This morning, on my way to work, I stopped by Subway to pick up something to eat. Deciding that I was feeling more breakfasty than lunchy, I asked for a ham, egg, and cheese on flatbread.
The guy behind the counter looked perplexed. "We don’t serve that after 11am, sorry."
"Aww, that’s too bad," I said, genuinely disappointed but willing to go along with this news for the sake of getting food and leaving. Subway isn’t a deli, it’s a fast food joint, and I have no illusions about that.
"You could still get a bacon, egg and cheese," he added helpfully.
"So…..that’s still available after 11, but the ham isn’t?"
"Right. Would you like that instead?"
"Suuuuure." Clerk goes about assembling my sandwich, and asking what sort of cheese I want (pepperjack, of course). Then, as he carefully layers the small triangles of dairy spice on my sandwich, I added "…and I’d like you to, for an extra charge, add ham to that." and pointed at the ham.
"You want ham as well?" he confirmed, with a mixture of wariness and appreciation, as if I was enticing him to do something terribly naughty and he was realising that he was going to enjoy it.
I walked out with a nicely toasted bacon, egg, and cheese AND HAM sandwich on flatbread. More importantly, I have once again subverted the system and shaped reality to my will.
"We have done the impossible, and that has made us mighty."
–Captain Malcolm Reynolds