eat mor chikin'

last night i slept in a parking lot. with 99 other people.

i love chick-fil-a. really, who doesn't? they not only make an excellent chicken sandwich, this company does everything well and with integrity. they have stellar customer service and it's always their pleasure to serve. one of the fun things they do for their loyal fans is the first 100 event. i've wanted to be a part of one of these for years but it hasn't ever worked out...until now.

here's what went down. i showed up in the parking lot of the new blue springs store about 5:45 on wednesday morning. at 6am there were over 100 people [105 to be exact] so a raffle was required. they counted us into lines and handed each of us a ticket. numbers were drawn one at a time to give participants a guaranteed spot in the first 100. the 77th number called was my lucky number. i was given a wrist band, officially registered and then it was camping time!

the rule is that you must remain on the parking lot for the entire 24 hour period until the store officially opens on thursday morning. there's a short grace period where you can unload your stuff from the car and then you're locked in. [figuratively...not literally] as a first timer i was in the minority, but i did my research and came prepared. parking spots were claimed, tents went up and a small city was born, complete with all the necessities like tables, chairs, sleeping bags, air mattresses, computers and games. it wasn't exactly the warmest day of the year, so i packed a healthy amount of foot warmers and extra layers. the whole thing is kind of hilarious...like an overnight tailgate. go team cow.

our periodic line checks throughout the day usually came with free food. they fed us breakfast, lunch, dinner and an evening snack. i was a little worried about being bored all day, since i was camping on my own, but it wasn't a problem at all. i made friends with some fellow sbu alums in the tent next door and we played tripoley on and off all day long. [incidentally sbu was well represented...even the store owner was a bearcat] plus i ended up having some fun visitors which helped as well. [thanks for coming marilyn, donald, jake, mitch and rylee!] the staff also offered some entertainment in the form of games and some great tunes for a parking lot dance party.

after the last line check of the night i burrowed into my sleeping bag and stayed toasty warm until the 5am wake up call forced me into the frigid morning. during our final line check we were given 'i heart chick-fil-a' t-shirts and paper hats to wear for our grand entrance. the owner, the mayor and a cow cut the ribbon and we were in. team members serenaded us with cheers, cow bells and the banging of pots and pans as we filed past the counter and picked up our nugget boxes of goodness. free chick-fil-a for a year.

cold and all, i would do it again in a heartbeat. i love chick-fil-a!