Is anyone there to take my money?

We took our kids to Chuck E Cheese last week and I noticed something as we stood at the front of the line for nearly 15 minutes waiting for someone to take our order.

1. There was someone topping off the croutons at the salad bar
2. There were at least two people taking hot pizzas to those sitting at tables
3. There were at least two people cleaning dishes
4. There was one person to help others redeem tickets they won by playing the games

I assume that only one person in the entire place could work the cash register because all of these people could see the line forming. The salad bar is located right next to the register! Several people walked right past the register and didn’t even acknowledge us. Yet there was nobody there to take our 40 bucks for a basic cheese pizza and some salads. The lady who was helping others redeem tickets helped at least two families with young children who took quite a while to select their toys or candy before she was able to take our order.

At a family pizza parlor you’d think taking a customer’s order (and money!) would be at least as high a priority as topping off the croutons. Waiting in line even five minutes with several hungry kids feels like a very long time. On this day at least, Chuck E Cheese had a bucketful of croutons and the kids got their cheap thrills on the rides. I hope next time there’s more than one person who can work the register.