How can I help you?

We’ve all been there. Zooming into the drive-thru for a quick lunch. The goal? Get in, get out, and get back on the road. But sometimes, something as simple as a fast food run can take a turn for the worse.

That’s exactly what happened to Connie one summer’s day during a pit stop at the golden arches. She ordered lunch and pulled around to WINDOW #1 to pay.

“Three dollars and forty-two cents,” said the cashier.

As Connie dug through her purse, she discovered she only had three one-dollar bills. Realizing she was short by forty-two cents, she knew it was time for Plan B.

She reached into the coin holder under the car’s radio and found a few coins, but not enough. She checked her pockets for loose change and came up with some more, but again, not enough. She held out hope for her last opportunity – the cup holder! And sure enough, she found enough change to cover it.

A couple of minutes had passed by, which can seem like an eternity – especially for Connie who noticed the long line of cars waiting behind her. So as Connie began to transfer the fistful of coins from her hand to the cashier’s, she started to apologize for the delay.

And then it happened.

Several of the coins dropped out of her hand and bounced on the ground outside the car. She knew she didn’t have one additional cent in the car, so she asked the cashier to hold on a second. Connie opened the car door just enough to begin leaning down, reaching for the coins on the ground below her. Forgetting momentarily that she was in a mini-SUV that sat a little higher off the ground, she extended her reach to grasp the fallen coins. She couldn’t quite pick them up, so she stretched a little further. And that’s when gravity took over and gave Connie a hand, by pulling her pretty much out of the drivers seat – and wedging her between the car and the wall underneath the drive-thru window. Now, if Connie had remembered to simply shift the vehicle into “park” before she began her search-and-rescue mission for those twelve cents that went AWOL, she would have found herself in a much better position. But the car was in still in “drive,” and Connie was stuck, hanging halfway outside the driver’s side door. Her only saving grace was that she was able to keep her foot on the brake, preventing the car from accelerating forward. She knew if her foot left the brake, the car would have taken off and either dumped her out before it began it’s unpiloted run across the parking lot. Or worse – it could have continued toward the side of the restaurant, crushing Connie in the process.

And then, she heard those five little words that we all take for granted every time we visit a drive thru, “How can I help you?” asked a familiar voice from behind her. With her head upside down, Connie focused to see her friend, Dyan, who ironically happened to be in the car behind her at the drive-thru, and witnessed the whole ordeal! Instead of feeling instantly relieved, Connie began doing what she normally does in stressful situations like these – she began laughing hysterically. This, in turn, started Dyan laughing as well. In fact they were both laughing so hard, neither one could speak a single word. Instinct took over, and Dyan knew she had to do something. She ran around to the passenger’s side of Connie’s car, opened the door, reached across and shifted the car into “Park.” Once the car was secured, she then helped pull Connie up and back into the car. Still laughing, Dyan returned to her car, and Connie handed the twelve-cents to the cashier. She proceeded to WINDOW #2, collected her meal, and drove away – never looking back!