Taco Bell, Part 2

Standing in line for 40 minutes to get tacos wasn't enough for me. After enjoying the Taco Party at lunch yesterday (as previously discussed in this blog), I took my Bride on a 20-Cent Taco Party experience yesterday evening. The lines were actually a tad longer, and we parked in the same spot I had at lunch time.

As my Bride and I dutifully took our place in the cue, people around us were astounded to learn that it was my 2nd trip to the Bell for the day. I simply told them, "it is a social event." Lightening the mood proved to be most effective. Instead of people being grumpy that there were actually waiting in a line that would prove to last almost a full hour to get tacos from Taco Bell, we laughed, we smiled, we got to know each other just a little bit. It was, dare I say it...fun.

The lady in line behind us was dismayed to learn of the 10 tacos per customer limit. She had 3 teenage boys and a husband at home awaiting a bounty of tacos. Since my Bride & I were only getting 10 tacos between the two of us, we volunteered to place an order for her. After all, 20 tacos sure beats 10! She was amazed that we were willing to do that. Come on, all we did was place the order, she forked over the $2.14 for the purchase of those ten tacos! My Bride continued the conversation with this lady, coming to know where she attends church (and she is a nominal attender), letting her know about Vero Christian Church, found out her occupation and told her about someone in our church who is in need of the services she provides.

Another lady had two toddler girls with her, both of whom were extremely well behaved and quite cute. She did have another adult with her to help take care of the girls, but by the time our 55 minute wait for those delicious tacos was over, we had gotten to know her, and the ladies all joked some female joke that I tried to stay out of, if you catch my drift.

The point is, we saw the taco cue as an opportunity to let the light of Jesus shine in our lives. The folks around us were engaged in light-hearted conversation with people around them, who had before this experience, been strangers. We talked about church matters, talked about our kids, talked about work and made connections. We enjoyed each others company while standing in a Taco Bell for nearly an hour waiting to pick up our precious order of 20-cent tacos.

God will show up in the strangest places if you just remember to bring Him along. After all, He is there anyway, so you might as well acknowledge Him and allow Him to be the life of the "party." Even while standing in line for cheap tacos.

History Making Day

On a cold, clear January day, history was made. Yeah, we inaugurated the 44th President of the United States, but I am talking about 20 cent tacos at Taco Bell! Ian and I arrived at the Vero Beach T-Bell with bellies anticipating tacos. Apparently everyone in the free world had the same idea at the same time. Don't they know that there are Taco Bells in other places, too? Being unable to enter the parking lot, I ejected Ian with cash in hand so he could get in what would prove to be the line that went around the world. I parked in a space at the strip mall deal just to the east of the Taco Bell, and made my way over only to find that Ian was a mere five feet inside the building in that line that did indeed extend outside! The mood was festive, as everyone was ready for some cheap lunch (even if their lunch break took them to supper time). Even the employees were laughing it up, with one taco assembler proclaiming that she would have dreams about making tacos tonight. No doubt.

It took a mere 40 minutes for Ian and I to get our precious bags of 10 tacos each (the limit imposed per customer by Taco Bell), and with envious eyes watching our every move, we made our way through the crowd of folks who were still waiting for their number to be up (or at least called). We even got to see our good buddy Greg (one of the two folks who reads this blog), and invited him to bring his supper tacos over to the house. He was still a good 35 minutes away from getting his tacos, so I hated to think of it as lunch since it was already 12:30.

Now, I missed out on the Free Taco day back during the World Series thanks to a scheduled colonoscopy. That is a story for another day. Turtle, Jordan and company say nothing tastes better than a FREE taco, but the 20-cent variety don't taste too bad either. All ten of them. See, I had been fasting and praying before heading to Taco Bell. Now, I am just a-full. And Peggy wants to stop by there to pick up tacos for supper. I might just explode into one big taco salad.