I got my hair cut at noon. My stylist reminded me of a new 7-Eleven where a lonely miniature golf course used to be. “I’ll add that to my route!” I promised as she adorned my hair with the only hair spray it ever sees. Forty minutes later, I was punching in “7-Eleven” into my car’s GPS and was heading 7.2 miles west to my most proximate Slurpee den. The quest was on!
Last year on This Day we were heading back from a family reunion in southern Oregon so we stopped at several 7-Elevens in Oregonian towns along I-5. No lines, plenty of cups, a wide variety of flavors. I heard from a teen friend that the stores in our area ran out of cups early. As I headed west it was with a touch of anxiety that I would be too late.
The parking lot was quite busy and filled with people mostly younger than me. I snagged a coveted cup at the register and joined the line behind a church youth group in matching bright green t-shirts. When I got within viewing distance of the Slurpee machine, I sized up the offerings and opted for a Cherry-Apple/Coke combo. Sadly, they didn’t have those dome lids to allow for a heighten Slurpee so I overflowed mine just enough not to make a mess and headed back to the car to consult the GPS again.
Less than 2 miles later, I was at the next 7-Eleven and recognized a couple from my previous stop leaving the store as I was entering. Behind me was that green shirted youth group again. One kid asked the adult ring leader, “Why are we getting Slurpees?” “Because they are free, dude!” explained the guy with just enough grey hair to make me cringe at his dude use. I left the store with 7.11oz of a free Grape Slurpee. As delightfully artificially grapey as a grape Popsicle. YUM!
The GPS directed me to the next 7-Eleven about 3 miles to the east. At a stop light I realized I was following the youth group van. As I entered for Free Slurpee #3, I smiled at the grey-headed dude in a green t-shirt and asked, “You making the circuit, too?” He seemed a little perplexed as he sized me up, as if looking for my gaggle of kids bearding my Slurpee addiction. Instead, I joined the line alone with a smile of appreciation from one of the employees. As I left with my Alienade (raspberry, strawberry, and lemonade)/Watermelon-Lime combo, the employee looked up from the nachos and told me to have a nice day. He seemed amused and appreciative that I was there without any kids as an excuse.
I managed to ditch the youth group on my way to Free Slurpee #4. It was a slightly more…edgy…crowd in the parking lot. I had to do a U-turn to kill time to get a parking space. I waited mostly patiently at the register for my free cup as a customer tried to explain the Lotto games to the employee who apparently had never sold nor purchased a lottery ticket before. My coveted cup finally in hand, I chose a Berry Blaster (cherry and raspberry)/Banana concoction and headed to the car amid the constant ding-ding of the door being opened and closed. As I approached my car, I overheard a teen girl say to her friends, “Why are we just standing around?!? We are wasting time!” Had I met her at my first stop, I would have offered her a ride. She was my kind of Slurpee gal.
Studying my GPS map, my route seemed at its natural conclusion. Well, aside from that new store Darcy told me about. So with 28.44oz of sugared happiness, I bopped down a few more miles to my final free Slurpee of 7-Eleven 2011. I pulled up next to a car with two teenaged guys busy finishing their free Slurpees from a prior stop. We got out at the same time and got in line with our free cups, still in plenty supply. Stunned that I actually enjoyed the banana Slurpee at stop #4, I decided to cap off my Slurpee Round-Up with a combo of my two favorite flavors of the day: Banana/Cherry-Apple.
It was a hoot of a few hours. I was bemused that I was not the only one driving all around my county in search of free frozen sugar. I was surprised that I was by far the oldest person to be doing so without kids or teens in tow. The inside of my upper lip is still a bit raw and fuzzy from the rough edges of the spooraws I used to get every last free drop. I was a little sad to have left at least two local 7-Elevens unvisited. Were it not for imminent dinner guests, I would have gone for another 14.22oz. As it was, I crashed pretty impressively and crankily from my sugar high in the midst of preparing dinner. Next year I’ll remember to eat lunch first. And maybe see if I can convince my church’s youth group to join me…as long as I promise not to call them dude.
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