A Fat Tuesday, indeed

Ahhh, the long awaited day. My beloved Sonic is open for business! But first--a trip to IHOP for "free" pancakes!

There is an IHOP close to our apartment. We live fairly close to railroad tracks, and let me tell you, the phrase "other side of the tracks" applies quite well. We are a but a mere stone's throw away from many scenes on the 10 o'clock news.

I drive by fully expecting to witness the mayhem that Denny's experienced a couple weeks ago. Not so. With Summer in tow, I walk in and am immediately seated. There are maybe 5 or 6 other tables occupied around me. I place my order--free pancakes, please, with water--and wait. It's Free Pancake Day, you'd think they'd have them all ready, right? Nope. I wait. And wait.

And observe.

Behind me is a girl bottle feeding her infant, who tells me she is "3 or 4 weeks" old. Excuse me? 3 OR 4 weeks? You don't know? It wasn't that long ago! I can tell you to the day how old my baby is! This baby also looks to be about 4 pounds, I kid you not. In front of me are a man and woman facing each other. The man has his bluetooth on. He's talking, but I don't know who he's talking to--the woman or his bluetooth. Either way, every other word is "mutha f*&%a". It's a verb, noun, and adjective. To my left enters three individuals who I'm certain came straight from their meth lab. There is an older gentleman in the corner, who looks like he goes everyday, eating his strawberry french toast and sipping his coffee, oblivious to his surroundings. Perhaps his hearing aid battery was low. Lucky guy.

My pancakes arrive! Finally! I eat, quickly. Mostly to get the heck out of there, and also to make it to Happy Hour on time. I ask my server for change for my my $10 bill. She brings me a $5 and 5 $1's. Perfect. I'll leave her a $2 tip, which is $2 too much, and the requested $3 donation to the Children's Miracle Network in the cardboard box by the door. I tuck the two bucks under my glass, and fold up the remaining bills in my hand. I grab Summer, anxious to get out of this incestuous cesspool. I pause at the donation box and insert my bills, and as I push them through the slot, I see Abraham Lincoln waving me goodbye. WHAT?? In my haste, I did not put my $5 bill away like I should have, but instead pushed all 8 bucks into the box. I froze and gasped. For a split second I debated how I could open the box and get my 5 bucks back. Then humanity slapped me in the face and I realized it was for a good cause, and my extra 5 dollars would help to make up for all the sleaze balls who would eat for free and donate nothing today. So, my "free" pancakes cost me $10 today. Blah.



Onto greener pastures....SONIC! I had gotten a heads-up text from my friend who told me it was pretty busy. No worries, what else did I have to do today besides wait for my Cherry Limeade? Nothing! I get to the intersection, and it is quite busy, with cars waiting to even pull in.

Turns out, they have you drive behind the strip mall and form a line behind it. Craziness. So I wait. 3:03 pm.

Up ahead, a man asks me if I'll be going through the drive-thru or a car stall. I tell him drive-thru and he gives me a laminated card stating so, as well as a paper menu. Like I don't already have it memorized! Turns out, I wind up going to a car stall to place my order. 3:37pm.

Finally, a girl on roller skates brings me my liquid heaven. 3:40 pm.

No, they're not both for me. I took one to a friend.

Was it everything I hoped it would be?? Honestly? No. It was light on the cherry and heavy on the lime, but it was their first day, I'll give them a week or two to get it right. I'm just thrilled to know I can go anytime I want. Open everyday until midnight, baby!

Now all we need is a Chick-fil-A.