Of chickens and DPWH projects

Ben Contreras .

IT used to be just “Chicken Joy” when people talked about Jollibee. Then I discovered that the thigh part is the best for me. That protruding butt of the chicken is just too tempting to ignore. Besides, the cut is always big. In Tagalog, they call it “sulit.” But the staff of some of its branches have the bad habit of telling the customers: “Sir, walang thigh part.” That’s preposterous. Sino ba ang kakain, kami o kayo?

How many times did I quarrel with the attending people? Many times, I guess. When I am not in the mood, I usually give them a lecture, a mouthful, too. But when I am calm, I usually just admonish them not to be like that or even talk to their superior.

Perhaps, during those times, McDonald’s is not doing that good so that I hardly had that experience. McDonald changed their recipe by following the taste buds of the Filipinos. Now, they’re selling well and I always patronize their fried chicken. It was a wise decision.

Later, McDonald’s acted like Jollibee. So, what’s so special about thigh parts? Are they choice cuts reserve for a later time when the leg, wing and breast parts are sold out? I don’t think so. But they certainly owe me an explanation.

Maybe other people were also complaining that they started changing their approach. “Sir, your thigh parts would be ready in 20 minutes.” That’s fine with me. At least, it doesn’t make me angry.

Lately however, they’re back to their old ways. “No thigh part, Sir.”

“I will wait.”

“Sir, no thigh parts talaga.”

“Look, I am the one who’s eating and not you. I will wait.” (I said that louder.)

In five minutes or less, I got my thigh parts.

The way they cut the thigh parts is no longer the same. No more protruding butt and a bit smaller. But I don’t mind. I still go for them.

Please Jollibee and McDonald’s, tell your people to follow what the customers ask for. Do not wait for something ugly to happen or for customers to lose their cool.

I have complained to the Department of Trade and Industry about this conduct. I love your chicken but let me eat what I want to eat, not the one you want to give me. Is that too much to ask?

***

The price of fuel has continued to increase. Money is lost when motorists lose gas in the middle of a traffic jam. It’s not just money, it’s also about time. With time lost, productivity suffers.

A problematic and chaotic traffic in the city is now aggravated by projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways. Are we so behind that we can’t work on road projects on a 24/7 basis? Or, is the problem with the contractors?

Only a few favorite contractors get the big projects and when their hands are too full to handle some projects, they subcontract them out to smaller contractor who may not have the necessary equipment or facilities. This explains the delays in finishing the projects.

It can also happen that the subcontractors again subcontracts the same projects to smaller contractors. How do you think the finish product would look like? Substandard and ugly!

I wonder if the new regional director of DPWH would agree with this observation.