Warm You Up

Ah yes, Cracker Barrel the interstate dream restaurant destination.

On road trips as kids we only had one objective: find the nearest Cracker Barrel. It was a place of discovery and wonder. The food was good (my brother wanted pancakes for every meal), the service was friendly, you could play checkers at your table, sit in rocking chairs while you wait and most importantly browse through that wonderful shop full of things you don't need but you buy anyway.

It seemed like the best restaurant on earth: store, games, food, service.....heaven. Then, I grew up (sort of) and got married. My wife hates Cracker Barrel. I never get to go...it's been years since I was last there and I miss it dearly.

Several weeks ago however I was doing some traveling for business and our hotel was in the same parking lot as Cracker Barrel. I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face knowing that the next morning I would be treated to breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

We walked over the next morning and it was frightfully cold outside (about 30 degrees). When I walked through the door I was welcomed by the trinkets, toys and other junk that had become so familiar in my previous visits.

We got seated at a table and moments later our server arrived and asked, "Can I warm you up?"

For a brief second I was rather confused. What the heck was this server talking about?! "Warming me up" could mean a variety of different things...however after glancing that she had a coffee pot in her hand I understood that she simply wanted to give me coffee.

Believe it or not Cracker Barrel actually has some pretty decent food. I ordered the egg sandwich with a side of hash brown casserole.

We don't really need to spend time discussing the sandwich - I'm much more interested in telling you about the hash brown casserole. First, it's a horrible name and doesn't do the dish justice. A better name would be: Mouth Watering Cheesy Potatoes. These things are amazing. Just imagine a couple scoops of cheesy, gooey, hash browns/potatoes all mixed together. Truly a piece of breakfast heaven. If I had really been thinking I would have just gotten an entire bowl of them.

In addition to the casserole the service was even more impressive. Our server came by to refill our drinks and every time she did she said, "Can I warm you up?" Unknown to her a "warm up" was exactly what I needed. I'm from Florida and it was below freezing outside!

Like most servers she could have just asked me if I wanted a "refill" or "another coffee" but instead she took a far more satisfying approach by offering to "warm me up". I loved it so much I think I must have drank about 6 cups of coffee because I kept wanted to get "warmed up".

Imagine a world of restaurants where this kind of language was used instead of standard, boring, unemotional jargon. Would it change the way you felt about the experience....or just freak you out?