When I was in fourth grade, my family and I found a new restaurant to meet for a coffee and a bagel. Little did we know that Panera would become a part of our daily routine. In the summer, my mom, sister, grandmother, two cousins, aunt and I would meet at Panera every morning. During the school year, these daily meetings switched to just the weekends. Here are six ways you know that you visit Panera too often. (P.S. All of the items on this list have happened to me or my family.)
1. The same employee who rings up your breakfast order takes your lunch (or dinner) order.
Yes, this has happened more times than I would like to admit. Enough times that I consider changing clothes in between visits in the hopes that the employees won't recognize, but I have decided that you have to just own your intense love for Panera Bread.
2. You buy managers gifts when they leave your local Panera for another job.
When I was 10 years old, we gave Mindy, the departing manager, a Vera Bradley purse in a black and yellow pattern. Obviously, this was an important moment in my life because I remember everything about it ten years later. We've had some managers in between. One left to go to nursing school while another had to have his hip replaced.
3. The management staff at Panera sends flowers to your great-grandmother's funeral.
My dear great-grandmother, Tau Tau, died in May of 2003. My family grieved and so did our extended family at Panera. They sent a beautiful flower arrangement to the funeral home.
4. At least five employees know your name and have your order memorized.
There is also one who never makes you pay for your plain bagel sliced and toasted with butter even though you are an overeager 10-year-old who is a little too excited to use her own money to pay for her breakfast.
5. A Panera employee gives you regular updates about her love life, which include photos of her with her new boyfriend.
Yes, I can also tell you all the details about their last date.
6. You know a detail about an employee's personal life that you could have lived without knowing.
I'm not gonna put this burden of knowledge on you lovely readers, but I hope you can catch my drift.
Yep, I spend an unhealthy amount of time at my local Panera.
