happy hour

Just waiting for a script to finish running and fighting some insomnia, so I thought I would kick this blog off a bit. I told Drew about a piece I heard on this american life, where Jonathan Gold tells about trying to eat at every (with some few exceptions) restaurant on pico boulevard in los angeles. I figured Drew would be all over doing something similar on orem, utah's own state street and I was right. We even started this lovely blog (with its oh so clever name), and plan on mashing up a little with google maps and good old flickr. See, I have a posh new phone, and it will let me send blog entries and photos here and photos to my flickr account as well.

Just glancing at google maps, Jonathan's Pico trek could have approached 15 miles, and Yahoo! maps lists over two thousand restaurants nearby. Drew and I are going to start at 1200 north on state street in orem, and make it down to the mall. Our trek approaches three and a half miles. Yahoo! maps shows there being over a hundred nearby restaurants.

Friday, Drew and I made a sonic run, where I was pleased to see that we had come during happy hour (clap, clap, clap) and wondered if the cream slushes were half price. Our ordering went a little something like this.

Earl: Are the cream slushes half price.
Voice: Yes.
Earl: Really? Did you say yes?
Voice: Yes.
Earl (after consulting with Drew): We'll have two large grape cream slushes.
Voice: Your total is four something (yeah, I forget exactly).
Earl (after starting to drive off, and looking at the menu, realizing that wasn't half price): Is that half price?
Voice (after a slight pause): Well, we are in happy hour (see above), so yes, they are half price.

After that, I just sat in silence, realizing that we weren't going to get (as I suspected) our cream slushes for half price and that regardless, the two dollar difference wasn't going to be worth an argument. Drew and I sat silently for a minute longer and then drove forward.

Sure enough, we got the non-half price bill.

Earl: Looks like the cream slushes aren't half price.
Server: No, they aren't included.
Earl: Yeah, when we ordered we were told they were.
Server (rather cheerily): Yeah, she shouldn't have said that.
Earl: You might want to let her know.
Server (on the verge of laughter): Yeah.

If you thought this story was awesome, I have a feeling you're gonna love statestreat.

Earl