superSONIC, No-I don't think so

Maybe you've never been to a Sonic Drive-In, maybe you've never even heard of it, but for me Sonic is the quintessential fast food experience. That is, until last night. Let me bring you up to speed. Sonic is not your average, "pull around to the next window" kind of drive through. It is a drive-in. You drive up, park your car, push the button, order your burger and tots, and wait for a car hop to come (in the past on roller skates) and hang your food off of your window on a tray so you can eat in your car. A little awkward, yes, and quite messy for sure, but this is just part of what makes Sonic so great. So I thought.

Now that you understand a Sonic set-up, let me get to the story. It all started with a craving. You see, my family is from New Mexico, land of the drive-in. Perhaps it is because the cost of land is at less of a premium, but these restaurants are everywhere. Here, however, in The OC, one must drive quite a distance to have their cherry-lime (an amazing cherry and lime flavored carbonated concoction). 45 minutes, to be exact. And that brings me back to the craving. My sister is pregnant and apparently with pregnancy number 3 have come some strange cravings. Last night it was a cherry-lime. I don't think my sister has had a cherry-lime in fifteen years, but last night she needed one. With that we loaded in the station wagon and set out on our way. Mom and Natalie in the back, Sister Sarah and I in the front. What happened in the hour that followed was truly the single most horrific display of customer service I have ever experienced.

To say they were rude is an understatement of gargantuan proportions. But rude I can deal with. The 48 ounces of fluorescent pink cherry lime soda that was spilled in my car window, on my brand new scarf, purse, and coat I could not. Allow the photos to speak for themselves here:

This is one of about 30 towels that were stained a brilliant shade of pink.

OK, now imagine this area of the car filled with pink liquid. Thank God I have black interior or we would have a much larger "situation" on our hands.
And, not only did she spill it on me, but she just STOOD THERE!!! I finally got out of the car and while seething with anger went to find a manager. The chaos continued and not long after there was a small circle of employees gathered around to watch what was about to unfold. I tried, oh did I try, not to lose it on this woman. This boorish brute of a woman with painted-on eyebrows and a serious attitude problem. But after about 20 minutes of listening to her blame me for what was undeniably her employee's fault when she asked me to actually PAY for my food I wanted to punch her right in the nose. Hard. Tranquility prevailed and I refrained, but SERIOUSLY!!! You just ruined my property and my night and now you want me to pay to eat my cold hamburger and soggy french fries? You MUST be kidding.

To make a long story just a bit shorter, we high tailed it out of there after the aforementioned manager told me to "go ahead and call corporate, they won't do anything". My mother was afraid they were going to come after us and rough us up. Trust me in reality it was worse, MUCH worse than I can possibly even describe.

So what came of this most terrible experience? Well, I called Sonic Corporate Headquarters and within an hour of talking to someone on the east coast, I received a call from the franchise owner who was horrified, to say the very least. She offered full compensation for all of my damages and handled the whole situation in a very professional manner. Finally, a tad bit of relief.

And my scarf? When I got home I spent hours trying to clean that scarf, that "no dry clean", "hand wash with gentle soap only" white wool scarf to no avail. The scarf is a total loss and I cannot even replace it because it went on sale at Banana Republic and everyone else realized how amazing a scarf it truly was. My mom is now knitting me a new one. And the car? My car was dripping with red dye #23 goo all over the place and has since received a $100 goop removal detail. I am almost whole again. Damn those pregnancy cravings.