Wendy’s, I Love You

So, I have a very complicated relationship with the restaurant Wendy’s. Honestly, I hate the restaurant more than I love it. To be fair, I guess it’s more because of the employees of the Wendy’s than the restaurant itself, and I’m specifically talking the one on 51 for those familiar with Jefferson Hills. I remember one time that I went to Wendy’s, and my fries were extremely cold. Maybe not extremely cold, but I like to exaggerate. So, I told the lady at the window that I wanted some new fries, and she got irritated with me.

She said, “Can you just please take the fries that you were given? It’s gonna take ten minutes to make them, and we’re kind of busy.”

Now, I understand the struggle. I work at Sheetz, where it can get crazy and hectic at work, especially with making food. Nevertheless, I looked at her and said, “I’m sorry about that, I understand the struggle because I work at Sheetz, but I want to get my money’s worth, so I can definitely wait ten minutes for some hot fries.”

She groaned and told me to wait up front, and I had to wait 20 minutes for some hot fries.

I thought that it was a one-time thing with Wendy’s, but Wendy’s continued to disappoint me. Every time I went to Wendy’s on 51, my food was always cold, and the service was almost always terrible. Sadly, this one Wendy’s on 51 made me hate eating food at Wendy’s and have a certain level of distaste for the restaurant. However, one experience in high school helped make Wendy’s have a special place in my heart.

It was my junior year of high school, and I had to work on a Spanish project with this quiet kid named Khalid. He talked a little here and there in Spanish class, but he really didn’t talk that much. We actually hung out a few times with other people involved, but we never had any one-on-one interaction with each other until this Spanish project.
The Spanish project that we had to do consisted of us going to a restaurant or two and only speaking Spanish to the cashier. Then, we had to write a paper about our whole experience just speaking Spanish to a cashier. We decided to go with Wendy’s because we could easily knock it out, plus we were both in the mood for Wendy’s. Overall, a simple project.

Anyways, I ended up picking Khalid up at his place, and I drove us to Wendy’s. As we were driving to Wendy’s, we were talking and joking around a lot more than usual. There was plenty of laughter going on between us, and it was comfortable atmosphere that I wasn’t expecting with him.

It was around 6:00 p.m. when we made it to Wendy’s, and we were expecting to be there for 30-45 minutes. We went inside, and it was surprisingly not busy at all in Wendy’s. There was just one cashier on duty, and she was on her phone. The cashier was around the same age as us, and she was cute. Also, her name was Mary. Khalid and I got into Spanish mode, walked over to her and started speaking Spanish. She was so confused. Khalid and I had to point at items on the menu, and it was a struggle for her. After we were done ordering, we spoke English to her and explained that we were only speaking Spanish to her because of a project. Thankfully, she understood, and we all shared a good laugh about the whole thing.

Afterwards, Khalid and I found a table and started eating our food. We were also talking and joking around with each other. It was weird though because Khalid was doing most of the talking more than me, and it was interesting and refreshing because he was almost always quiet when we hung out in groups. I liked how insightful and unique he was when were talking about certain philosophical topics, God, movies, videogames, money and school. When we had our disagreements, it was so much fun. We would end up debating and arguing our points, and I would always end up winning our little debates. He might have gotten a few debates won here and there, but I was mostly winning all the debates that day. Khalid will tell you differently, but he knows the truth.

I looked outside and realized that it was dark outside. I looked at my phone and discovered that it was 9:00. It was crazy to me because we had just planned to be at Wendy’s for 30 minutes but almost a full three hours. I told Khalid the time, and he was shocked to see the time too. He asked me if I was ready to leave, but I was thinking that we were alright because it was a Friday night. Then, we changed the topic to girls. I was talking to him about girls that I liked in high school, but I noticed that he was a little distracted. I followed his eyes and noticed that he was looking at Mary, the cashier. This got me excited. So, I asked him, “Hey, what do you think of Mary, the cashier? Do you think she’s cute?”

He replied, “I don’t know, Isaiah. I guess.”

“You guess?” I exclaimed. I immediately told him to go over and talk to her because I knew that he thought she was cute, and he said no. I asked him why not, and he said that it wasn’t necessary. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The blasphemy was too much for me.

So, I said, “Khalid, that could be the one for you but because you’re afraid to make a move, you could be missing out on the best thing ever in your life.”

He started laughing and saying that I was being dramatic. I admitted that I was because I am dramatic, but I also speak the truth. Then, I give him an ultimatum. I said, “Look, if you don’t go over there and get that girl’s number, then you will leave me no choice but to do it myself for you. The worst she can say is no.”

Khalid started cracking up, but I was being dramatic and serious. Khalid motioned me to do it, and I got up and walked over to her. I looked back at Khalid and saw a little terror in his eyes. So, I changed my mind and simply asked Mary for a Frosty. When I went back to Khalid, I saw him feeling victorious because he thought I chickened out, but it was the opposite. I wanted to get him when he least expected it.

As we were heading out, I saw that Mary wasn’t busy at all at the register. Plus, there was no one in the restaurant. So, I said, “Excuse me, my friend Khalid thinks you’re cute. He was wondering if he could get your number.”

The look on Khalid’s face was priceless, he couldn’t believe that I actually did it. Then, without hesitation, Mary replied, “I have a girlfriend.”

I said okay, and Khalid and I ended up going back to the car. Once we got into the car, we just busted out laughing. We were asking ourselves if she was lying or telling the truth, and we were debating it in the car. He couldn’t believe that I did that, and he was asking me why I did it. I said, “I don’t know, it was just good sport.”

I had finished reading The Great Gatsby and “good sport” was my favorite phrase in the book.

Anyways, I told Khalid that he could return the favor on me anytime he wanted, but he has yet to do it. He probably forgot, but I guess this blog post will remind him of it now.
Nevertheless, our experience at Wendy’s ignited a six-year long friendship that consists of walking in malls, seeing movies, philosophical conversations, Denny’s, Applebee’s, Taco Bell, working out together, debates and so much more. Wendy’s is responsible for a friendship that I deeply value in my life, despite having cold food and bad service. All I can say is Wendy’s, I Love You.

This is the end of “Wendy’s, I Love You.” Be sure to like and comment your thoughts on this short story.

On Thursday, I will be posting the short story “Is Lebron James Cute?”