# Subway, where "everything" does not mean everything. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440 "2008-12-03T01:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/41 "2008-12-03T14:51:33Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I don’t consider this upselling, it’s clarifying the order. I’d bet that a LOT of people who say “I’ll have the Big Mac” actually want the combo and not just the sandwich, if the worker just rings up the sandwich you have a pissed off customer, and have to redo the order. > > Now, asking if you want your combo super sized, or if you want to add an apple pie for $1, that’s upselling. I don’t care what other customers lazily want. I know what I want and if you ask if I want a combo, it’s upselling. It’s not only patronizing to me but more importantly wastes my time, especially when I emphasize that “THAT’S IT” if I happen to get a chance to tell you this before you spurt out if I’d like to make it a combo. ---
**Author:** ![CircleofWillis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/54ee81/32.png) [@CircleofWillis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CircleofWillis)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/42 "2008-12-03T14:52:46Z")
I always preemptively add “…including jalapenos and banana peppers” when ordering my five dollar/foot long tuna sub. My irritation is the “Keeping up with the Quizno’s”, “Do you want that toasted?” No, it’s tuna salad. Cooked mayonnaise is vile." (I am aware of tuna melts, but that’s… just gross) ---
**Author:** ![CircleofWillis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/54ee81/32.png) [@CircleofWillis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CircleofWillis)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/43 "2008-12-03T14:53:50Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Also, they should offer provolone cheese as an alternative to that white American. Every Subway I have been to has provolone. It’s what my son gets on his meatball sub. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/44 "2008-12-03T14:56:20Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t care what other customers lazily want. I know what I want and if you ask if I want a combo, it’s upselling. It’s not only patronizing to me but more importantly wastes my time, especially when I emphasize that “THAT’S IT” if I happen to get a chance to tell you this before you spurt out if I’d like to make it a combo. If you start masturbating while sitting in the drive-through lane you’ll solve a lot of your time management issues, you know. 😃 > [@](#): > > Every Subway I have been to has provolone. It’s what my son gets on his meatball sub. The ones hearabouts have Swiss, too. Off-topic: it’s not fucking “Swiss”. It’s Emmental. It comes from Germany and France, too- do you call it German Swiss, then? ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/45 "2008-12-03T14:57:36Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Also, they should offer provolone cheese as an alternative to that white American. This seems to vary by area. Back in Nova Scotia it was always white American, unless that particular sub called for something else. The place I grew up didn’t even ask if you wanted cheese–it just went straight on. Here, I have five choices, no default for anything. And provolone is one of them. So maybe you should move to Nebraska 😛 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/46 "2008-12-03T15:22:24Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t care what other customers lazily want. I know what I want and if you ask if I want a combo, it’s upselling. It’s not only patronizing to me but more importantly wastes my time, especially when I emphasize that “THAT’S IT” if I happen to get a chance to tell you this before you spurt out if I’d like to make it a combo. I’m the most important person I know, and even five seconds of _my_ time isn’t worth that much. They’re human beings trained to perform as robots. Like it or not, you are one of thousands of faceless people they serve every week, and in their business polite efficiency is prioritized over customizing their patter to every John Q. Blowhard’s idiosyncracies. Unclench a little. On the other hand, if I get mayonnaise on my sandwich, robot heads are gonna roll. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/47 "2008-12-03T15:47:38Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’m the most important person I know, and even five seconds of _my_ time isn’t worth that much. > > They’re human beings trained to perform as robots. Like it or not, you are one of thousands of faceless people they serve every week, and in their business **polite efficiency** is prioritized over customizing their patter to every John Q. Blowhard’s idiosyncracies. Unclench a little. > > On the other hand, if I get mayonnaise on my sandwich, robot heads are gonna roll. In my world, it’s not polite to ask if somebody wants something when they specifically request that they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/48 "2008-12-03T15:52:58Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t care what other customers lazily want. I know what I want and if you ask if I want a combo, it’s upselling. It’s not only patronizing to me but more importantly wastes my time, especially when I emphasize that “THAT’S IT” if I happen to get a chance to tell you this before you spurt out if I’d like to make it a combo. Could you possibly be a smaller, more self centered person about a trivial issue? WAAAAAAHHHH! You clarified my order and wasted 3 seconds of my time! Hows about you treat the guy across the counter as a human being, and when they ask if you want a combo, say “No, just the sandwich, thanks”. The guy is on his feet 8 hours a day for shit wages so you can get food right away and at a cheap price, give him a little bit of respect, instead of being a selfish ass. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/49 "2008-12-03T15:58:39Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Change comes from within. Actually it comes from the automated coin dispenser next to the register. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/50 "2008-12-03T16:02:58Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I was a sandwich artiste one miserable summer - all the moos who don’t mean hot peppers when they say, “Everything” are indeed the cause of your problem. > > My somewhat-related rant - I usually get just a sandwich at places like McDonald’s because I don’t usually want the fries and I never want the soda. I still haven’t figured out a way to order just a sandwich without getting asked, every single time, “Is that a combo?” No, it friggin’ well isn’t a combo - it would be a combo if I had ordered a combo. It’s a cheeseburger because I ordered a cheeseburger. The same moos are the cause of my problem as well, **Mr. Krebbs.** (Do you have a bike, by the way?) Today I ordered a number “6” and was asked if I wanted the combo, isn’t the whole purpose of the number to indicate a combo? ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/51 "2008-12-03T16:33:31Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > (pre-snip) Ordered a bacon double cheeseburger with mustard and onion only. Paid a premium, it was labeled as a bacon double cheeseburger. But NO bacon or cheese. (post-snip) I always want a Whopper with cheese. Their combo menus say “Whopper with cheese”. There’s never any cheese unless I specifically ask for it. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/52 "2008-12-03T16:39:23Z")
How do you order your whopper? A ‘whopper with cheese’ is the name of a menu item, a ‘whopper’ is a different menu item and it doesn’t have cheese. The ‘whopper with cheese’ is usually featured more prominently on their menus these days, presumably since that’s how most people want it, but if you’re ordering by name you do still have to include the ‘with cheese’ bit. If you’re ordering by number though, well, they’re just dumb. And don’t get me wrong, they’re probably dumb anyway. Here, they have two different menu items for their chicken sandwich, one with mayo and such, and one in a honey mustard sauce that’s meant to be a light menu option. And despite ordering the latter by its combo number, which is different than the former’s combo number, and with a salad on the sides (the salad is depicted as the side with the light combo, but not the not-light combo, though in either case you can choose any side), I invariably get the mayo-ey version unless I very specifically say that I want the honey mustard version. And even then I sometimes get honey mustard and mayo! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/53 "2008-12-03T16:40:35Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > I always want a Whopper with cheese. Their combo menus say “Whopper with cheese”. > > There’s never any cheese unless I specifically ask for it. I urge you to get the mushroom-swiss steakhouse burger. Sex in a bun. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/54 "2008-12-03T16:42:55Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > I always want a Whopper with cheese. Their combo menus say “Whopper with cheese”. > > There’s never any cheese unless I specifically ask for it. It drives my husband crazy that there is a combo for the Whopper with cheese, and no combo for a plain Whopper. Why does this drive him crazy? Because he hates that they charge something like 30 cents for a slice of cheese, so he never ever orders it. I have noticed, though, that if I order that particular combo, they always ask if you want the cheese. Which you would think they wouldn’t need to do, but I think if I were the manager of one of those places, my instructions to the staff would be to clarify EVERYTHING, no matter how obvious it may seem. Some people may get annoyed by the clarification, but it’s better than getting the wrong order. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/55 "2008-12-03T16:43:43Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > In my world, it’s not polite to ask if somebody wants something when they specifically request that they don’t. But it’s \*polite \*to be a douchebag instead of just saying, “No thanks, just the sandwich” and letting it fucking go. Yeah, I can see where that’s upsetting. After all, it wastes\* five whole seconds\* that you could be more profitably using by wrapping your piglips around a bacon double cheeseburger. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/56 "2008-12-03T16:51:53Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > How do you order your whopper? That’s the thing. I order the combo number that says Whopper with Cheese. Why should I have to say I’d like a number 2 with cheese? That’s like ordering soup du jour of the day. > [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > I urge you to get the mushroom-swiss steakhouse burger. > > Sex in a bun. See, I would? Except their steakhouse burger tastes like dog food. 😉 Besides, I’ve had sex in a bun and you don’t even wanna KNOW where I found sesame seeds the next day… ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/57 "2008-12-03T16:59:35Z")
Dude, you can, like, **watch** them make your sandwich!! If they miss the jalapenos you can simply remind them at the time of the sandwich crafting. Every single Subway I’ve been to in my whole life has a glass barrier between you and the sandwich artist. Not hard to keep and eye on your sub as it’s being made. You’re at fault here. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/58 "2008-12-03T17:02:20Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > As far as the OP goes, do you want both spicy mustard and regular mustard on your sandwich? Do you also want barbeque sauce and mayonnaise? It seems to me that the word “everything” is inevitably ambiguous. “Everything but…” is invariably a response to “What veggies would you like?” so it’s a little less ambiguous than you describe. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/59 "2008-12-03T17:09:45Z")
That’s right. Fight the good fight. _Sic semper tarragon._ ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440/60 "2008-12-03T17:14:02Z")
> [@Mr.Krebbs](#): > > ETA: Argh, I just realized that I say “everything but…” as a fucking courtesy to my fucking sandwich artist. Next time, I’ll just slowly list the items I want while the girl looks up at me expectantly, just like the rest of the fucking cattle. I thought everyone knew that this is indeed the SOP when ordering at Subway. If you get more than one item ahead of the artiste you are just going to get them confused. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subway-where-everything-does-not-mean-everything/475440.md?page=4)