Carl's Jr - Vancouver WA

Every so often I get a reminder of how different city living is from the sticks. We were traveling to Oregon for Memorial Day weekend. Leilani and I have never been to a Carl's Jr before, and knew one existed down toward Portland. We were heading South on I-5, just north of Vancouver WA, when Leilani yelled "CARL'S JR!!!", so we caught the next exit and found it strategically located adjacent to the local Wal-Mart.

After placing our order the clerk asked us "for here or to go?", as they normally do. Leilani quickly chimed in "to go!" Well, I'd been driving for close to 3 hours already, and I wasn't going to settle for hopping back into the car, burger in lap / drink in hand, and continue unrested. So I inserted a "for here" to correct that misunderstanding.

We settled into our booth and proceeded to eat. As we were eating, I began to observe our fellow patrons. A family entered the restaurant. I think it was 4 girls and a little baby in a carrier, plus a dad and his dad. Everyone seemed to be sporting ponytails. The dad was wearing a tanktop, exposing shoulders furry enough to compete with Sonny Corleone from "The Godfather". While he ordered, he placed the baby in carrier on the counter with the other burgers and food on trays. His father was still shuffling in (he had a ponytail too and looked like Uncle Jessie).

Okay, so my point here is not to mock people who are different from me, but just to point out the differences and how I'm always surprised by how vast those differences are. The family settled in to a table for their meal as we headed into the restroom. When I emerged from the men's room, they were all holding hands in a circle and blessing our lord for the food they were about to receive. I found it humorous, yet inspiring at the same time. They didn't care how it appeared to others, and it was important to say grace, even if in the middle of the local Carl's Jr.

This event did, however, conjure up memories of my younger brother being in film class, and making a movie starring our father. He had my dad kneel down and pray before a giant fake cactus along the side of the highway. Also, he filmed him in Burger King, down on his knees again, praying before eating his meal. This time, my dad fell out of character and laughed as some kids almost ran into him while he was in this position. The film ended with my dad eating a burger with a Burger King crown on, and a song playing in the background... something about appreciating the songs of a bird.