Saturday Night Take Out

 

by Pa Rock

Man About Town

Most days I am at home taking care of a couple of entitled dogs and typing at the computer during their nap times while my son is out enjoying his relaxing day at work.  Yesterday after he got home from his job and I had had my fill of canine-sitting for the day, I decided to drive into town just to get away for a few minutes.  Nick had made supper the past several nights, so I told him as I was leaving that I would pick up something for our evening meal while I was out.

I was thinking about food options as I headed into town.    West Plains has a population of 12,000 which is large enough to attract most of the most of the standard fast food chains.   We have four Casey's, two McDonald's, two Subway's, two Taco Bell's, and one each of Hardee's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Arby's, Steak 'n Shake, and even a new McCallister's - so finding something to eat would not be a problem.  By the time I got to town a few minutes later I had settled on KFC, a pint of livers and enough pieces of Original Recipe to last a couple of meals would hit the spot.  Cardiac rehab be damned!

West Plains is an elongated community with the northern half of the town sitting along Porter Wagoner Boulevard, and the southern half lining Preacher Roe Boulevard.   Those two primary segments of the town are connected by the Jan Howard Expressway. Porter and Jan were country music stars and Preacher Roe earned his fame playing professional baseball.  All three were from this humble little berg.   

I live just outside of the city limits on the northern edge of West Plains, and the KFC is in the southern segment of the town, so it took me a few minutes to get there.  I spend more time in the northern part of town where my doctor's office, pharmacy, and the hospital are located than I do in the southern section which is dominated by Walmart, a place I never frequent - and consequently when I travel into the southern part of town I am leaving my comfort zone.

It had been a month or more since I last visited the Kentucky Fried Chicken establishment, and I noticed as I pulled in to park in the farthest space from the door - something I always do to increase my daily number of steps - that the parking lot looked different, and I decided that the parking spaces which had been outlined in white had now been repainted yellow, making them more distinct.  Nice move, I thought, as I headed for the side door where I always enter.  As I reached that door, I noticed that it, too, looked to have been recently painted a deeper shade of red and that it opened easier than it had in the past.  Nice, again!

But it was not until I got inside that I realized the full extent of the renovation.  They had painted, acquired new furniture, and the tile floor was also not the same as it had been on my last visit.  As I stepped to the counter and was trying to focus on the new curved ordering menu displayed above the counter, a young lady approached seeking my order.

"The place looks really good," I told her.  "You have changed it up quite a bit since the last time I was in just a few weeks ago."

"What'll you have?"  She said for a second time, obviously not in to mood for some old person's chatter.  

So I began to study the menu, but instead of seeing quantities and varieties of the colonel's chicken, I saw a list of "Arby's Classic Sandwiches."  Well, that explains it, I thought, the Colonel has acquired Arby's and the new company has upgraded the building.  But Arby's be damned, I still wanted chicken, so I shifted my gaze to the other side of the menu - and there was still no chicken!

I was lost in space!  Pa Rock had driven to the wrong damned building!

Not wanting to appear more confused than I already was by walking out, I ordered a couple of sandwiches and went home!

Maybe next week I can have some of the finger lickin' good chicken!