15 to 21: A Birthday Countdown

2. A shopping cart. Not as obvious a story-starter, but it's a good one.

I had a group of friends, my sophomore and junior year specifically, that included two guys (Matt and Kevin - once humorously referred to as Mevin and Katt by mistake haha) who were one year older than me. We played on the basketball team together and were often seen together on the weekends and any time that we actually would go out and do anything. Cy later joined the group and the four of us formed a pretty solid group of guys that hung out and had each others' backs. It was cool.

Well one night we were hanging out and we were at a Coldstone in Lancaster that was pretty proximal to a combination KFC/Long John Silvers and we wanted to go over there for fun (we were pretty respectable and didn't do anything illegal - this was "fun" for us). As we got closer (we walked since it was so close) we noticed some carts in the parking lot of a Target that sat right next to the aforementioned fast-food place. So we began playing with them (too many viewed episodes of JACKASS, you could say). Being much taller, Matt and Kevin (6' 4'' and 6' 5'' respectively) had Cy and me (both about 5' 8'') get in carts and they started pushing us around the parking lot. Then I got an idea - well, it was really a last-ditch effort to save myself from the pain that would eventually come from the Demolition Derby-like games we were playing.

(Note: I actually had to call Cy about this because I do not remember exactly who was pushing whom, but I am 75% sure that Matt was pushing me and Kevin was pushing Cy - no, it's not that important, but it is part of the story).

You see, we had drifted closer to the KFC/LJS and I mentioned to my driver (pretty sure it was Matt) that we should try to go through the Drive Thru in the shopping cart! Mind you, it was around 2200 or so and there was not a lot of people around, so it was completely doable. Well off we went and into the line we entered. There was one car ahead of us and we were fine. Then a car pulled in behind us! There we are, two high schoolers, one pushing the other in a Target shopping cart, in the Drive Thru of a fast food restaurant. We were stuck. . .

As we got to the Ordering Spot, we were greeted in a normal fashion, and asked what we wanted. We figured that they would just tell us to get out of line, or something to that effect, but there was no such rebuke. Well Matt and I had about 79 cents between us and scanned the menu for anything that we could afford and then we found it: a biscuit! The delicious KFC biscuits could be purchased at something like 50 cents apiece, and that worked for us poor, non-working juveniles. So we ordered a biscuit, were asked if that was all (we assured the lady that yes, that was plenty), and we then pulled around. . .

We were still a car behind the window, but when the girl leaned out to take the payment from the car in front of us, she had to do a double take (and it was the truest form of one ever - she actually went back through her little door and then popped out quick and looked straight out at us, smiling and laughing!). When we pulled up to the window, there was a group of 3 workers at the window, all laughing. One popped out and said (sorry about the language. . . gotta stay true!) "This is the funniest fucking thing I've ever seen!" and the others just continued laughing. . . we had made somebody's night, and we couldn't have been more full of ourselves.

O, and we ended up with two biscuits. . . and we didn't pay them a dime!

So I guess that just goes to show that a little laughter does go a long way and that a lot can be said for high schoolers who just want to have an innocent bit o' fun at the expense of a Drive Thru. So fast food restaurant managers everywhere, listen closely: Just let 'em do it. They aren't hurting anyone. . . and there's much worse things that they could be doing. And just admit that you actually think it's funny, too. It helps the process a bit!

That's good for that one - - see you tomorrow with the thrilling conclusion of this trilogy of stories within a 21-part series of stories. . . not sure what that makes this exactly, but I know that it's outside of my geekdom to decide. . .

Until later (As always!),