Greek Salad Craving

I hate to admit it, but my mind wandered today during the sermon at church. I was listening and following along but *all of a sudden* feta cheese popped into my mind.  This of course led to olives, peppers, lettuce.  Oh no...I'm dreaming of a Greek salad during church. I'm pretty sure there's no specific commandment in the Bible like "Thou shall not daydream about Greek food in the Temple" but it's probably something God would frown upon...right?  

This is my church.  It's a beautiful building and was the 1st house of worship built in Columbia

Well, completely by accident, my mind went there.  Next, it was whirring around like the Tasmanian Devil...my eyes began moving (I'm a visual person) trying to locate a Greek place anywhere near where I was headed today.  Then, inside my head, I heard a loud Hosanna!  (I was in church, you know)  I could call ahead on my way to work, pop into the Grecian Gardens and bag myself a big ol' salad to go.  Yes, it's a plan.  That is what I'll do.  Wait, who's that talking?  Oh yeah, I'm in church...it's the minister.  I'm back, I'm listening, I'm back from mental vacation.

Here's the thing.  In some ways, I've become kind of cynical about restaurants.  You ask for something in most places and you have a teenager screw up their face, pop their hip out to the side and say,  "Oooh,  we HAVE TO charge extra for that."  This amuses me on a couple levels.  I love the concept of having to charge extra to satisfy your customer. Who made this rule and who enforces it? "You have to charge them more.  I command it.  I will strike you with furious anger if you give them anything!"  The other thing that's so funny about it is people like my Mom.  She loves this comment.  She then replies with something like "I have money.  This is my order.  I can pay for it." No one in my family is going to walk away bickering over $.75 but it's ridiculous that a restaurant owner would even risk losing any customer over such a pittance.  

Anyway, I called Grecian Gardens today from the car.  A very pleasant young man answered.  I said, "Hi.  I'd like to place a pick-up order.  I'd like a small Greek salad, with no tomato, and I'd like some extra feta."  (Disclosure:  I know from years of experience that you can ask for extra anything and they may sprinkle a little on top or ignore you altogether.  But, every now and then, someone surprises you and does what you ask)  There was no further discussion other than him asking me my name.  No charging extra dialogue...just "thank you very much, it'll be ready in 10 minutes."

So, when I got to the office and opened up my salad box, I was delighted at what I found.  It was a big, beautiful Greek salad with FIVE olives, FIVE pepperoncini (the small tender kind that I love), no tomatoes (so many people in restaurant kitchens apparently think I'm just joking when I say no tomato, so they give it to me anyway) and...get this...not an extra sprinkle of feta on top.  NO, NO...they gave me a container of extra feta!  Can this be happening?  And, I'd forgotten that Grecian Gardens does this, but there was also one of their signature small round loaves of homemade bread!  This salad was shaping up into a true event.  

So, as guilty as I felt about conjuring up the idea of ordering this yummy pile of deliciousness during church, I quickly got over it.  Clearly, there was a plan for me today.  Have a perfect salad, done the way I like it, and a little bit of culinary joy on this fine Sunday!