Adventures at the drive-thru

Would you like fries with that?

Americans love convenience. Who could blame us though? We have the ability to do so many things without even needing to leave the comfort of our cars...we have drive-thru banking, dry cleaners, car wash, bill pay, beverage stores and, of course, fast food. Back in the good ol' days we even had drive-thru gas stations where, when you ran over the magic bell ringing hose, 5 guys wearing bow ties would come running out and fill up your car, check your oil and battery, fill up your tires and wash your windows. Now only the rare service station like Smith's Chevron in Augusta does that (minus the bow ties.)

Most of those drive-thru transactions work fairly well. My experiences with some of them, however, have been less than satisfactory. Have you ever had a problem at the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant? I know that we have already lowered our expectations in the first place because, after all, it is fast food....not exactly gourmet. But I actually like fast food. I think the cheeseburger is nearly the perfect food. It contains ingredients from all the major food groups...grain, meat protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits (I think tomatoes and pickles are technically fruits) so it must be good for you. But I digress.

The fast food industry has taken great strides to make the drive-thru experience an impressive one. Now they have flat screen panels where you can have menu items suggested and see your order status. The menu boards are the size of a Times Square billboard. We have multiple lane choices resembling a New Jersey turnpike toll booth area. They cover the ordering area with a roof or awnings so we don't get wet in the rain when we lower our window. All that effort and expense so we can order a cheeseburger from our car. I wonder if they pay enough attention to the employee they hire to be on the other end of the speaker? And how come they can spend all that money for all the latest technology but still end up with sound that resembles the 1950's era drive-in movie speaker that you used to hang from your window? I don't get it.

I had the opportunity to go through the drive-thru the other day. As I pulled into lane 7, ordering station 2, I heard something resembling a human voice but wasn't sure what was said. I assumed it was "may I take your order." So, I placed my order and received 20 seconds of silence. Next thing I heard was "thank __ __waiting, __ take __ order?" Huh? I am pretty sure it was in English (still the national language) but I could be wrong. So, I repeated my order. Then I heard either "that will be $5.20 at the first window" or "the cat will eat plenty at Donner's widow" Huh? ...not sure which it was because it was said at warp speed with no hint of enunciation. So, after waiting my turn coming out of the multi-lane drive thru intersection, I proceed up to Donner's widow and the window slides open. She asks me "Filet of Fish sandwich and a High C? "No," I say, "a cheeseburger value meal with a Diet Coke." I give her my $5.20 and pull up to the "Get-Your-Food-Station-2b" where I see an arm already sticking out the window with what looks like a Diet Coke. But, alas, upon closer inspection, I can see from the day-glow red color revealed through the side of the cup that it must be High C Fruit Punch. Then she tries to hand me a Filet of Fish. Evidently this restaurant thinks that I haven't had enough fish in my diet and insists that I eat some that day (that assumes the Filet-O-Fish is actually fish anyway.) I finally get my correct order of cheeseburger and french fry goodness. In the bag I also find 11 packets of ketchup (or is it catsup?), a napkin the size of a dryer sheet and a straw that is long enough to allow me to drink my Diet Coke from the cupholder on the floor of my truck without even having to lean forward.

Roger, you are cleared for food retrieval on three-niner

Have you ever paid for your order and they tell you that whatever you ordered isn't quite ready and they ask you to pull forward to the non-existent food delivery holding zone? If you pull up too far, cars can't get past you to make the turn and if you pull up too little the car behind can't quite get to the window. You are now in fast food purgatory where you have become priority #53.  One time I told the gal at the window that I was fine with just waiting at the window for my order. That prompted the manager to tell me in his best "you must pull avay from ze vindow" voice to pull forward to wait the 7 minutes it will take to cook my spicy white meat chicken. I'm surprised they don't tell me to just keep circling the restaurant like some Boeing 747 in a circular holding pattern around Atlanta Hartsfield. They could just throw it in my window on pass #7.

Adventures at the drive-thru. Maybe next time I'll just eat a peanut butter sandwich at home.

Driving. Me. Crazy.

I am not a patient driver. There, I said it. The first step, they say, to overcoming a bad habit is to admit your problem. I have to confess that bad drivers drive me crazy. I'm not totally sure why.

There is a part of me that gets so frustrated by the danger they are to everyone on the road. You know the kind of drivers I'm talking about. I've seen people driving while doing all sorts of things. Texting? Oh sure that's a problem but how about driving while putting on makeup, reading a newspaper, or changing clothes...? Seriously? I've seen all of these numerous times.

Green means go

Then there are the poky drivers. If you are the first car in line at a red light, you have a moral responsibility to all the other drivers behind you....its like you are the leader of the parade. When the light turns green, you must first check to see that all the cars coming from both sides are actually going to stop at their red light and then ....MOVE...get going.... at a safe speed that allows as many cars behind you to get through the light before it turns yellow. I have seen occasions where there are 10 or more cars backed up at a red light and only 3 cars get through the intersection.....THREE! I know, I know...I should just be patient and hey, if it takes 3 cycles of the traffic light for me to get through the intersection, what's the big deal? Its only time. But it drives me crazy. It is so discourteous to other drivers. You may think that I am a horn honker. I'm not... unless someone is so asleep at the wheel for so long that they need a little wake up call.

I also don't do well when traffic is just backed up and running slowly. I will take an alternate route that adds 10 miles to my trip just so I can keep moving.

I took a driver education course my junior year of high school. We had driver's ed at my school but the order in which you could take the course was determined alphabetically based on your last name. That meant I would have to wait until the end of that school year before we got to the TUVWXYZ people. So I paid for private lessons. My instructor was incredible! He taught me so many things that I remember to this day. If the speed limit is 55, go 55, not 50, not 52...55 (he didn't encourage speeding either.) When you get to a YIELD sign....yield....then GO. Some people must think that YIELD is French for GIVE UP. 

Sir Isaac Newton..no relation to Fig

He also instilled in me a recognition of what a privilege and huge responsibility it is to drive an automobile. To wield control of a 2 ton vehicle traveling at speeds of 60-70 mph is a serious thing. A 4000 lb car at 70 mph generates 654,686 ft/lbf of kinetic energy. 






That's a lot of mass at a lot of velocity. But some drivers drive as if they are in a balsa wood soap box derby car going 5 mph.


I'm not sure why I get so bothered by bad drivers. I guess part of it is that something that should safely take 15 minutes shouldn't take 25. Driving is also a matter of courtesy. Don't block the intersection, don't creep along in the left lane, don't speed, don't clip or paint your fingernails while driving, don't tailgate, don't fail to use your turn signals, don't cut people off, don't fail to let someone into the traffic flow if it is safe to do so, move over, get a room, put your child in a car seat, pull over for emergency vehicles, pull over and show some respect when the funeral procession comes by....I mean drive like you have some sense.


OK...I feel a bit better. Until tomorrow when I have to hit the streets again. Lord, give me patience. They're driving me crazy. 

Man's best friend

Nothing clever about the title of this one...I am talking about dogs. Experts tell us that the dog (domesticated form of gray wolf) may have been the first domesticated animal maybe dating back 15,000 years. We know that dogs have been used for hunting, herding, and to perform other tasks since they were domesticated. But the vast majority of dogs today are simply our companions.

Lucy (click to enlarge)

I think God planned for mankind to have this special relationship with dogs. He must have because they are the perfect companion (I mean aside from your significant other...) If you are a true dog-lover, you have to admit that your life is enriched by your dog (or dogs.) When I was growing up, we always had at least one dog. I remember Roxy and Lisa and Willy. As an adult, I had Bernie, Buster and Booker. My wife and I had Buffy and Lucy and we now have Kaya and Maddie. I'm sure I have forgotten some of the dogs we had when I was a young kid. But I remember that I loved them all. Even the pain-in-the-neck Cocker Spaniel that came as a part of the package deal when my wife and I got married. I wasn't really crazy about that dog...at first. But I vividly remember crying on the drive home from the vet when I took her to have her put down. Lucy was the most prominent dog we owned. Our daughter and son had her as a pet for almost their entire childhood. We were crazy about that German Shepherd. One of Jessica's friends once made the comment "the Toomeys are obsessed with their dog." She was correct.

Kaya and Maddie hiking in the mountains (click to enlarge)

Dogs love us unconditionally (another reason I think it is part of God's plan...reminds us of how He loves us unconditionally.) Dogs are always happy when you come home...can't say that about anyone else in the family. They are loyal, loving, and would probably die for you if the situation called for it. Oh...and another reason I think it was God's plan all along. Did you ever think about the fact that dog's don't sweat? Can you imagine how badly they would smell after being outside in the heat all day...they would be wet and stinky. Who would want to love on a dog that perspired? But they don't sweat...they pant. I'm certain God planned it that way. Man's best friend? Absolutely.


UPDATE TO MY POST

This photo below is evidence that a picture is worth 1000 words and it puts an exclamation point on what I said above. This is a picture of "Hawkeye" the loyal Labrador retriever of Petty Officer John Tumilson, one of the Navy SEALs killed in action in Afghanistan when the helicopter he was in was shot down.. Hawkeye refused to leave the side of his master... enough said.

Hawkeye lies by the casket of his owner, Petty Officer John Tumilson

Home of the brave

When I was 8 years old, my Mom remarried and my brother, sister and I became military brats. My stepfather was a Marine and we proceeded through the remainder of my childhood years to move to Boston, MA (Boston Navy Shipyard), Jacksonville, NC (Camp Legeune), Beaufort, SC (Parris Island), Keene, NH (back "home" while my stepfather served in Vietnam), Berwick, ME and Rochester, NH (Portsmouth Navy Shipyard), and Augusta, GA (Fort Gordon.) I had some issues with my stepfather with regards to his role as husband and father but I had great respect for his being a Marine and serving our country. Unfortunately, he died several years ago. In my formative years, I developed a great love and admiration for all the men and women that put on the uniform and put their lives on the line ...for us. Nothing has changed that emotion in me.

Today I have a nephew who is a Marine serving somewhere in Afghanistan, a son-in-law who is an Army aviator flying Blackhawks in Korea, and another nephew who is currently going through Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas. All three are young guys with their whole lives ahead of them. One happens to be married to my precious daughter who is with him in Korea. I love them all. I am sometimes overwhelmed by their willingness to voluntarily become part of such a dangerous occupation.

On Saturday, a Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, killing everyone on board... 30 Americans and 8 Afghan soldiers....a tragedy made even more sensational by the sheer number that perished at one time. A tragedy even more noticed because we heard that members of the elite SEAL Team 6 were on board... commandos from the same group that killed Osama bin Laden.

Words fail us when we try to describe how we felt when we heard this news. These were brave soldiers, actually coming to the aid of a ground team that had come under heavy fire from Taliban forces. We collectively grieve with the families of these soldiers. Their deaths will make us question whether the price being paid by our men and women is worth it.

Does it take 30 Americans killed by a single RPG to make us question whether it is time to bring our men and women home? How about the one brave Marine that was killed by a sniper last week? How about the 2 Army soldiers who were killed when their vehicle ran over an IED 6 months ago? Are their deaths not enough to generate the same questions?

Am I selfish for wanting my family members to be out of harm's way? Am I unpatriotic to say let's bring all our men and women home from a war that I do not, after 10 long years, understand anymore?

I cry inside for the 30 brave Americans that perished on Saturday...but I cry no less for the one American that will die tomorrow...or last week. Their deaths, however, won't (or didn't) make the headlines.

America...Home of the brave? You're damn right. But I hope we are also brave enough to know when enough blood has been spilled in a decade long war.

They call it tolerance

In my last blog I discussed the different meanings of the word "compromise." There is another word I have some issues with relative to the way it is used...the word is TOLERANCE (and its various forms.)

I do not consider myself an intolerant person (so therefore, I am tolerant?) That declaration requires, however, that my understanding of the words intolerant and tolerant be accurate, otherwise it is likely I am making an inaccurate declaration.

Can we be "tolerant" on the one hand but still legitimately be able to state that there are some things we just won't tolerate? Doesn't the practice of tolerance, therefore, have some "reasonable" limitations?

So what does the word even mean? There are various online dictionaries but I usually try to stick with ones that also have printed versions that I am familiar with...tried and true if you will. Merriam- Webster online defines "tolerate" this way and in this order:
1. to endure or resist the action of (as a drug or food) without serious side effects or discomfort
2.a. to allow to be or to be done without prohibition, hindrance, or contradiction
2.b. to put up with

The Macmillan Dictionary has the first 3 definitions as follows:
1. to allow someone to do something you do not like or approve of
2. to accept something unpleasant without becoming impatient or angry
2a. to accept someone without welcoming them or liking them

People accuse one another of not being tolerant without mutual agreement of what the word even means.  I suppose there are things, people, behaviors, ideas that are worthy of tolerance and others that are not. Is the line of demarcation between the two immovable...does it or should it change? Who gets to decide? If you tell me I must be tolerant you probably must also require me to accept your meaning of the word. No fair.

What are some things you believe that you can not or should not tolerate? How about racism? I strongly believe that it should not be tolerated but, what can I really do about it (other than not practice it myself?) I have no power to "not tolerate" it. I can only not tolerate it in my own heart and head. I can refuse to associate with people that I am aware are racist but, is that really "not tolerating" it? I can vote for laws that apply but still, how am I not tolerating it?

What are some things that you can or should tolerate? By definition, it has to be something you do not like or don't approve of. To "tolerate" something requires that you continue to dislike or disapprove of but allow it to exist or be practiced without interference, prohibition or hindrance. If I were to change my mind about the issue, I would no longer be merely tolerating "it." I could now be ambivalent about it or embrace it...but it would no longer be accurate to say I was "tolerating" it.

We are told that we should be tolerant of various things or beliefs and I can generally agree with that. But you cannot say I am not being tolerant if I continue to disagree. By definition of the word...it is actually required!

So, what you really want is not for me to be tolerant but rather to change my mind/ opinion and to now agree with you. Sorry...you can appropriately accuse me of being hard-headed, stubborn or even dead wrong, but you can't say I am intolerant if I do not do anything that prohibits you from doing or believing whatever it is we disagree on. Am I right?

To be found in a compromising position

Compromise....it is an interesting word and, at face value, sounds like a noble thing. But the word has dramatically different definitions. One definition is "an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions" as in "the secret of a happy marriage is compromise." (This is the noble definition)

Oops

Then there is the definition "the acceptance of standards that are lower than is desirable" as in "she would not compromise herself by sleeping with him." (this is the not-so-noble definition)


We hear a lot of talk by our political leaders about the need to "compromise." I'm curious which definition they are referring to. I think they want to convince us that it is the former but frequently give us the latter.


There is the old joke that ends with a woman asking the man at the bar "what do you think I am?" He says "well, we've already established that, now we are just negotiating price." (If you want the entire joke, you can Google it yourself)


Something happens to politicians that stay in Washington (in power) too long. They are almost like prisoners that spend a long time in prison...they become "institutionalized" and forget what the real, outside world is actually like and, in many cases, don't want to return to the "real world." Our founding fathers never intended for our elected officials to become career, professional politicians. Something bad happens...not because they are bad people with initial bad intentions. The institution itself is dysfunctional at best and corrupt at its worst. 

The problem with fixing this is many of us believe that "our" guy or gal in Washington is one of the good ones and should stay. Individually, they may be sound legislators but, collectively, they are out of touch, and hungry to maintain the power that the office provides. The other problem is that, unless a newcomer becomes your party's candidate, you are forced to vote for someone from the other party in order to not vote for the incumbent who needs to leave along with all the others. I'm not sure this will ever be fixed unless term limits are implemented. Even then it will be difficult to change the course for a very long time, if ever. Our politicians are driving us over a cliff and, in the meantime, they are arguing about who gets to ride shotgun.


The uprising that produced the current Tea Party began, not under Barack Obama, but George Bush. It was not about Democrat or Republican or Obama or Bush...it was about our government spending money at such an enormous rate with no end in sight. People said...enough. We are over 14 trillion dollars in debt...and climbing fast. The number is so large it defies comprehension. At some point, it cannot be sustained...we may already be past the point of return. We are paying our Visa bill with our MasterCard and a Ponzi scheme like this would normally put someone in prison. Our representatives in Washington have painfully demonstrated that they cannot or will not fix this crushing debt problem and our grossly punitive tax policy.


There are some things on which I am unwilling to compromise...they are just too important. I wouldn't make a good politician.