Just about the time spring quarter came to a close and final exams descended upon me, I took one final road trip to the Bay Area before the Year 2000 Road Trip Extravaganza! (Y2KRTE) began a little over a month later.
All I wanted was a cheeseburger and a cup of coffee. I had been standing in line at the McDonald’s in King City for nearly 10 minutes while the lady in front of me finally decided on her order. It then took some time for Rosario, working by herself behind the counter, to fulfill the request. By now there was a line behind me three patrons deep.
I made the mistake of stopping at McDonald’s because it was strategically located between the freeway and the gas station where I fueled up for three million dollars. Veterans of the old MediNet
mailing list might recall my last adventure in King City last October, where I made a similar stop for the purpose of getting the car washed at the only drive-through wash between San Luis and San Jose. My motive for this King City excursion was quite similar, as I wanted to have a clean car for my uncle’s Silver Jubilee EXTRAVAGANZA, commemorating 25 years as a Catholic priest. The morning was not looking good. It was barely after noon and I’d already forgotten some important papers, emptied a cappuccino out on the rug, and been denied for a rental car by Hertz. As I stood in line at the McDonald’s from hell, I began to have flashbacks to my last visit to King City, when I got stuck behind the lady who drove through the car wash with her windshield wipers on.
Finally, I’m next. I knew we’d be eating shortly after my arrival in Oakland so all I wanted was a cheeseburger and a cup of coffee to tie me over. Before I can utter a word, an older gentleman (and I mention he was “older” only to illustrate that he should have known better) and his wife are suddenly in front of me. Rosario kind of glances to me with confusion and proceeds to assist Einstein, who quizzically glances at the menu before making his ground-breaking inquiry, “what’s a sundae?”.
Are you new here?? It’s the day after Saturday, now get to the back of the line!! It wasn’t enough that he blatantly cut in front of a growing line of (now four) people, he had to ask the stupidest question he could possibly think of! Naturally, after finding out what a “Sundae” consisted of, he wanted two of them and naturally Rosario had to make them since she seemed to be on her own. Finally my turn comes (again).
I order my cheeseburger and coffee and as if to add insult to injury Rosario asks, “JUST a cheeseburger?” So ends my King City experience.
The rest of the weekend was great and I returned to SLO Monday afternoon without incident. Preparations are still under way for our departure on the Y2KRTE, however there will be some adjustments to the itinerary as necessitated by mother finance. The updates will be announced soon, until then tell a friend to check out the site and sign up for the mailing list. At the very least, we’ll keep you entertained at our misfortune!
Drive safely,
-Sean