I have yet another cold. I'm pretty sure it's a new rhino virus all together, but I suppose it could be the same one and it just took a brief vacation. I don't know why I'm telling you this except to say that I super pink puffy heart the new Puffs Plus [lotion] with the Scent of Vicks. (Word to the wise, avoid contact with your eyes. (My rhymes ROCK.)) I offered one to a co-worker with a cold and she said that the idea scared her, I then offered her a regular Puffs, but said Kleenex instead of tissue. That got me thinking, how many items do I call by a brand name? And then I remembered The McDonald's Incident.
When I was 14, my mom sent me and my then 10-year-old brother to California. One might ask why in the world she would do this, and I have no good reason for you, but I'll tell you the story anyway. (Why not make an already boring and pointless post even longer?)
Shortly before spring break of my freshman year of high school I came home and started to complain that all my friends were going on vacation and would come back tan and I would still be pale. I then demanded that my mom buy me a tanning package so that once my friends returned from their tropical family vacations I would not blind them with my pasty-whiteness. My mother scoffed at that idea. She thought it was insane to send her 14 year-old daughter to a tanning salon and dismissed the idea completely. A few hours later she was on the phone with her cousin in California. As it turned out, my brother and I both had spring break at the same time and my mom's cousin was willing to let us stay at her place. See what a little whining will do? I just wanted a tanning package and my mom sent me on a vacation!
Bro and I were headed to CA all alone. We stayed with my mom's cousin and her husband, and they took us everywhere. We went to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. We went boogie boarding in the Pacific and learned to shoot a BB gun (at the time I thought it was fun, looking at pictures of it makes me cringe). It was a great vacation and I did come home with a tan, and bangs--my mom's cousin owned (still owns) a hair salon. It was an all around great trip with plenty of stories to tell, but the story that sticks will me and lives on is a humorous little happening--in McDonald's of all places.
After a day of boogie boarding and bicycling, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. It was my turn to order and I said something like, "Can I please get (yes, that is how I order--my mother taught me well) two plain hamburgers and a small pop." The teenage girl taking my order turned white in the face and said, "I'm sorry, we're all out of that." Shocked, I stood frozen, glancing around the room. The pop machine was in the dining area, so I just needed a glass. I was sure I hadn't specified a type of pop, and McDonald's couldn't really be out of hamburgers, could they? Coming to the realization that we weren't in Minnesota, I quickly blurted out, "Soda! Coke! A small beverage!" Her face turned from white to bright red and she handed me a small cup. Bro thought that was hilarious. Of course, he was 10, but he still won't let me live it down. He'll randomly bust out "Soda! Coke! A small beverage!" with a sense of urgency when I order a drink even now. I have no idea how he managed to remember that but forget about me holding a BB gun.
And just think, all it took to bring this memory to the forefront of my mind (and make me post about it nonetheless) was saying 'Kleenex' went I meant tissue. I also say 'Chap Stick' for lip balm, but I don't say 'Coke' unless I'm ordering a diet with grenadine.
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6 comments:
That is so funny. I can't believe your brother still remembers that. =)
It's amazing what siblings will remember.
My dad still teases my uncle about his comment regarding a burnt out string of Christmas lights over 30 years ago.
"Oh dear God, I hope we have lights for Christmas" said in a deadly serious voice, remains a staple saying in our family.
That's hilarious! I fervently stuck by "pop" during college (they say "pop" in Washington, too), but I've decided that's not a battle I need to fight in NYC.
My sister and I still repeat words the way they were pronounced on an old school Nintendo Jeopardy! game.
I now switch off between pop and soda. I was completely against soda all through college, mostly because my annoying roommate was from WI. (Ooh, that gives me an idea for a post!)
I do love family inside jokes, though, so I'm glad he remembers it. I have plenty on him as well, so it all works out.
Hee - too cute. Where I grew up, everything was called Coke. Sprite? We called it Coke. Root beer? Also Coke. "Hey, will you get me a Coke?" "Sure, what kind?" was a common conversation. So weird.
My high school best friend vacationed in Texas every year and said that same thing about Coke--you order a coke and then they ask you what kind you want. I can't remember where in TX that was, but I'm sure it happens in other areas. Not in MN, though. ;)
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