bon appetit

I went to SM Mall of Davao this morning. I skipped breakfast, so instead of going directly to the supermarket (I ran out of cat food and litter) I decided to have Krushers and and a box of fries at KFC. 

In the United States KFC has earned bad press because of the company's inhumane treatment of animals. But in my city it is hailed for being highly sensitive to Muslim dietary restrictions. It is halal-certified, which means chicken are slaughtered in strict compliance with Islamic laws. Their Double Down sandwich makes use of chicken ham instead of the pork variety. Because of this, they attract a huge Muslim patronage. A good marketing strategy.

But that's not the reason I'm writing this. Let me continue. I sat in one corner of KFC, slurping my yogurt-based drink while I waited for my fries. Kristine, the service crew, asked me if I was willing to wait 15 minutes for the fries. I nodded. I was not in a hurry. 

While I was seated two men (probably in their late 30s to early 40s) occupied the table a few feet in front of me. The restaurant only had few guests at that time. My fries arrived. I started nibbling them. One of the men opened a plastic bag and took out a deodorant roll-on. He removed the cover and smelled it. He looked pleased and offered the deodorant to his friend to smell. His friend declined. I thought that was it, that the guy would put the cover back and return the bottle to the plastic bag.  He looked around and thinking that no one was watching him, he took the deodorant under his shirt and proceeded to rub it on his armpits. At that point I wanted to throw up. Is urbanity too much to ask for? I reprimanded myself for not looking away. I witnessed the whole episode in all its grossness. 

I gorged on the fries, sipped all the contents of my glass (careful not to vomit) and exited the restaurant. I went to the supermarket and did what I was I supposed to. While I was paying at the counter, my cousin Pipo sent me an SMS.

"Are you in the house?"

"Nope. I'm in SM."

"I'm also in SM. Where are you in particular?"

"Grocery counter."

In a minute, Pipo was there.

"Let's eat," he said. So we walked to Shakey's Pizza. We ordered pizza and mojo fries. While we were chatting I looked around the restaurant, recalling the last time I ate there. I couldn't remember. My attention was then caught by a small, light brown insect crawling on the next table. It was a baby cockroach. 

Two restaurant horror stories in a span of two hours! I didn't want to forget it. So I took the camera from my bag and snapped a little memento to remember it by.