Friday required a little more than just stepping into a store and leaving with flavoured ice. Whether 'Cow Appreciation Day', is an independent occasion, or if it was the brain child of the fast food chain, 'Chick-fil-A', (answers on a post-card are unnecessary unless the urge is overwhelming! - I do try to a modicum of research before committing to a statement) was not really important. The fact remained that Friday 12th July was the day that the bovine-free burger joint was going to give away sandwiches, dependent upon the level of commitment of their customers. Samantha does not do anything 'by halves'. Arriving at the office in a pair of shorts and an out of character plain white t-shirt, the material scrunched up under her arm was her cow suit that she had made for Halloween, so that she and her dog could be 'a herd'. In order to fulfill all orders, we had to hit at least two restaurants and claim our appreciation meal. We left the office around 12:15pm and drove south to our first stop. As Samantha exited her car, she donned the suit and we walked into the store. There were a few others in some sort of costume, but as I pointed out to my daughter, who attempted to defend her honour, and costume, they were all under 10! However, she pointed out to me that there were even fewer people who had pinned a cuddly black and white toy to their business attire, and had simply arrived with a picture. Full outfit allowed a full meal (drink, fries as well as a sandwich) and possession of any other form of cow would receive an entree. With a small beanie baby calf clipped to my dress, I accepted a chicken wrap, whereas Samantha, whose eyes were hidden by the hood that showed the ears in their full glory, was given an option of the choice of the whole menu. Surprisingly enough, the waitress commented on my accessory, and looked at Samantha as if it was quite usual to enter a food establishment dressed as an upright four legged beast! Well this is Austin!
We got back into the car and headed north to the second location, and had to wait for a parking space to become available. Although the fast food store is regularly in the news for its conservative stand, receiving a lot of bad publicity for standing by the corporations moral beliefs, it is always the most frequented of the drive thru's, with queues confirming support of the company - a free meal was not given when going through a drive-thru. As we reached the front of the queue, (with virutally no one taking advantage of the free offer) having found a place to park, the waitress at the counter squealed with delight. She called to her associate, who in turn called the manager. Samantha's costume was announced the 'best' they had seen. Everyone came to the kiosk window to view the udderless wonder, and after much discussion about how she had not adapted this from a snuggie and had made it from scratch, the manager, who asked if he could take pictures for the store, said that she should receive two meals, even three, for this fantastic costume. She swished the tail and they almost fell about laughing. My lapel accessory received little more than a smile. In fact, it was totally unnecessary, as I could have just let Samantha receive her prize, and then held on to her arm. After all, if someone could show a piece of paper with an imprint of a patch, I could surely parade my daughter in front of the till and say, 'here, I have a cow!' (No sordid remarks please....she can be difficult at times...but...) The hostess came out of the restaurant with a jumbo drink (no elephants were involved) and then two bags containing a sandwich and some fries. We were not disappointed that the promise of more than one meal should be provided, as we had our quota. My wrap, a sandwich for Dana, fries for the dog (not all of them), lunch for Samantha, and a treat for Edward.
The work day came to an end, and Dana and I left the office, to come home to start the weekend. Shortly after we had dinner, Samantha called, with great excitement in her voice. 'They gave me more!', she shouted. It appears that the manager of the second restaurant had kept to his word, and the large beverage was between two and three time times the regular one that was offered gratis, was not the only 'extra'. At the bottom of the bag was not one sandwich, but two, and upon reflection, the second bag of fries was much larger than the first. Happy with the outcome, and apparent success, of the day, I had one happy daughter, and once again we had enjoyed life in the weird capital, with a tail that will keep her gong until next year, and ......... another story.
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