Would you like fries with that?

I was filling up my tank with gas the other night, and I looked up to see three pre-teen boys mooning me from the McDonald's located right beside the gas station I was at. I pretended that I didn't see them as I'm sure they were waiting to laugh at my embarrassed reaction. Oh, the things you don't expect to see at 9:30 on a Wednesday night!

This 'event' reminded me of another McDonald's-related story that happened a few years back at my old school.

A colleague friend of mine at school was teaching Grade 2 at the time. She had a young guy in her class who was a runner. Now, I don't mean in the 'I'm training for the Olympics when I grow up' way....but more of an, 'I'm often going to run away and hide from the teacher because I want to' kind of way.

One day she was leading her group outside for an outdoor gym-class, when 'Billy' (who was somewhere in the middle of the line heading out the doors) made a bee-line away from the rest of the class. By the time his classmates told my colleague that he was running, (literally less than a minute later) he was LONG gone.

She ran around the perimeter of the school looking for him, without luck. She contacted the principal and the office staff immediately and so began the school-wide search for 'Billy'. Every classroom, washroom and closet was checked, thinking he may have hid. When Billy didn't turn up, they called his mother and then the police.

Frantic, his mom jumped in her car and started making her way towards the school. En route, she saw her son leisurely walking back towards the school, eating a happy meal. She screeched to a halt, put him in the car and brought him back to our building.

In short, 'Billy' ran from his gym class, down the street to McDonald's, 1.3km away from our school!! He walked in and ordered a Happy Meal, casually mentioning that he forgot to bring his credit card with him (remember, he's in Grade 2). They thought he was so funny/sweet that they gave him the meal anyway and didn't think of questioning where his family was.

The teacher, principal, parent and police were glad he was safe and sound, however a safety plan was put in place for his fleeting ways.

So again, I ask, "Would you like fries with that?" and ponder if I could get a free happy meal by just saying I forgot my credit card?

M.