Drive Thru Etiquette

This morning I realized that it's been longer than a week since I last fed my Chick-fil-A craving. Oh my! If you're a regular reader you know just how important a Chick-fil-A fix is to me. I know it's ridiculous to be so obsessed enamored of a food but I can't help it ... I love eating at Chick-fil-A. I know it's not healthy, I know it's not being financially prudent, I know it's not good to give in to the "desires of the flesh." Unfortunately I can't help myself and frankly, at the moment, have no desire to stop giving in to this particular vice. So there you have it, another confession from moi.

Moving along

Once I thought about chowing down on my favorite fast food I knew nothing would do but to give in to the craving. I went about my morning routine keeping my eye on the clock, waiting for the magic hour to appear. You know what I mean, the time where I could rush out and get my fix without looking like a desperate woman.

Of course it didn't help that I really was a desperate woman! I missed eating breakfast this morning and by the time I realized it my stomach was growling and it was past 10:30. I knew it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. Of course while we all know it wouldn't hurt me to miss a meal or two, it's not something I like to do. Therefore I needed to just suck it up and wait for the "appropriate" lunch hour.

So, there I sat for another hour and a half, one eye on the computer and the other on the clock. Finally the hands of the clock were on twelve straight up. Yee ha! Time to hit up the local Chick-fil-A. Fortunately for my tummy if I hit all the lights green I'm just five minutes away from satisfaction.

Do you know what's so bad about rushing off to fill a Chick-fil-A craving at noon? Everyone and his brother are doing the exact same thing! Yes, the line at the drive thru was not only backed up it was wrapped all the way around the building. How dare all these people stand (in their car) in the way of me and my #1 with sweet tea.

Great, this is going to take forever.

I know I could have parked and gone inside but two things prevented that. One, judging by the full parking lot I doubted the lines inside were any better. And two, I wasn't exactly dressed to go inside. Ironically as I headed out the door I thought to myself "self, you should really change clothes. What happens if you have car trouble? Do you really want people seeing you like this?"

And by "this" I mean this. See what I mean? I'm totally not rockin' the fashion queen image here and can't believe I'm actually posting this on the internet.

Oh well, throwing caution to the wind I decide to venture forth, some things are more important than looking right.

Ok, people, let's get this line moving. We're all in this together so while we're here let's make sure we're all following proper "Drive Thru Etiquette"

1. Keep the line moving - please don't get so wrapped up in talking on the phone, texting, tweeting, cleaning out your purse, picking your nose and whatever else you're doing, that you fail to move forward 
2. And, while moving forward don't forget to keep the proper distance between your car and the car in front of you. Only one thing irks me more than the car behind me sitting on my bumper and that's the guy in front who's keeping a full car length between himself and the car in front. This line is long enough with having imaginary cars in line too, not to mention you're leaving room for some idiot to whip in line without waiting his turn. It does happen, trust me.
3. The drive thru is meant for expediting orders quickly. Order according to the menu and don't slow things down by requesting all kinds of substitutions and omissions. This just confuses the person behind the speaker and the two of you end up yelling back and forth because neither of you can really hear the other. Personally I don't like pickles on my sandwich but I never order without because chances are they won't get my order right anyway. So do us all a favor and take your special requests inside. 
4. People, if there are four of you placing orders and everyone needs to pay separately again, take it inside. There's a reason why this line is so long and it's because two other idiots ahead of you did the same thing. In case you can't do the math, that's twelve orders that have to be processed ....it's like going through the Express Checkout at Kroger with thirty items instead of the allowed ten. Not cool!
5. And finally, once you've gotten your order don't pull three feet away from the window and suddenly decide to stop and check your bag, empty old drink cups, and/or decide it's time to start yelling at your kids in the back seat. You are preventing me from pulling up to the window and getting my order. Depending on how hungry I am and how long I've been waiting in this line I might just go ballistic on you. 

You've been warned, don't make me tell you again!