Morning McDonald's Experience

First I must say that I am no saint.  I do a few awful things and one of them is that I have a secret campaign in my head to eliminate most drivers over the age 80.  I want them off the road.  I always end up behind one of them when they do those things that irritate me wayyy too much.  Like stopping completely on the main road to make a right turn.  Like making an abrupt stop when they are inches from the light that just turned yellow, causing my filled to the rim bag to topple over and spill all over the car floor then I gotta get out and gather up all of my stuff.  UGH!!

However, I love old people.  For real, I do.  I love that they've lasted so long.  I wish to last that long.  I love that their heads should be full of stuff that just takes that long to know.  I love their return to innocence.  There is grand beauty in that, right?  I simply want them to find someone else to drive them around.  Someone else to drive them to their morning breakfast at my local McDonald's.

This morning, the line to the drive-thru was too long.  A girl cannot wait that long for her morning latte. Not on a chilly day such as this one.  So I decided to park and go inside.  But first, I had to wait for an elderly couple to park their car.  I watched in disbelief as the driver finally pulled in, not more than and inch and a half next to the car on his left.  There was no way the passenger of that car could ever get in now.  Not nice thoughts wouldn't go away....

Still. When I parked and got out, they were only halfway to the entrance.  The nice, empathetic me that some of you know showed up and held the door for them until they entered.  The lady smiled.  I smiled too. She had a pretty smile.  I wanted to hug her, but, I don't know her...

Inside, the place was jumping with a large AARP crowd.  As I stopped walking to let one lady get to her seat, she thanked me and called me Sweety.  I liked that.  Made me smile.  A man waiting for his food was in a tizzy that his fork was a spoon, and the counter help patiently saved the world by replacing said spoon with fork with a nice toothy smile.  All was ok with life, once again.  He walked away in satisfaction.  I heard a man ask if his eating companions had any more syrup, they didn't. I asked the counter help for syrup and brought it to him.  He called me Sugar.  I wasn't offended.

Sally was happy to see Marge.  Marge said she was having hip problems and was out of commission for a while.  Sally's husband's emphysema was acting up. He was home now but she needed to get out for a while. She'll bring him home something when she's done.  There were lots of "heys" and "hi's" going on there this morning. 

Aww. They are all friends or acquaintances.  They must come quite often to know each other like that.  How wonderful, huh? They were content, ain't gotta be at work.  Eating breakfast, sipping on coffee, and chillin.  I was in love with the place.  Reminded me of the show where everybody knows your name.  My name is Sweety or Sugar, pick one.  I'm cool with that.

I wanted to stay.  To bask in the loveliness of their morning.  But I couldn't, I had to get to work. 

I left, remembering to give them a break when one of them does a not so smart thing on the road.  I took my coffee and headed out.

As I was riding down the street, a main street, with no one behind me, a sweet, cute elderly lady in a big ol' car, took the four blocks it took me to get close to her side street to decide that THEN would be the perfect time to enter the road.  I sighed and took a sip of coffee and did not put up my picket sign in my head.... I am trying to evolve.