A 78.25-year-old "customer message book"
There is a treasure in many old restaurants: a thick guest book on the table at the door. How does the food taste? How is the service attitude? It may be just one or two lines, or it may be densely packed with hundreds of words, written by the diners and read by the store owners, both of whom hope to get better and better.
Is the catering service for the elderly in the community going well? We invited four elderly people from Bansongyuan Road Street to hold a symposium: they are 81-year-old Mr. Dai from Chezhong Neighborhood Committee, 77-year-old Aunt Jin from Xisan Neighborhood Committee, 75-year-old Mr. Gao from Huining Neighborhood Committee, Mr. Zang, 80, lives in Parkway Apartment on Lujiabang Road. Are they satisfied or not? What do you value most? Speak freely, whatever you have to say.
This "customer message book" with an average age of 78.25 years old has been compiled. Some are expected and some are unexpected.
"If we rank the requirements for community canteen dishes in terms of taste, quantity, and variety, taste is number one!" Mr. Dai is 81 years old and is still full of energy.
He and his wife live in Chezhong Community, and their children come to have dinner together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At this time, the family will cook a decent meal. On the contrary, at noon, when the old couple was too lazy to cook, they occasionally ate outside, and the community canteen was among them. A meal usually costs 15-20 yuan. There is a 50 yuan meal voucher each month, which can be used in two 10 yuan installments per day. He mainly uses this subsidy for two purposes, one is to eat at the community canteen, and the other is to buy food at market restaurants listed as canteens for the elderly.
"Now there are community canteens in every district. I used to live in Yangpu District and later moved here. Many of my classmates live in Yangpu District and Hongkou District. We sometimes chat about Bibi in the group," said Mr. Dai. .
He likes the Elderly Canteen located on South Tibet Road near Huining Road. The main reason is that it is relatively large, in Dai Lao’s words, “presentable”, can use subsidy coupons, and tastes good.
"Actually, it's not only for the elderly, but also for white-collar young people. The flow of people is large, the water flow is fast, and there are many varieties of dishes. I think it's pretty good. There are many young people, and the atmosphere is also very good." In his words, It seems that being able to use meal vouchers is one thing, but now that retirement wages are not low, the weighting factor in choosing which community restaurant to eat at is not just the 5 yuan subsidy, but a comprehensive consideration of variety, price, Taste, environment.
“I believe that if a community canteen is to be run, the content should be greater than the form.” Perhaps because he is still using his remaining energy as the director of the community property committee, Mr. Dai laid out the outline and once again emphasized the importance of food taste.
At this time, someone nearby mentioned that there was a community canteen that tasted pretty good. Mr. Dai shook his head and said, "I know this restaurant. It's far away and I don't often go there. Although the food is the best, I ran there specially. It’s better to go next door to eat a bowl of noodles, spicy sauce noodles and rice bowls are not expensive.”
It seems that for him, "taste" ranks first among the reasons for "going to eat", and "distance" ranks first among the reasons for "not going". After all, I am older and it is really inappropriate to travel too far.
Mr. Dai's words resonated with everyone. Nowadays, in many small families where old couples are together, cooking for two people sometimes takes less time and energy than eating out, and cooking it yourself is not necessarily cheap. Having both delicious food and distance is his requirement for a community canteen.
"The preferential subsidy issued by the street for seniors over 75 years old can be consumed through mobile phones or swiped on-site. I have three such cards at home." Aunt Jin said, "My mother is 98 years old this year and is the first to enjoy it. My husband is the first to enjoy it." I am half a year older, he started enjoying it the year before last, and I started enjoying it last year.”
"Actually, my family doesn't lack the 50 yuan now, but I feel very warm in my heart." She said, feeling a sense of existence and happiness.
Aunt Jin mostly chooses to shop at Dafugui instead of going to the self-built community canteen on the street.
There are 3 cards for 3 people in the family. You can enjoy discounts when purchasing some cooked snacks. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, you can get a total discount of 30 yuan. Dafugui has a lot of things, such as light steamed buns, meat steamed buns, siomai, tiaotou cakes, and rice dumplings for snacks. There are also many dishes, such as drunken chicken, roast duck, sauce duck, barbecued pork, stir-fried sauce, and malan head. It's very convenient to buy it back. Although it's a bit of a journey, it's still bearable and can be used as exercise. She calculated that if she ran back and forth twice a day, her WeChat pedometer would count more than 5,000 steps.
Aunt Jin is also one of the volunteers in her building. Residents will tell her any needs or suggestions. This time she is making suggestions on behalf of everyone: she hopes that the scope of use of subsidy cards will be wider and more money will be given to the elderly. Some convenience.
It turns out that some restaurants can only use the subsidy by scanning the code on the spot with a mobile phone, and cannot use cards. In this way, elderly people who are inconvenient to go out cannot let their juniors or neighbors buy them for them.
In addition, more and more time-honored brands are settling in Bansongyuan Road, such as Shao Wansheng and Shen Wansan, which are old-fashioned restaurants with excellent quality, and everyone is very happy. It would be nice if the seniors benefit discounts were available in more stores.
"It's fun to be able to walk on your own, stroll around the nearby streets, and choose what to eat and buy by yourself. There is a dazzling array of things to see," Aunt Jin said.
The implication is that there are more restaurants that can use meal assistance subsidies and a richer variety of choices. Perhaps it is more in line with the elderly's desire to "expand" than just eating at a community canteen.
Before he spoke, Mr. Gao dug into his trouser pocket and took out a wrinkled cashier's receipt, which was printed on it: "Noodles with mushrooms, 18 yuan, discount of 5 yuan, actual payment of 13 yuan."
"Look, this is a bowl of noodles I went to Dafugui to eat yesterday." He said that he was too old to eat big fish and meat, so he went to buy it with his wife and brought a rice box, and each of them took half, and lunch was settled. . Two words, "Lehui".
In terms of living habits, he actually doesn't like eating out very much. There is a small vegetable market downstairs, which is very convenient. When the green onions are gone halfway through cooking, you can buy it within a few steps.
The 75-year-old has just started using a meal subsidy card. Because of the subsidy, he eats out more frequently. However, he usually stops going after the discounts are used up. There are actual situations, such as having no time to cook and then going out to eat.
He also likes Dafugui, which costs 8 yuan for 8 large steamed buns and 2.5 yuan for 1 vegetable steamed bun. Time-honored brands pay attention to quality, whether they are good meat or vegetables, they are trustworthy. In addition to Dafugui, he went to the cafeteria on the basement floor of Xinyi Nursing Home to eat once. The price was about 20 yuan per meal. He followed the team with a tray and picked what he wanted.
"Eating is very important for old age care." Mr. Gao said frankly that the quality of food comes first. If the quality is good, everyone recognizes it. If the quality is not good, he will not choose it even if it costs 5 yuan for all-you-can-eat.
His ideal meal would not be too large, because as he gets older he cannot eat much, and he would feel uncomfortable after eating too much, but he could have more variety.
He said that it was a bit difficult to cook now, and it would take two hours in the morning to cook a lunch carefully. Therefore, the dining spot at your doorstep is very important. Whether you build it on the street yourself or choose a restaurant that meets the requirements, I hope it will get better and better.
"I have eaten in both community canteens and food delivery. The canteen here is different every six or seven days, and there are a variety of food delivery options, ranging from 15 yuan per customer to 20 yuan per customer." Mr. Zang is very satisfied with this.
However, he also has his own requirements for food. "If the food is too soft, it's not popular here." He said that some caterers consider that the elderly's teeth are not as good as before and the cooking time is longer. In fact, everyone's needs are different, so he thinks it is too soft. Rotten food doesn't taste good.
