Lucy had her eyes set on Airfare - A new restaurant with a strange twist. Airfare had special seats. Below their soft fabric hid a tube, capturing any warm air that may pass down. This warm air is then used to create renewable energy, and the savings are passed onto the customer. It had initially started as a single location in the UK, as a pop-up. The idea was a mix of a social experiment and a joke. However, during the month-long period, it actually got a lot of buzz on social media. The pop-up became permanent, and they opened a few more places in the UK and US.
'Airfare: You pass the gas, we pass the savings.'
Of course, nobody knew whether it would actually be a hit, or just a gimmick that died off. After all, the company had only been around 6 months, and they had only just opened their 4th location. Not many people particularly want to spend their time eating in a room full of people farting. But if anything, this made Lucy want to visit even more - It may only be a matter of time before it closed down.
As luck would have it, that 4th location opened right in her hometown. She brought her best friend Emma along for the ride, too.
In their friendship, Lucy had never heard Emma fart. Lucy had accidentally done one or two around Emma back when they were roommates, but never the other way around. She seemed almost too shy to even talk about them. Even when Lucy's farted, Emma wouldn't speak a word about it - She would simply laugh, before continuing the conversation. This day would change that.
"So, what's so different about Airfare? You can 'Earn a discount'? Is that what you said?" Emma had clearly not seen the viral videos online.
"You'll see, don't worry. If you don't know, it's better to find out whilst you're there. It's hilarious." Lucy didn't want to spoil too much, although she was surprised Emma hadn't heard of it before.
As Lucy pulled up to the place, she spoke to Emma to try to distract her from the slogan. She didn't want it to be a dead giveaway. Thankfully, it worked - They made their way through the doors, waiting at the front to be seated.
The music was loud, but not too loud. Lucy knew why. Covering the sound of your fellow patrons tooting constantly was probably in a food place's best interest. She was also surprised to find no gassy aroma - Airfare had clearly thought of everything. Cover the sound; Cover the smells. A clever arrangement of air-conditioning and automatic air fresheners could be spotted if you knew where to look. She also noted how busy it was, with almost every table having customers. Perhaps more people were fine with this sort of stuff than she realised. Or maybe they're all here for the laugh and unique experience, as she was. She almost missed the waitress walking right up to them, as she was lost in her own mind.
"Hi! I'm Mackenzie, I'll be your waitress today. Do we have any allergies?"
"No, thank you," Lucy answered instinctively.
"Great, if you'll just follow me to your table."
As they made their way to one of the few empty tables, Emma reminded Lucy, "I'm lactose intolerant. Why didn't you say?"
"Well, when they say allergies," Lucy answered, "I don't think they mean like that. Do you normally tell restaurants that?"
As they sat at their table, the waitress handed them the menus, and began the normal routine of questions - "Have you dined with us before?"
"No, this is our first time!" Emma answered before Lucy could lie. Lucy wanted to be the one to tell her about this place, but now they'd be hearing it from Mackenzie.
"Okay, so, as you've probably noticed..." Mackenzie tapped a small digital screen built into the table. It sat pointing upwards, its screen flush with the surface. Its numbers were digital, like an alarm clock. It currently displayed £00.00. "...This will tell you your current discount. The number on here will be taken off of your final bill!"
Mackenzie started to giggle a little now. Despite working here, she still enjoyed explaining this next part to clueless guests.
"Your seats are built into a power generator. The more you break wind, the more you provide us with clean energy! As a reward, we give the discount to you! If you --"
Her explanation was cut off by Emma. "Sorry? Did you say break wind? Like... Like a fart? Like farting?"
Lucy laughed, as did Mackenzie. Even Emma chuckled a little, but more out of confusion.
"Yes," Mackenzie continued as she composed herself, "exactly like farting."
The waitress made her way off as Emma began questioning Lucy. "What the fuck?" She laughed loudly as she exclaimed. "You didn't tell me this! This is so funny and weird. Is this real?"
Lucy showed her some of the viral videos, commenting on how surprising it was that they had never seen any. After calming down with the humour of the situation, they began to look at the menu. Lucy settled on the tacos, for obvious reasons, and Emma chose a burger.
"I'm bursting for a wee. Can you order the burger if the waitress comes?" Emma asked without even waiting for a confirmation before she walked off to the toilets.
Sure enough, Mackenzie came over whilst Emma was gone.
