Faith no more.

Faith no more.

For no particular reason, I can recall

Other than it was a Sunday,

Raining and I was hungry

I stepped into what looked like a nice clean restaurant

Not long opened, I thought.

The menu included a seniors section

It seemed a discount would be a good idea

Why pay more when I have lived long enough

To qualify

Nothing too fancy just locally caught fish, chips and salad

It looked good enough on paper

So I ordered through a gal named Faith

Which should have been an omen for an agnostic

With a complete lack of it in his life

I didn’t have too long to wait

But when it came the plate was a little light

On fish and even lighter on chips

It made me think I had ordered the children’s portion

So less a discount and more a small amount

I let Faith know

I was less than happy and more than disappointed

She seemed to understand my complaint

Excusing herself from responsibility

As a new member of staff

It appeared to me, as a representative of the team

Then the least she should know is portion size

And realise what message it gives

To the customer

When a grown-up is classified as a child

Because they have passed an arbitrary age limit

There was no senior discount

Just less food

I felt insulted enough to leave

But hungry enough to stay

She offered to replace the dish

With a full discounted refund

But would still have to pay extra

As that was the rule

She looked at me as if I was a fool

Three days into a job and already a cynic

So I left

Slipped five quid to a homeless guy standing outside

Hoping his luck would change

I suggested he ate somewhere else

They treated me like a kid

Lord knows what they would do to him

With no discount but a really large serving of food.

But with a warm glow where an empty belly

Used to be, tempering my unease

About the way, it seemed our seniors

Were being discounted.