Chick-fil-A Grand Opening

It's 7:20am, and I'm wide awake. That in itself is odd. I was also curled up under my leather jacket on a stranger's chair in a parking lot at 4am. That is very odd :-) Yes folks, despite my initial disinclination towards it, I ended up participating in the "First 100" tailgate party outside the Chick-fil-A opening up on 51. In case you don't know, when a free-standing Chick-fil-A opens up they give a year's worth of combo meals (52 coupons) to the first 100 people in line. Folks start coming at 6:30am, 24 hours before the restaurant officially opens. They have music, some free food, games, and occasional roll calls to make sure people don't sign up and then leave.

I knew Mike Q and some others were doing it, and Jonathan left around 9pm, but I was laying in the chair in Mom and Dad's room randomly dozing with Daisy on my lap, and I didn't feel like doing something different. But Huggies called me at 11 o'clock and said I should come down and bring some guitars, and I made a "what the heck" decision to go. I was half thinking I'd just stay for a few hours and leave, but once I got there and started hanging out with some guys and having fun, I decided to stick it out. I wasn't one of the first 100, but those from 101 to 130 have a chance to win one of 5 more "chicken for a year" deals that are raffled off based on how long you've been there.

So we played guitar, did hackey sack, watched the soccer players and hoped they broke a window, got in line for roll call, and enjoyed the free tea and coffee. Around midnight they had everybody inside for free ice-cream sundaes, and Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A (and son of its founder) gave a pep talk. This was the awesome part of the evening, because he also gave a solid and genuine talk, read a verse from Romans, and prayed right there in front of everybody. It wasn't some cheesy or fakely-pious spiritual blab, but a straight-foward, humble, honest and relevant sharing. The verse was the one that says how people didn't give glory to God as God or thank Him, which isn't a feel-good verse by any means. I was quite heartened by such a genuine Christian witness, and I have heaps of respect for Dan Cathy and how he's running his whole company.

The night was pretty fun, but it really started to drag around 4am. The group of guys I was hanging out with started bedding down in sleeping bags and folding chairs, but I just couldn't get warm enough under my jacket, with my rear end on the pavement and the cold wind biting through leather, hoodie and denim. 15 minutes literally passed like an hour, and I decided this wasn't worth it, so I got up again and passed more slow time standing, walking, talking and freezing. In the midst of warm weather, this night dipped down to freezing, making us earn our free combos.

So, to end this stor, we had afinal role call, I didn't win the raffle, but Mike Q gave me a bunch of his coupons because he's a great guy and a great friend, I finally got some chicken, and I drove home facing beautifully-lit skies and feeling not bad, but not quite normal. Now I'm jacked on Dr.Pepper, I'm running 5 miles at 11am, I'm listening to RelientK, and Mom's starting laundry. What a strange and sweet night!

I like the image in my mind - the parking lot lit by white street lights, the tent area, the football area, the soccer area, the people hunched over poker tables, the clean new restaurant, and the fun sense of camraderie with everybody there. It was a good time, and Chick-fil-A is walking out a Christian business as well as I think it's possible. Mad props!

--Bleary Ambassador