For here or to go? You’d think this was an easy question. But twice in the last few days it really threw us off a little.

While away at a baseball tournament we stopped at a food court so everyone could get what they wanted for dinner. The parents claimed a group of tables in the common eating area. I chose Mexican. Went through the line choosing all the items I wanted. The cashier rang up my order and then ask a simple question that left me in a quandary, for here or to go?

What was the right answer? I didn’t think she wanted me to stand there and eat my dinner and they didn’t offer special seating for their food area. So, I surmised that the answer shouldn’t be here, but I wasn’t going very far. Looking over to my friends and then looking back at the girl who wasn’t going to release my food until I provided an answer. Finally, I pointed to my friends and said, “I don’t know, I’m going over there to eat. Is that here or to go?”

To the teenage cashier I no doubt resembled a confused old lady who had lost her car in the parking lot.

Not an hour later my husband encountered a similar situation in which he felt too intelligent to answer the question, “for here to go?” After dinner we all walked across the street to get an ice cream cone for dessert. My husband goes through the line and places our order. Mine was in a cup, so she scooped it and handed it to him. He handed it to me. His was to be in a cone. She scoops it and hands it to him. He slides to the register, holding his ice cream cone. Before completing the transaction, she asks, “for here or to go?” Remember the picture here, he’s holding an ice cream cone in his hand. He didn’t order a pint or quarter of Rocky Road. Why does it matter at that point? Would she repackage the cone differently? He paused a second and just said “here”. Would she stop him if he started to leave? He said he was eating it here not taking it to go.

We concluded that in some great cash register software programmers mind, it was important to know if an order was for here or to go. In some situations, it is. When we are ordering and it’s obvious if not staying in the restaurant that provides tables, a box or bag will be necessary. But food courts and ice cream parlors probably could save that step.

Next time I will be ready with an answer. I’m practicing now.

KK