Seriously?.

This is a rant, so if you don't want to hear it, skip this entry. With two small kids I am an an expert on all the area restaurants with playgrounds.

There is a restaurant that is close enough to the house that I can throw the kids in a bike trailer and ride up there in about 7 or 8 minutes. We will call this restaurant Rick Monalds. This restaurant has a dollar menu and a fantastic playground. But the employees, especially the morning crew have issues.

At "Rick Monalds":

• I have waited over 3 minutes at 5:50 a.m. for someone to take my order or even acknowledge that I am standing less than ten feet from them. Then seen other customers greeted with huge smiles.
  
• I have asked for a coffee refill and had a lady take my cup, set it down (while there is a full pot of coffee ready to go), take the time to start a new pot before filling my cup with the coffee that was sitting there the whole time.
• Today was the mother of all smacks in the face. I met a buddy up there at 6:00 a.m. At the end of the meal, I saw a sign that said you get free coffee with ANY purchase between 5:00-7:00 a.m. I asked my friend if his coffee was free? Nope, they charged him for it. He proceeds to show the manager the receipt and asked for a dollar refund. No biggie right? The lady would not give him ONE DOLLAR. She said, he had to ASK for the free coffee. What a crock of crap. I think the dude taking my order should have asked me if I wanted a free coffee with my purchase, but no such offer was given. I proceeded to get the Regional Managers name and phone number and explained to the lady that this type of service is why her restaraunt is empty in the mornings. Probably could have left that little jab off. I have had enough of this place, and will only go there to buy a 99 cent drink while my kids play on their playground.

That type of treatment is why we commonly drive acorss town to a restaurant we will call "Fic Chila". From the moment we walk in, we are greeted warmly with smiles, the folks ask us how we are, constantly want to know if there is anything else they can get for us, and respond to any request with the phrase "my pleasure". The manager at Fic Chila knows my kid's names and it seems everyone working there makes and effort to make sure we feel special each time we show up.

The food is not as cheap and the playground is not nearly as elaborate at "Fic Chila". It is a hassle to load the kids up in the van, and it takes longer to get there, but it is worth the drive.

All of this has reminded me how important it is that we make sure we provide a welcoming environment each and every week at Catalyst. Make sure that people have an experience that keeps them coming back. Make sure we don't hack people off enough that they go home and blog about "Katalyst" Church in Rowlett.