Daddy's Favorite Restaurant

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an official member of the unofficial In-N-Out Burger club. I have all the t-shirts from the last five or six years in my closet at any given time, including some that you can only get by ordering them online. As a matter of fact I got all my kids their own In-N-Out shirts for their birthdays last year.  With five kids to my credit, it comes in handy to be a fan of a place that sells such bovine delicacies at a reasonable price. 

The other day I was in a hurry to get out the door. I try to ride my bike to work two or three times a week and this was one of those days. Of course, that means I have to allow more time to get there, so I tend to leave earlier when I ride. The clock was ticking and there was no time to make a lunch, so I rushed to the freezer in the garage and went through the stack of frozen Lean Cuisine lunches. Inevitably, the only kind left was the kind I like least. (Some sort of Asian inspired sweet and sour chicken thing if you must know. It's about as far from an In-N-Out burger as you can possibly get while still remaining in the "food" category.) Apparently I had already eaten the ones that were worth eating, so now I was stuck.

As I was throwing the rock-hard Asian delight into my bag, my wife came out with something in her hands. "What's in your hands?" I asked

"Since I have to take the kids to the farm today, I thought we'd stop by In-N-Out for lunch," she said as she showed me the stack of In-N-Out gift certificates that the kids had earned from the library reading program. 

"While I eat this?" I said incredulously. I go off to work and earn money so our family can live and this is how I get thanked? Something is seriously wrong here.  She just smiled innocently, gave me a kiss, and sent me pedaling off. 

Don't worry. It gets worse. Just as I pulled my healthy chicken and rice bites out of the microwave at lunch time, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out only to discover it was my wonderful wife. (The very same one who had made me such wonderful pork roast and homemade rolls just last week.) She was giggling as she said, "You'll never guess what Ellie just said." 

"OK, I'm sure I won't. Fill me in." Keep in mind Ellie is the two-year-old. 

"We just pulled into the In-N-Out parking lot," she began. I again sadly looked down at my lunch and longed to join my family, if only for a moment. "When Ellie saw the sign she pointed at it and said 'Daddy!'" 

"I'm coming Ellie Bean, I'm coming," my heart longed to say. How could I disappoint such an adorable creature by not showing up at the very moment when she desires nothing more than to spend time with her daddy?

I talked with my wife some more and finally accepted the fact that I was not going to make the 45 mile trip to Temecula on my bike to join my family during my 40-minute lunch break. 

After hanging up, I returned to my now piping hot, low calorie,  frozen microwave meal and ate all three bites. Does anyone out there share my pain?