In case you don’t read my blog on a regular basis, well,
shame on you! You may have missed my
compelling, sad tale of my seemingly fruitless quest for a Tuna Cheddar Melt
from Eat n Park, which I first published this past April. You
see, on Easter Monday I really, really wanted a Tuna Cheddar Melt sandwich
advertised on the restaurant’s website only to arrive at the restaurant to find
that it was a Lenten Special. It was
perhaps the only time in my life that I was sorry to see Lent come to an end.
Anyway, I wrote a lengthy comment of complaint to the Eat n
Park website and ended with a plaintive plea that the restaurant reintroduce
the Tuna Cheddar Melt as a regular menu item.
Several weeks later, I received a nice letter of apology from the
restaurant, and a $5.00 gift card for the confusion. Not one word about adding the sandwich to the
menu, though.
Despite my ongoing ache for the taste of the Tuna Cheddar
Melt, I resigned myself to the fact that you can’t always get what you want and
thought that I would perhaps live out the rest of my days without ever getting
no satisfaction. Yes, my life was now
like a Rolling Stones song, or two.
Then it happened. I
went on the Eat n Park website one day, and they were having a 7 Days, 7 Deals,
7 Dollars Special where they were featuring a different sandwich for $7 each
day of the week, and Friday’s special sandwich was…. the Tuna Cheddar
Melt! I decided on the spot that I would
have one that very evening. Luckily, I
held myself back from getting too excited, because when I got home and told my
husband the good news, he gently reminded me that it was Tuesday, and the Tuna
Cheddar Melt was the Friday special sandwich.
Drat! I would have to
wait three more days before achieving the dream. Then I started to question myself. Had I idealized the Eat n Park Tuna Cheddar
Melt? Would the sandwich be as good as I
remembered it to be? What if it were a
huge disappointment?
Friday finally came, and I had a
plan. I had rehearsal that evening, so I
would order a Tuna Cheddar Melt to take out.
I programmed the local Eat n Park’s phone number into my cell phone so
that I could make the call just as I left work.
The Tuna Cheddar Melt was
everything I remembered it to be and more. With its lightly buttered toast and
the melted cheddar and the slices of tomato on the tuna salad, it is the
perfect tuna salad sandwich. I plan to
buy one every Friday until the Special is over.
I’d like to think that my
impassioned plea to Eat n Park that sad day in April brought back the Tuna
Cheddar Melt, even for a short time. But
I doubt it.
Hmmm. I have always loved tuna sandwiches. I found it to be my "comfort" food. There is nearly 8 years difference between my sister, Ann and I. During my more "conscious years" we didn't live together. She went away to college when I was 10 yrs old. She got married after college, so we really only had that short period of time living together under one roof.
ReplyDeleteFlash forward to Christmas of 1998. My dad passed away on Christmas Eve, my sister was living in Washington D.C., and had come up in time to see him. After he passed, we went to a diner together to have something to eat. We both ordered tuna sandwiches and potato chips. When the sandwiches arrived, we both stuffed the sandwiches with the potato chips, and realized we both did the same thing. She said, "I only do this when I'm stressed". I said, "me too"! So there's my tuna sandwich story. I wonder how many of our friends also have tuna sandwich stories??? Maybe something with an early Catholic upbringing? Something that's associated with injured knuckles?? hmmmm. Frank fmcjr@hotmail.com
What a great story, Frank! Thanks for sharing that. I think we all ate our fair share of tuna on Fridays growing up. :-) My other favorite use of tuna was to put it in macaroni and cheese, which was my son's favorite food, as a way to get him to eat fish when he was young.
ReplyDeleteMacaroni and cheese is still your son's favorite food.
ReplyDeleteHmm, who could this anonymous poster be??? BTW, I know that...
ReplyDelete