Hey Jim, has this ever happened to you?
stan posted this at 1:11 PM, and
7 of you responded
Nicole and I went through the McDonald's drive-thru today at lunch. When we paid and pulled forward to collect our food, the window opened, and the 55-ish lady inside handed me one of our drinks and two straws. Before the other drink was ready, here's what she said:
"Boy, I'm ready for bed."
Not knowing what to say (was that a proposal of some kind?), I politely smiled and waited for the second beverage to be filled. It was only a medium drink - what was taking so long? That's when the woman inside, whom neither Nicole nor I has ever met, began to tell us about how 3:00 in the morning sure does come early, except today she had to be up at 2:00, and her grand-daughter kept waking her up, and blah blah blah...
I wanted to loudly say, "Dear Diary..." but I just didn't have the heart. All I cared about was whether they remembered that second order of fries, unlike last time.
7 Talked Back:
At October 17, 2006 at 9:15:00 PM CDT,
Jana Swartwood said...
Oh my gosh, that sort of thing happens to me all the time. Maybe not in McDonalds drive-thru's, but it seems like everywhere I go, random people start telling me deep and personal things about their lives. And I'm just like, "Why are you telling me?"
At October 18, 2006 at 1:33:00 AM CDT,
Jim said...
welcome to small town America -- a couple weeks ago the food-hander-outer (Window 2) told me all of the detail of her wedding (the bridesmaids wore 'Bordeaux' -- I knew two of them because they work at, well, you know) -- you eventually get to know how long the lady at the post office was married and how long it takes her to cut her grass, and why the walls at the cleaners were supposed to be painted blue but they turned out greenish because the owner hired a relative -- when I first moved to Texas, many of the gas stations were still full service, you were expected to get out of you car and talk to the guy for at least 20 minutes
At October 19, 2006 at 11:37:00 AM CDT,
rindy said...
I'm a friend of Nicole's from small town Arkansas. She and I recently "reconnected" thanks to the blog world, and I've enjoyed getting to know her again by reading your and her blogs. Because blog culture lends itself so well to unsolicited comments and advice...here's mine: although your northwestern perspective on "the south" is interesting, for your own peace and contentment it might be helpful to start looking at the differences as unique aspects of a group of people different from what you've known rather than a somewhat condescending view of a way of life vastly different from anything you've ever experienced. When I moved back to Arkansas last year after living in a city of 16 million people, every little thing about small town folk really annoyed me. But once I started trying to focus on the unique aspects of a small, southern town, it become a delightful place to live. So, ok, this isn't the typical quick, witty comment that most try to leave on a blog, but I'm praying for the best in your marriage to Nicole and a husband who is happy and content with his surroundings makes for a much happier marriage.
At October 19, 2006 at 3:00:00 PM CDT,
stan said...
1. I don't consider this the South. It's different from the Northwest in some aspects, but overall it's quite the same here as there.
b. There are plenty, and I mean plenty of weird people and situations in Portland, too, far weirder and more blogworthy then yesterday's chatty McDonald's lady. 95% of my blog entries are Portland-based.
III. Yesterday, Nicole was just as perplexed as I was.
4th. I'm not really writing about annoyances per se, just interesting people, situations and observations. I blog about happy things, too.
I appreciate the advice, Rindy, really I do, but I think I'm doing just fine. And just to show that I'm good, I'm going to link to a recent photo of me smiling.
At October 19, 2006 at 9:00:00 PM CDT,
Jana Swartwood said...
My, how you've aged. :)
At October 20, 2006 at 8:33:00 AM CDT,
stan said...
Nicole sure is lucky to snag a looker like me!
At October 24, 2006 at 1:17:00 PM CDT,
rindy said...
Good to hear you're doing great. And, I am very excited for you and Nicole, congrats!
Okay, now it's your turn | Home