Shall we eat at the Sonic?

Years and years ago I was around 13 or 14 years old. ( My kids didn't believe that simple fact for a very long time) By todays standards I was pretty industrious: at that age, I had a paper route, and mowed lawns, and if I couldn't find work elsewhere I'd work for this little old lady digging up iris flowers and cutting the bulb and replanting for $1 per hour...which was pretty low pay for the work even back then. I got a job at the chevrolet place a couple hours a day that paid $2 an hour...dusting off the cars on the showroom floor, dustmopping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, emptying the trash.

That was a coveted job, I felt lucky to get it. But I also went to work as a clean up boy at the local sonic in that small town. The very first night of my employment I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor underneath one of the work tables when the cook just up and quit. The manager yelled for me to come over there and start "cooking". I told him I needed to wash my hands first...which he did not want me to do because a rush was on, but I convinced him I HAD to use the bathroom...which I really didn't but it was the only way I could get a chance to wash my hands.

Well he quickly ran me thru the instructions of how to make each item on the menu, and fortunately I had a good memory back in those days because he went home very shortly after my quick once thru lesson...leaving me to figure out how to work the little switchboard thingy that communicates to the drivers, and to try to fill the orders as quickly as possible. There was a system where you lay the buns out, then you add this , then that, then that, etc.., package it, send it out.

At the very end of the night, there was a rush I wasn't ready for. And to top it off a guy CALLED IN an order for 8 hamburgers and fries and corndogs and you name it. (Who CALLS IN an order to sonic!). But it was RIGHT before closing and he wanted to be sure to get the order, and he wheels in and picks it up shortly after.
WOW...what a DAY!! By the time we got the place cleaned up and shut down I think it was getting near midnight when I got home. Time enough to finish homework and get a little sleep before showing up to my 9th grade grueling class schedule. (Ya if you're doing the math it appears wrong but I started first grade at 5 years old).

The next day when I showed up at the sonic, halfway expecting some praise for surviving the gruelling night, I was told abruptly that my services were no longer needed. What the heck does THAT mean? That day I found out what "being fired" is all about. Turns out that last call in order of the night where the guy swooped in picked em up at closing...In my haste I had gone thru the procedural hamburger building but had forgotten the meat on several of them. (Starting the Veggie Burger craze that later swept across America). Wow, what an ungrateful pig. Good riddance. But my feelings were hurt. (And when my cherished Aunt and Uncle heard the story they then and there quit eating at Sonics as a sign of solidarity).

Well, over the years I've gone back to eating there. They've added some really good menu items! But tonight...As I starvingly pulled into one in a town 40 miles away, right at 11 I killed the car and reached for the button and they turned the lights out. Dang. Then the car wouldn't start. Double Dang. So there we sat, stranded, starving, and 40 miles from home.

I called my stepson, (he's usually up late and has internet access) to get the number of the wrecker service from home. And $175 later my car was dropped off at the mechanic down the road from me and I'm home at 3:30am blogging it out of my system. Wondering if when they killed the lights at the Sonic if it didn't somehow short out my ignition. I best not tell my Aunt and Uncle just in case they've started eating there after all these years. But I'm VERY hungry now so I'm going to eat a bowl of soup. Thats all for now.