Twilight Zone 2/22/22
In the south we love three things: Jesus, Chick-Fil-A, and family. These three things are the only three things that are constantly and consistently dependable. Jesus, Chick-Fil-A, & family will never let you down.
{Except that time my sister had a birthday party & I was convinced that I was supposed to be “fashionably late” but really I wasn’t & I showed up 30 minutes after the start time. I was an a-hole & I was NOT dependable that day.}
Ok, so sometimes family lets us down. But Jesus and Chick-Fil-A, definitely not. And the great thing about Chick-Fil-A is that they love Jesus too! So it’s really like going to church every time we go to Chick-Fil-A. That’s what I call “killing two birds with one chicken nugget”.
Now, I don’t normally buy into the whole “special date, special day” thing that goes around the internet when dates like 11/11/11 happen. But sometimes moments pass that are so unusual… so undeniably weird that one can’t help but conclude the stars have aligned to cause mayhem.
Tuesday, 2/22/22, I decided to go to my local Chick-Fil-A to cash in a few rewards points to get a free sweet tea. Now, if you’re not southern, you should know two very, very important facts about southerners: 1. Sweet tea is life and 2. Chick-Fil-A has the best sweet tea. Maybe it’s because Jesus makes it. I have no idea. Just speculation. Not only does Chick-Fil-A have the best sweet tea, it’s ALWAYS delicious. Reliably and consistently the best. So I was quite excited to get my large cup of liquid Heaven.
One very convenient benefit of Chick-Fil-A is using the app to order food. It’s amazing. So easy. I use it every time, even when I go inside the restaurant to eat. And this drive-thru visit was no exception. I ordered my large sweet tea, opted to use my rewards, verified it was free, and made my way to the drive-thru lane. And that’s where things start to get weird.
When I got to the drive-thru, I checked in with the person stationed outside by the intercom. I gave her my name, she said she found my order and instructed me to pull around to the window. Nothing out of the ordinary so far!
At the window, I was handed a medium drink by a lovely Chick-Fil-A worker. Since I ordered a large, I politely told the girl that the drink she held in front of my driver’s side car window wasn’t mine. She said, “oh! No problem. I can make you a large.” She disappeared for a moment and re-emerged holding a large styrofoam cup. I took the drink, thanked her, and pulled away.
As my car rolled forward, the same girl began quickly walking toward my car holding a bag of food & asking me to stop. I did and rolled down my window. She said, “you forgot your food!” Which is interesting because I didn’t order any food. Just the drink. I relayed that to her and she said, “well it has your name and car on the ticket… I can’t take it back… would you like to take it anyway?” Free chicken sandwich & fries??? Heck yes! Is this what manna from above is? Thank you, Lord! So I thanked her again &, once again, began to pull away.
Yet again, I was flagged down but this time it was someone different. A lovely girl with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail came to my driver’s side window & said, “ma’am, I think there was a problem with your payment.” This was interesting because I didn’t have anything to pay for. So I said, “I only ordered a large sweet tea. Here is my order on my app. I only have this food because the other girl at the window gave it to me after she said there must have been a mistake.” The girl looked a little confused & said, “huh. Ok. Hold on just a moment.” And she ran back to the window.
THEN! The original girl waved me on & said, “you can go! Have a nice day!” So I drove off. Fast. And as I did, I opened my straw to finally savor the sweet tea I was so looking forward to enjoying. As the first drop of liquid graced my tongue, I immediately realized something was wrong. I was given a large cup of half tea, half lemonade. And I don’t even think the tea was sweet. So 2/22/22 will forever be the day Chick-Fil-A messed up. If you need me, I’ll be in therapy trying to make sense of life now.
