Half Off

For several years I've been seeing Sonic commercials.  I used to think...that looks cool, sure wish we had one!  Then I started thinking...that looks so yummy, I really wish we had a Sonic!  Then I starting thinking...why the heck don't we have a Sonic here?!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is a Sonic.  I don't know if I would exactly use the word near, but it's pretty darn close.  It's located in Kingston, and it's about an hour drive from my house.  John and I have made that drive 3 times within the past few weeks. :)

Today we made the trip with Adam & Stephen.  We were so psyched for Sonic, I can't even tell you.  They were late getting to our house (because Stephen had to shower!) but finally we were on our way.  We had some fun conversation on the way down, and I got caught up on all the happenings of their lives.  I think John already knew everything.  You know boys, and how they talk.

So we finally arrived at Sonic.  We all decided what we wanted (while watching others get food delivered on rollerskates to their cars) and John pushed the little red button that connects you to the order-taker.  We waited just a few brief moments, and then a carhop headed towards us and we heard the words that left us all jaw dropped.  "I'm sorry, we're not taking orders."

I glanced back at Adam, who is without-a-doubt the most Sonic-obsessed person that was in the car.  I wish I had a camera to capture the look of disbelief, sadness, and maybe a bit of anger that flashed across his face.  Of course, I think mine looked the same.

Their computers were down.  They didn't know when they would be back up.  Their manager was on the phone with "the people".  So we just sat there for awhile, waiting.  Hoping.  I'd like to say praying...but, even though I am prone to pray for fast food to go my way, we didn't pray about Sonic's computers getting back online.

Finally we drove away.  There was a ShopRite nearby, and I had a really bad headache (from NO FOOD all day!) so I ran in for some Tylenol.  Then we drove back around and parked in a different spot at Sonic.  Another carhop came out, told us the computers were down, and gave us free ice cream cones.  Thanks.  I mean, it was nice of them.  But I wanted onion rings.

We drove away from Sonic and parked...kind of in the middle of the parking lot.  We sat watching, as many, many more people got their free ice cream cones.  Some would park for awhile, hoping (as we were!) that the computers would start working.  Some would just drive off, undoubtedly headed to Wendy's or Burger King.  These are people who live near Sonic.  Who can have it any other time they want.  We drove an hour!  And the thought of going to Wendy's was enough to make John cringe.  He wanted Sonic.

John sent Stephen in (a couple times!) to check on the progress.  I think Stephen enjoyed flirting with the girls there.  John locked Stephen out of the car.  I used the bathroom.  We made friends with 2 guys from Colonie who were also waiting it out.  John and Adam yelled at Stephen.  You see, if you haven't made the connection yet, Stephen running late beforehand made all this happen.  If we'd been there 5 minutes earlier (or less!) the computers would have been up and we would have been able to get our order in a timely manner.

We killed some more time (and gas) just hanging around Sonic.  Stephen's last 'check the status' trip resulted in finding out that tickets were printing out, and that wasn't happening before, so the carhop thought it might be another 15 minutes. 

AND IT WAS!!!!

Adam almost beat the car seat to a pulp when we realized we were actually going to be getting Sonic.  It was a pain ordering.  The computers were still screwy.  But finally they brought us our food, and gave us 50% off!!!  They knew we'd traveled a distance, and had seen us waiting it out for 2 hours! 

Our order was wrong, but they brought out the missing items and we basked in the deliciousness that is Sonic. 

We played a little TV theme trivia on the way home.

So even though our trip lasted much longer than anticipated (which sucked because John had to go straight to work when we got home) it was worth it. We got Sonic.  Definitely a trip we'll remember!