Ineffective Meal Planning On A Road Trip

Memories! Adventures! Life lessons! When we took a family vacation to Pennsylvania, I was hoping for all of these and I got them.

And you get a story time!

So before we had one of the best visit ever with family, we had to get there.

And on the way, we googled Long John Silver‘s. This is because as everyone in the family knows, I absolutely love Long John Silver’s. So we make a point of stopping whenever we can. My husband, Brian, was a trooper and detoured a few miles off the highway to get me there this particular time. (Actually, he has detoured for my obsession many times.)

I was so excited but when we got there, things got “fishy….” (Couldn’t resist!)

THE ADVENTURE

We quickly discovered that the dining room was closed. No big deal. We headed to the drive-thru. We chose the 16-piece family dinner, partly because it came with a free cake. But we were told that they were out of cake. Bummer but it’s all good.

When I told Mr. Drive thru guy that we wanted the “16-piece family dinner” with 2 pieces of fish and the rest chicken, he was perplexed.

He asked me to repeat it.

No worries, I said it again and clarified that I wanted 2 pieces of fish and 14 pieces of chicken.

He asked me how many pieces of fish and chicken we wanted….

I said the “16-piece family dinner with 2 pieces of fish and 14 pieces of chicken.”

He asked again, I answered again.

He must have still been a bit confused (I definitely was!) because then a lady came on the speaker and asked me what I wanted.

I still wasn’t bothered, mostly amused. But I wanted to make sure that she could hear me so I spoke up and said slowly what we wanted.

Then this dang lady said to me “We are doing the best we can and want to get your order right. You do not need to yell.”

Ummm….

Honestly, it was a bit of a miracle that I wasn’t but I quickly told her that I wasn’t yelling and I just wanted to make sure she could hear me.

She didn’t really respond to that and just told me to head to the window. I then spent the remainder of the drive-thru time terrified that they would do something to our food. I’m going to assume that they didn’t. That’s what I have to believe..

LUNCH TIME

With our much anticipated 16-piece family dinner, we found a table outside of a gas station for a not so fast food picnic. We then enjoyed the worst Long John Silver’s that I have ever had. But that’s ok because mediocre Long John Silver’s is still better than no Long John Silver’s.

I couldn’t wait to confirm with Brian and the kids that I wasn’t yelling. And they all agreed that they did not think I was yelling. My kids would definitely know what me yelling actually sounds like! Ha!

MEMORIES

I wasn’t upset and it has now become a family joke. When someone comes in the room and says something calmly, Brian and I will say “you don’t have to yell.” And because my kids’ memories are short, more often than not, they will apologize and then we remind them of the joke. So maybe it’s not a family joke, maybe it’s just a parents’ joke.

Anyway, it was funny and strange. There might be a life lesson in there but I’m not sure what it is. Maybe it’s just a reminder that fast food employees aren’t always treated well and that we should all be patient. And always remember that “you don’t have to yell.” Well, I guess there’s a life lesson, after all!