"We Don't Serve Bagels Like This!"

The journey of a bagel from the rack to the bag can be an interesting one.

First, since when did making a bagel become so complex? It use to be simple. I want a plain bagel with plain cream cheese. Why? Because that was the only option. Now there is a bagel for every flavor in the universe - the Everything bagel (what does that even mean?). Beyond that, did you know that Dunkin Donuts has Salmon Cream Cheese? That's what I want, fish smeared all over my toasted bagel. They also serve bagels as sandwiches and with eggs, sausage, ham, and cheese on this miracle bakery creation.

I suppose in theory, that's why the "bagel shop" barely exists anymore. Corporate chains like Dunkin, Panera and Einstein wiped out the rest of the independents because of their ability to offer more variety at a better price with faster service.

On a recent visit to Dunkin Donuts my wife ordered (as always) a plain bagel toasted with plain cream cheese and five munchkins. You can't get any more original and simple then this.

We pull up to the drive through window and pay, get handed our munckins, which we begin eating as we wait for our bagel. We wait, and wait and wait and before we know it, our munchkins are gone....still no bagel. Remember this is a plain bagel toasted with plain cream cheese....

Bagel hand off. We are on our way to Target.

In the Target parking lot, my wife opens up her delicious, hot, plain bagel with plain cream cheese...with a chunk cut out of it.

Chains like Dunkin Donuts, Panera and Einstein I believe have a bagel slicing machine. It takes about 3 seconds and the bagel cuts itself. It didn't today. It appeared that the lower corner was cut off on some type of slant. After a few seconds of staring at the mangled bagel with a smudge of cream cheese in an awkward corner, we decided to go back.

We walked inside and my wife took the bagel to the counter and showed the Dunkin employees what we had just been served. One employee was horrified and picked up the bagel and took it to the back bagel making area and raised it up and said, "Who. Did. This?!" Of course, no one confessed. The employee continued, "We don't serve bagels like this!!”

In a few minutes, we were served a fresh, hot, properly sliced plain bagel with plenty of plain cream cheese.

Dunkin Donuts did a few things right:

- They admitted they were wrong.
- They made us feel like we were bagel experts.
- They fixed the problem.

We were already die hard Dunkin Donuts bagel fans, but now we are committed for life.