Interesting Things about Alabama

Some random interesting things about Alabama.

There is a store there called Bass Pro Shops and it's kind of like a Costco but for hunting, fishing, general outdoors stuff and Nascar. It also has a giant fish tank that would be at home in an aquarium, a waterfall, and over 25 stuffed wildlife creatures, including several different bears standing upright with snarls on their faces.

Beyond that obvious attraction, it was a great place to wander around with two little kids. They also had a deli that looked like an old-timey general store that made a great hot dog. I assume it was a beef hot dog. At least, I hope it was.

They had an entire section for kids clothing - complete with fly fishing vests in size 2T and camoflauge pajamas. They also had toys. I was drawn to this one above because it appeared to be a camping set. As I got closer I looked at all the little parts - all terrain vehicle, canoe, tent, family dog, deer. Wait. Back that up. A DEER? The very thing that will be hunted and killed is in the playset? That's totally weird.

I thought this toy was weird for the same reason. It's a play set of all the animals that hunters hunt and kill.

For the record, I have nothing against hunting. I think it's just fine when people hunt in season, safely, and they use all the parts of the animal. No problem - but just like virginity, hunting is a serious matter and I didn't think it is right to have toys depict it as a play thing. (I also don't think it's appropriate to make jokes about one's virginity or lack thereof. It's a sacred thing that should be above joking.)

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In other randomness, many people in Alabama take certain things seriously. Football, church, Bear Bryant, country music, hair bows, pecan pie, and fried chicken. Coming in at the upper middle of the serious meter is Chick-fil-A. Now folks, I'm from a big city - one of the biggest. I've been to a Chick-fil-A (or 2) in this big city and I have NEVER, EVER, seen a set up like this at the Chick-fil-A drive thru.

They have three people outside working the drive thru line. One woman was taking orders and writing them on a little card. A man was directing traffic. The second woman would read the order off of your little card into her secret service worthy hidden microphone and then give you the price that was given to her through her miniature ear piece.

When I got to the parking lot, there were probably 15 cars in line for the drive thru. Wanting to see what it was all about, I decided to go through the drive thru line. Boy, am I glad I did. I've never been through such a fast drive thru, and I've been through MANY a drive thru.