Update #2: Jollibee in Queens, NY now open to....fleece you!

If you were inside the newly opened Jollibee in Queens around 5 past in the afternoon last Friday, sitting on one of the plastic orange chairs, splitting french fries between the three of you and nothing else, then you might have been among the recipients of my evul-eye or H's death-stare. It was just our luck that on one coldest nights of the year, we were out stuck in a long queue snaking around a block, partly because the fellowship of the fries wanted to painstakingly savor every piece of the potato stick. 

We went on a Friday, less than a week after the opening day, thinking that the hype has died down. Oh we were wrong. The queue was long and the wait-time was longer. I kept telling H, half-shrieking, half-whining, than I was not getting in line--but you know how that ended up. In the queue, we were handed a generic Staples ticket, which they stop distributing at 6pm. 

I thought my pink ticket was exhibit A to the efficient service I was to expect. Wrong again. The line was definitely long but not long enough to make the more than 2-hour waiting time reasonable. What exacerbated the waiting time was the bouncer's erroneous assumption that everyone in the queue would be dining in. Hence, he was trying to regulate the crowd in a manner that would ensure everyone will grab a table inside. For an establishment that seats 70  (allegedly), and with no more than a cursory glance by the bouncer to ascertain available seating, it was no surprise it took as long as it did, although it did not make it any more excusable. While the hype is at its fever-pitch, the management will do well to have separate queues for take-outs and dine-ins and dedicated cash registers accordingly. Although I can understand why Jollibee would want to keep the lines as long as possible; It made quite an impression on everybody else not in the line and certainly piqued their interests as to what we were in the line for. 

After about a couple of hours I finally made it to the cash register--and then I was mugged. It was mystifying. As if on a trance, I reached for my credit card and handed it to the mugger. I even flashed my driver's license for identification and then signed the permission slip for her to conclude the thievery:

Palabok Family Pack - $17.79

Jolly Crispy Fries Large - 3.59

(1) Peach Mango Pie- 2.29

(2pc) Chicken Joy - 4.99

Plus tax. While the rest of America is scaling back on spending, Filipinos fall in line to do the opposite, albeit forcibly. To answer the pressing question buzzing in the heads of those rubbernecks and curious passers-by in the immediate region of 62-29 Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside, we were in the long queue to pay our respects to hyperinflation.

I wish to God Krystal's Palabok was up to par with my expectations. I have a feeling my days of relative financial security are numbered.