Unbagging the Cats 1

Unbagging the Cats 1

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Sonic Unhappy Hour

I was not happy when my Sonic changed Happy Hour a couple of years ago. It used to be from 3:00 to 5:00. Never mind that technically, it was Happy Two-Hours. That time was perfect for allowing me to tie up my after-school loose ends, and still stop by Sonic in a timely manner on the way home.

This 2:00 to 4:00 Happy Hour is inconvenient. I always miss it by ten or fifteen minutes. So I curtailed my habitual afternoon beverage treat to two per week. I find $2.05 a bit steep for a Route 44 Diet Coke with lime. Gas is cheaper than that. Not that I want to drink it over those enchanting Sonic ice pellets.

Sonic Unhappy Hour is the hour directly after Happy Hour. The workers are still in the cheap soda mode. They fill the cup with ice, and shoehorn in a bit of soda. And you pay full price for it! If I'm going to shell out $2.05 for a soda, I at least expect to get some soda. I don't think that's unreasonable.

Thursday, the window gal handed me my magical elixir. I was pleased, because I could see limes in the top. Occasionally, they forget. There was one unfortunate citrus faux pas in which I was given lemons, but usually, I get a whole lime, cut into four wedges.

I never drink my keg of carbonated nectar until I get home and squeeze the juice out of the limes. Thursday, I had only three wedges. Each wedge was half a fourth. That's an eighth for those of you who don't do math. To make up for the shortage of lime, the gal had added extra ice. And then didn't even have the common decency to top off the styrofoam cup with soda. So when I scooped out my munchkin citrus sections, I saw that the level of ice and soda stood at about three-fourths of the cup. I had paid $2.05 for three-fourths of a cup of ice, a dash of Diet Coke, and three-eighths of a lime! That's highway robbery!

I'm not a person who looks at the glass as half full. I challenge one of those namby-pamby, unicorn-loving, every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining, walking-on-air, head-in-the-clouds eternal optimists to pay $2.05 for a soda, open it up to see what I saw, and declare, "Oh, look! My glass is half-full!"

They might also expect to buy gas station chicken from a woman who has all of her teeth.

3 comments:

ShanimalsCrackers.blogspot.com said...

I don't like Sonic. One time I went there and ordered off their dollar menu. SO DISAPPOINTING. I think I ordered, like, a Fritos bean burrito or something and that thing was TINY. I also ordered dollar fries expecting them to be the size of Burger King's or McD's, but once again, there were only like 5 fries.

Never went there again.

If you drink your soda at home, maybe you should tell them "no ice" next time and just pour your soda and just add ice later. :)

Kathy's Klothesline said...

WalMart has Diet Coke with lime. 2 litre bottle is $1.25. He who loves his Diet Coke and drinks 3 of those bottles every day in his giant bubba mug could tell you how it is.

Val said...

Shannon,
I, too, have been sorely disappointed by the Sonic dollar menu. I believe the offender was a chicken sandwich, the size of a silver dollar. The only good thing I've found is the Jr. Deluxe Burger.

Thanks for the tip on the ice. The only problem is...the ice is the best part of the Sonic drink. Assuming you at least get some drink with your ice. I used to make them at home last summer, to avoid a trip to town, by using an old Sonic cup, crushed ice from Frig, my Frigidaire extraordinaire, and two cans of Diet Coke with Lime.
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Kathy,
That is a LOT of soda. But who am I to judge? When I lived in town, with no kids to keep tabs on, I made two trips to Casey's every day for giant mug refills of Diet Coke. Plus, I played video games all summer. Ah...the days of youth and no responsibilities except the payment on my $17,9000 house.