Chick-Fil-A Grand openings (AKA sleeping in a parking lot)

[McHaven]

If you aren't familiar with Chick-Fil-A, it's a fast food chain (yes, it is spelled like that) that sells chicken. Sandwiches, nuggets, wraps, chicken salad etc.

As part of the grand opening of a Chick-Fil-A store, they give away coupons for 52 free combo meals to the first 100 people to come. People normally camp out in parking lots for this, beginning 24 hours before opening.

There was one opening just down the street from my university and my friends and I planned on going. Around 3:30 Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from one of my friends saying the place is already mobbed. Over 30 tents in the parking lot. We hurried up there to see if we could still get in and if we had time to gather the rest of our people and supplies. Sadly, there would have been no time and when we got there we signed in as numbers 86 and 87.

So there we were, sitting in this parking lot with no one we know, no blankets, no tents, absolutely nothing. Finally about 3 hours later, we managed to get my friend's girlfriend to bring us some supplies and some food, since we couldn't leave the property. Even later, as I'm sitting freezing my butt off around 10, a friend of mine brings me my blankets, sleeping bag and my laptop (had a test the next day to study for)

It got down to about 40 degrees last night, and it is absolutely the longest I have ever been out in the cold.

High Points of the evening:
1. Meeting some new cute girls and sharing their tent for awhile
2. Over 300 dollars worth of free food

Lowest Points:
1. The cold
2. Being unable to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time
3. The stupid loud annoying people all night
4. Having to come back in the morning and take a history exam

So, I don't think I'll ever be doing this again. I'm sure I'll be pretty damn sick of chicken in a week or two.

my friend and I, while trying to sleep on concrete with our assortment of blankets, realized that there are people that have to do this every night, with far less protection than we had. We've decided to give a lot of our coupons away to the homeless in town, so they can get a hot meal this winter.

Anyone else ever do anything like this?

[baba]

I remember camping out at department store parking lots for Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead tickets repeatedly in the 80's. Only once did it suck - freezing in a Volkswagen bug. Had to fire the thing up and drive around in circles to get heat going.

[Phalex]

I've done it a couple of times for Dead tickets, once in the middle of winter.

I camped out for Jimmy Buffet tickets once too. That was kind of surreal. Parrot heads run the gamut from lawyers and investment bankers to unemployed, unwashed hippies. I had a really good time that night.

[Dr Stankface]

I've played at Truitt Cathy's (CEO of Chick-Fil-A) church in Jonesboro, GA and he's by far one of the nicest people i've ever met.

Oh, and I eat Chick-Fil-A at least 3 times a week.

[Tim Cole]

Never done anything like it, but chick fil-a rules

[T-Bird]

Hi.

I've done my share of sleeping in cold environment, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes by choice. Most of the times I've had plenty of time to prepare though. Had to actually because most of those times the temperature has been well below freezing.

Originally Posted by McHaven

my friend and I, while trying to sleep on concrete with our assortment of blankets, realized that there are people that have to do this every night, with far less protection than we had. We've decided to give a lot of our coupons away to the homeless in town, so they can get a hot meal this winter.

That's a really decent thing to do and I honestly think that the experience You guys had was worth the effort for that realization alone. Not too many people get it, no matter what.

Regards
Sam

[Stinsok]

I love Chik-Fil-Atio.

[TSanders]

Eat mor chikin

I loves me some Chick-Fil-a

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Chick-Fil-A is awesome, but not enough to camp out for a free meal.

[Matt Till]

Inventors of the chicken sandwich, so they say.

Right across the street from where I work, I eat there often.

[jon118]

I eat there at least twice a week and don't get tired of, that said I do fear what it is doing for my health.

[McHaven]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

Chick-Fil-A is awesome, but not enough to camp out for a free meal.

52 Free meals

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Oh, 52 free meals to each person, not in total?

[MJ5150]

They don't have those up here, but I heard all about them from other friends around the country. I finally got to go to one in Arkansas......it's alright I guess. Nothing special. Right up there with Popeyes and Churchs.

I have camped out for Van Halen and Metallica tickets, that is all.

Edit....wait, I lied. I camped outside the Tacoma Dome to get MC Hammer tickets back in 1990.

-Mike

[NJL]

my boss did this one time.

[McHaven]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

Oh, 52 free meals to each person, not in total?

52 free meals each, for the first 100 people

[GregC]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

They don't have those up here, but I heard all about them from other friends around the country. I finally got to go to one in Arkansas......it's alright I guess. Nothing special. Right up there with Popeyes and Churchs.

I have camped out for Van Halen and Metallica tickets, that is all.

Edit....wait, I lied. I camped outside the Tacoma Dome to get MC Hammer tickets back in 1990.

-Mike

Aww jeez, Mike, that's a little bit TMI.

ETA: I camped out in '83 for tickets to see the Who. To be honest, it was kind of a letdown--my one and only stadium concert, so they were much too far away, plus Pete had tinnitus and played acoustic for almost the entire set.

I saw them again in the late '90s in an amphitheater (and we had pretty good seats), when they played Quadrophenia from beginning to end, and the whole thing was so much better.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Originally Posted by McHaven

52 free meals each, for the first 100 people

Okay, that makes more sense. Yeah, camping out for at least a short while is worth 52 Chick-Fil-A meals.

[jrthebassguy]

Chik-Fil-A rules.

[Stanley Design]

Can I have a free meal? Can you order it and mail it to me, there are no chick-fil-a's up here.