Can I brag on my husband for once?

(No, I'm not bragging on Anna Marie this time. Mostly because she's still getting in trouble every.single.day at school and I don't feel much like bragging right this minute.)

Yesterday after church, we went down to Zaxby's for lunch. Jason had a coupon for a free meal, so we figured that was the place to be.

Now, Zaxby's used to be one of our favorite places to eat. Then, when we moved from SC, we were Zaxby's-less for several years (except for those trips to his mom's house). And then, a couple of years ago, wonder of wonders - they built one a mere 30 minutes from us!

And all was right with the world.

Back to yesterday. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich combo, with plans to take the chicken off the bread. I also asked that celery and carrots be subbed for my fries.

Because, you know, most reasonable fast food joints are trying to repair their unhealthy image and allow such substitutions.

Well, the guy taking the order seemed fine with it. We paid and sat down to wait for our order, only to have Mr. Cashier Guy come find us a few minutes later and say his manager said I couldn't substitute the veggies. I'd have to order a side of them.

Huh?

So, I asked how much that would be. I thought that surely they'd just upcharge me 50 cents or so, like when I order a salad or a baked potato at Backyard Burger.

Um, no. I'd have to pay nearly $4 for the sandwich, plus another $2 for the celery, plus the $1.50 or so for the drink.

The combo I'd ordered wasn't but $4.99 to begin with! I'd have been paying an extra $2.50 for them to leave the fries off my plate and plunk some celery sticks down in their place.

By this point, I was pretty miffed. Not at Mr. Cashier Guy, because it obviously wasn't his fault. No, I was mad at The Man - you know, the one keeping me down and my weight up.

"Just bring me the fries," I snapped. "I just won't eat them."

So he did, very apologetically, and I didn't. Threw the whole order away. I wouldn't even let Anna Marie or Jason have any. I did end up eating part of the (badly burned) bun, however.

How hard is it to please me? Hmm? Not very! Celery, people! All I wanted was some celery!

Well, Jason was incensed. And if you know him, you know that's a rarity.

He got up and found the name and phone number of the franchisee for me. He's expecting me to call and lodge a complaint!

(I'd rather send an email, but that doesn't seem to be an option on their website.)

After lunch, we went to the auction so he could do inventory. I was feeling just awful about the whole thing. He was venting the entire time: "Those celery sticks don't cost them any more than the french fries. I work in food service. Don't try to pull that junk on me!"

I guess he was worried about my lackluster lunch (because obviously, if I miss a meal I'm putting myself in danger of starving to death) because once we got there, he started pulling out leftover vegetables.

He made me make a salad! With fat free raspberry vinaigrette and everything!

This whole experience may not sound like much, but really, he normally doesn't get involved in my petty issues. I think this was partly a matter of principle, because like I said - it takes them just as much energy to put celery on my plate as it does fries!

I got to checking around today, and found a message board where people were complaining about the company's lack of substitutions. But you know what? It has to start somewhere! Wendy's didn't just wake up one day and decide to let me get a side salad or a bowl of chili with my combo - I bet someone asked!

So, here I am. With the help of my newly enlightened (although still chicken-strip-and-fry-eating) husband, I'm on a quest! A quest to get restaurants to get off their collective lazy behinds and give us healthier choices!

Watch out world - here come the Turners!

ETA: He just keeps impressing me. We're scheduled to upgrade our cell phones next week, and we've been researching new phones for months. We both settled on a Blackjack II - well, it took me some convincing, but now I'm practically salivating over them. Things have been a bit tight lately - we had to buy that new laptop when his went kaput, and the tags on both vehicles expired in March, and he had a blowout last week and had to buy a new tire for the Jeep, and several other things have come at once. I had told him that, if the finances didn't allow for both of us to get the Blackjacks, that I'd just get whatever phone was free so he could still get one. Guess what - my husband, who, despite his general fiscal responsibility, isn't that great of a saver - he's already got the money for our phones socked away in an unused checking account! So I don't have to worry about my Blackjack (except maybe that they won't have the red one I'm really wanting!) And, he's already figured out how to lower our minutes package (because with nearly everyone we call being on ATT, we for real don't use anywhere near that many) so we can afford the PDA plan! I just knew there was a reason I turned the finances over to him while I was pregnant with Anna Marie!