharge
No Menus - scan a code with your phone and read the menu items on your phone
Throw away paper menus
Using a card only to pay to remain touchless
Ordering a meal kit from a restaurant and cooking the meal at home
More options to have a meal delivered to your home
Boxed meals for catering - no more long buffet tables
No more getting your silverware, napkins, and condiments - you will need to ask for these
No more getting your refills
In order to not go through all of this, cooking inside the truck has become the norm for us. I can usually cook on the weekends and make enough food to last for the week. We can eat inside the truck at our convenience and know-how our food was prepared. After basically seven months of not eating out, we are good with this. Not only have we saved a ton of money, but we can also relax and eat at our leisure.
What we miss about not being able to sit inside a truck stop restaurant is visiting with friends and meeting new people.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.