Perils Of The Drive-Thru

If you live outside of Canada, you may not know that we are fueled on Tim Hortons coffee.  Here in Ajax we seem to have a franchise on almost every street corner, which is lucky, because I'm too embarrassed to return to most of them. This one goes out to Ann, on the Go-Train, who I'm sure has had her own share of drive-thru mishaps.

For most people, traversing the Drive-Thru is a basic skill, not usually fraught with peril. However anyone who is following this blog knows, our family is not "most people".

May I suggest that before setting off on an especially cold morning, check that your electric windows are working. Believe me, it is no use waiting until you are at the speaker in the drive-thru to discover that the window is frozen shut, and you have not left enough room to open the driver's side door. It doesn't matter how loudly you yell, the server will not hear you through the closed window.  Guaranteed tho', you will have a line up of cars behind you, and you can certainly hear what they are shouting and its definitely not "a large black coffee please".

Grady's personal favourite, one with which he needs no encouragement to relate, concerns jack-rabbit starts. I didn't get my driver's license until my 40s (yes I'm that old) and as such, or maybe just because he's a man, my husband feels he is entitled to voice numerous observations on my driving. So, one morning he happened to complain at how slowly I was at taking off from the lights. The next stop was the drive-thru, and taking off from there was a whole different story. As soon as I hit the gas, there is blooding curdling scream from the front seat,  "Slow down! hot coffee in the crotch, hot coffee in the crotch".  Should you ever meet Grady, he does a wonderful impression of his father.

Sometimes in the drive-thru, you may have your children with you. The fact that they can't escape may encourage you to use that time to resolve some outstanding issues. DO NOT DO IT. No matter how pleased you are that you are getting your point across, you are distracted, and as such, lose all credibility when you drive right past the order pick-up window without stopping. At this point just cut your losses and leave, because trying to creep back through the line with the sounds of derisive laughter ringing in your ears, will really screw with your day.


Finally, a little gem of wisdom that may save you some embarrassment. If you decide to take advantage of the garbage bins beside the drive-thru, make sure you don't have your money in your hand when chucking out the rubbish, or you may find yourself parked at the order pick-up window, squeezing out the tiny gap that your door will allow, and frantically rummaging through the bin looking for your last $5.  I'll freely own up to the other unfortunate incidents, but this last one was all my husband's doing!