preMEDitated

A few days ago I went to the city branch of Jollibee in Iligan.
Since I just came from the community, I went to the lavatory to have my hands washed. Unfortunately, there was no water. I went queuing with dirty hands, and decided to order something that didn’t involve finger foods like french fries.
Miss, pa order kog Chicken and Spaghetti ug one rice, I told the saleslady.
Miss, I want the Chicken and Spaghetti plus one cup of rice.
Unsay drinks, sir? she answered.
What drink would you want with that?
Coke, I told her.
Sorry, wala na mi Coke karon. Pineapple ug Iced Tea lang among available.
Sorry, we don’t have Coke. We only have pineapple juice and iced tea.
After a few seconds of trying to decide, I said. Kanang Pineapple lang.
Give me the pineapple juice.
Mag-add ra ba ug P12 ani, she said hesitantly.
You have to add P12 for that.
Ngano man? I aked her while my blood was heating up.
Why?
Dapat i-upsize man pag mag add ug pineaplle juice
You have to upsize your drink if you want to order pineapple juice., she said.
Now that statement almost made my blood boil. I answered her in a sarcastically polite voice.
So if I don’t order pineapple juice, I won’t be having any drinks? What happens to the money I’d paid for a regular sized Coke?
What kind of policy is this? You make us pay for something we’re not having, or you let us pay extra for something we should have gotten from the value of our payment.
Sorry, sir. Ipunch mangyod namo ang pineapple
I’m sorry, sir. We are required to have the pineapple juice purchase credited.
I took a good look at her. She looked tensed. She was jittery, and was obviously wishing she was in another place. I could easily pounce on her and, pummel her with arguments against their bureaucratic policy. I was about to call the manager on her, but she reminded me of someone who used to work as a phone technical support agent: me.
I used to sometimes bear the brunt of customer dissatisfaction. I was one of the many ears and mouthpieces of the company who had to face irate customers, whether with legitimate or non-legitimate concerns. People from America called me for help with their computers.
Some of them complained about the company. In such cases, I had to resist the urge to tell them that I’m only the disembodied voice of help. Yet I was tasked and paid to represent the company. I was part of the company, and that meant I had to own all its policies and faults.
The girl in Jollibee was clearly waiting for another backlash; but I changed my mind. I let her off the hook. It was not her fault that Jollibee Iligan lost its water supply. It was not her fault that the same branch lost its supply of Coke. She was merely there to accept orders from her superiors and from her customers. I knew exactly what she was feeling. I didn’t want her to be forced to defend something that she herself was annoyed at.
So I paid the extra cash, went to my table, and ate; because I was already very hungry. In the middle of my delicious meal, I forgave Jollibee Iligan: main branch for not supplying running water, and for lousy service and policies — that’s how
good their food is for me.