St. Patrick's Day comes full circle

When I was a kid, McDonald's was an insane treat. I know kids today, my own daughter included, cannot grasp the concept that going to McDonald's was like the child-version of going to a royal wedding or the Great Wall of China. Yes, it was pretty darn special--you even begged to have your birthday party there (and this was way before McDonald's had those Playlands). Back in those days, McDonald's was called a restaurant, for Pete's sake. Today, I'm fully aware that it is now the equivalent of getting an entree from the freezer section at the grocery store, both in convenience and price point, but warmed up and available without dragging my lazy a$$ out of the car.

Anyhoo, one of the annual events that made McDonald's even more insanely attractive was the Shamrock Shake. Again this was way before all the smoothie places out there, so the minty Shamrock Shake was completely novel and special. Those glorious days when I got those Shamrock shakes were heavenly...my juvenile March Madness. I had kind of forgotten about them, especially since I hardly go to McDonald's but the memory of that dreamy shake came to mind today and I wanted to surprise my girl with one when I picked her up from TKD.

I have a disclaimer: as mentioned a couple of days ago, Daylight Savings Time is really kicking my butt. I have not been getting the best sleep and I'm pretty sure that eating a pound of my own flesh would be easier than getting up at what was once my usual rising time. Plus on this particular day, I spent a ton of time staring at spreadsheets on the computer. My eyeballs were on fire. I wanted to pull them out of my head. I was afraid if I blinked too often, my eyes would burst into flame. Bottom line, my fuse was as short as my energy.

Anyhoo, I pulled up to the drive thru. I glanced briefly at the menu--man, McDonald's added some really new stuff to their repertoire!--and then heard the drive thru lady's voice burst through the speaker, inquiring if I wanted to start off with some special sandwich.

Me: Do you still have Shamrock shakes?
Her: Yes, how many pieces do you want?
Me: Wait, I asked for a Shamrock shake.
Her: Shake? What flavor?
Me: I want the Shamrock shake.
Her: We don't have that flavor.
Me: What! This is ridiculous! Are you telling me that you are out of Shamrock shakes already?!
Her: We don't have that flavor. We have Jamocha, chocolate...
Me: WAIT. You have JAMOCHA, but not Shamrock shakes?! It's ridiculous that you are out of Shamrock shakes on St. Patrick's Day!
Her: ...
Me: Come ON! St. Patrick's Day isn't even over yet! Gaaaaaahhhhhh!
Her: ...
Me: Look, is there a number I can call?! This is RIDICULOUS!
Her: But ma'am, our company doesn't have that flavor.

And that's when it hit me. The crazy new menu. The Jamocha flavored shake. The big poster on the side of the building that said Welcome to Arby's! I had pulled through the wrong drive-thru.

Me: Oh my gosh--I'm so sorry. I thought I was at McDonald's!
Her: ...
Me: Okay, I guess I'll just drive thru. Really, sorry about that.
Her: ...
Her: Have a nice day.
Me: Thank you! You have a great day too! Thanks so much for your help--I really appreciate it!
Her: ...

I tried to hightail it out of there, but of course, there was a car in front of me waiting for its food and the drive-thru lane was walled in. So I sat there focused on the McDonald's a hundred feet away while I'm sure the drive-thru lady was studying my countenance for a Franny voodoo doll that she would stick in the deep fryer.

Anyhoo bottom line, I made it to McDonald's and brought the girl a quart of minty Shamrock paradise:

Happy St. Patrick's Day.