This being the most recent of my recent return to Subway sandwich shops in the Madison Wisconsin region, recently.
Avoided this chain as if it might've been someone with an unpleasant disposition for near 20 years.
But just yesterday I asked myself one question. "Self, I ask, why did I boycott Subway?"
"I don' know" was the reply.
See, in May 2006, a bit over half year after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans I was hired to design emergency power generators. This was an exciting year, see precisely two years prior, my son was born and three weeks after that I became unemployed. During the first week at this demanding new gig I was introduced by my colleagues to my first Cousins Subs version of the Submarine sandwich.
It blew my mind.
How could something that appears to be the same thing, be anything but?
But it was not the same, not even close.
Similar, to be sure. But vastly different.
During the next few months I became a fan of that business.
It bares mentioning that one day, the nearby businesses competitors of the company I was working for, happened to come upon my resume and were sniffing around to see if my talents might be for hire. Out of curiosity, I opted to meet with one of the headhunters during my lunch hour, and as it happens, that meeting was at Subway.
Because this clandestine meeting was held at the competitors to Cousins Subs I loved the irony. A larger well established company that builds sub quality level emergency generators invites me too pry me away from a young but growing company that builds truly mammoth power generators that dwarfed the puny toys. They must've suspected I might be able
to provide some super power. But buying me a low rent sandwich was all they could come up with?
Clearly I'm not implying Subways products suck. But for a time, many years in fact, I have essentially been going strong on that perceived view. The stories been altered a tad, to draw a kind of comparative narrative. Cheap humor.
My final as well as initial point. This particular Subway, last night, stood out in two ways. The two ladies working were examples of how slow two sandwich makers might possibly be slower than even a state worker when put to task.
By state worker, I refer to DMV or Social Security office drones. Those two offices hold records, probably in all 50 states as being staffed by the human equivalent to the mammal kingdoms slowest occupant: The Sloth.
A thankless job but I'm told, decent pay, and security. A job you can both begin a young career, and close out 30 years later without concern for getting fired for low production and never being expected to raise a sweat.
Subway isn't supposed to be that way. But of this regions 4 Subway franchises I've been to in as many weeks, this place is possibly vying for that coveted ultra slow work place mentality, so that perhaps retired state workers who might become bored doing nothing, all day, slowly, needs an activity that (apparently these days) doesn't fire the dead wood that can't speed up.
When I worked at Subway, I've mentioned this previously I'm certain, if anyone couldn't make two sandwich's at a time, or similarly, couldn't make one in the 60-90 seconds required time, they were told to seek employment at the DMV.
OH yeah, now I remember, why I stopped going to Subway.
It wasn't because they sucked
It was because they are unbearably slow.
Thankfully, which explains the recent resurgence in my visits, they also happen to be cheap. Not living at home recently, domestic problems, means I'm eating out every day. So this month cheap beats out the better quality offered at Cousins and Jimmy John's and the rest. Hope next month I can return to my Subway boycott. read more
