Tossing Salt Presents:
Ten Days Of Dougie (Day 3)
McDonald’s Drive-Thru, Love & The Hotel New Hampshire
July 6, 2021
DougMaynard.com

It’s Tuesday and the long holiday weekend is officially over. Time today to go back to work and back to the HBO treatments at the Wound Center. I’ll be so glad when the mornings of laying in the Michael Jackson oxygen tubes is over with. And work, that will apparently continue for a while as well. I got a notification from the Social Security office yesterday to expect a letter in the next few days. I had applied for disability. I’ve been turned down. I guess having to wear Frankenstein boots in order to stand for more than thirty seconds and not being able to walk without constant pain and having to wear the boots doesn’t count as a disability. I’ll appeal though and if it happens, so be it. And if it doesn’t, so be it. Life goes on and I’ll endure because that’s what I do.

And now, enough of the chit-chat about my personal struggles. It’s time to get down to business and that means the Magic Bag and Day 3 of the Ten Days Of Dougie blog series. So are you ready? Let’s get the bag and find out what the topics of discussion will be. We have McDonald’s Drive-Thru, Love, and The Hotel New Hampshire. This may be interesting. Let’s do this.

McDonald’s Drive-Thru…

The place where food orders go to be screwed up and customers go to enjoy bad service, bad manners, and long lines waiting for barely edible food. Don’t try to deny it because you know I’m right. If you order more than three items, something will be forgotten and missing from the bag. If you special-order any item, say perhaps no lettuce or extra mayo, the burger will have extra lettuce or no mayo. The fries will be cold. The cashier will not know how to count change and require the aid of a manager. The coffee will be cold. And these people want fifteen dollars an hour. Yeah, okay. Maybe it’s not every McDonalds’ or every fast food restaurant that has a drive-thru, but for the majority of them, especially here in Laurinburg, this is pretty much a description of a typical visit, especially if you visit at night. It’s a tough job and I couldn’t do it. I will be the first to admit that, but there is no reason for the service to be as bad as it usually is. And they still can’t seem to get that damn ice cream machine fixed. I don’t like McDonalds. Well, not unless I have coupons. And then, I’ll think about it. And there you go. They suck. Let’s move on.

Love…

When you care about someone or something more than you care about yourself, that is love. And yeah, I admit it. There are a few people I can honestly say that I love. My family, my cat, my friends (most of them), and my bro-son and his family. They mean more to me than I do to myself. As Kurt Angle would say, “It’s true! It’s damn true!”. I may not tell them enough or show it sometimes because I do have a reputation as an anti-social, grumpy, dark-hearted curmudgeon to protect, but I can’t imagine life without these peeps. It wouldn’t be living and that’s the damn truth. So love? Yeah, this little dark heart is capable and has some deep affection for a few certain folks. And if I ever tell you that I love you, believe it because it’s true. And now, let’s move on to the final topic.

The Hotel New Hampshire…

A fantastic book was written by John Irving that was later made into a terrific movie starring Rob Lowe, Jodie Foster, and Beau Bridges. It follows the Berry Family, an odd and unique bunch of characters, as they go through life, disasters, adventure, and the challenge of owning and running a hotel. It’s a book of ups, downs, and everything in between, and the movie, was just as good. A bomb at the box-office, this movie was very well done, faithful to the book, and if we ever do another “Lost & Forgotten Movie Gems” edition of the SMF Cyberspace podcast (that’s a hint Brent, Eric, and Luke), I’ll be sure to include this on my list. It’s a quirky little movie with a lot of quirky little characters, and there is even a bear. What more can you want? And one of the greatest pieces of life advice I’ve ever heard comes from this movie/book. Keep passing the open windows.

And I guess that’s enough about that. It’s time to wrap this up and call it a day. My thanks for reading. Any comments, thoughts, or any questions you may have, feel free to give me a shout. And if you would like to subscribe or share, that would be great too. This brings Day 3 of 10 to a close. I’ll be back tomorrow with Day 4 and if I get the chance, I think we have a couple of Ultimate Wrestling Q&A’s waiting in the wings to be completed as well so watch for those. Until we meet again, stay safe and be good. I’ll see you on the flip side.

Ubuntu