Wir gingen durch harte Zeiten :)

The day started off like any other. I went to school, tried to figure out what my bio teacher was saying, and walked to the bus stop after classes. Today I was leaving a little earlier than normal, as my last class for the day was canceled. It was here where I smelled it- delicious fumes dancing in the autumn wind. Like a dog on the hunt, I followed my nose around the corner. There, I spied the big yellow truck with chickens spinning in circles over open flames. Watching the chicken twirl around, I became aware of how hungry I was. I need to save money, I thought to myself. But what would one day of splurging matter? It was this fateful decision that would have me smelling like a deep fryer for the rest of the day. 

“One half chicken” I requested. I was at the counter of the truck now, after about ten minutes of waiting in line. The whole place smelled amazing, and I couldn’t wait to satisfy my rumbling stomach. “Uhhhh. Okay yeah yeah” said the worker. He rang up my card and handed it back to me. I was then handed a entire full chicken. This thing was massive. He placed it in a paper bag and just like that, before I knew it, I lost £10 and now had an entire chicken to carry around. I peered in the bag- warm tantalizing air hit my nose. There are worse things than getting a whole chicken, I figured. How wrong I was…

I walked to a cafe where there was outside seating. There, I laid out my chicken on its bag and prepared for a feast. I did feel like a medieval peasant, though, digging into a whole chicken with just my hands. I felt very odd as I began to eat. I mean I had no plate, no fork or knife, and was just eating a whole chicken practically in the middle of the sidewalk. Right then, a girl I knew from my German class walked out of the cafe. There I was, digging apart a massive chicken. “Great, this will help me make friends” I thought to myself. Just then, the juices from the bird began to run wild, dripping all over the table and on to the ground, not to mention into my lap. “Hi!” I said, trying to act as normal as possible. More chicken juices dripped through the metal grates of the table. “I tried to buy just a little bit, but the man gave me a whole chicken.” She just looked at me as if I was crazy. I could understand why. “I have extra if you’d like some!” I proclaimed. For anyone reading this, offering a girl part of your drippy chicken is not a good way to make friends. “Thank you but I’m all good”, said the girl. “Do you have class right now?” I asked her, casually brushing off the pooling puddle of grease in my lap. “Nope” she says. “You should sit here then” I said. I attempted to brush the grease from my cheeks, but my grease covered fingers just made it worse. “Uhhhh I have to get to… uh… class?” She hurried away. Thanks a lot chicken.

It was then when I saw my bus pull up to the station. I grabbed my chicken and threw it in it’s bag, which was now covered with hot juices. Running across the street to catch the bus, I looked down to a horrifying sight: my chicken was breaking through the bag! The bag had deteriorated and was breaking into little pieces of paper. I took the chicken in my arms and headed towards the bus. Then, I stopped.

Food is not allowed on buses, I remembered. At least, not food like partially eaten whole chickens. I had to get a new bag for my chicken. Turning back around, I ran back across the street and to a nearby convenience store. Everyone turned to see the boy holding a chicken covered in grease. After the most awkward purchase of my life, I finally had a bag for my troublesome chicken.

Just like before, I crossed the street (again). My bag of chicken smacked trash cans and smacked benches as it swung as I ran. I was heartbroken to see the bus, the last one for the next hour and a half, pull away from the bus stop. I stood there alone, holding my bag of chicken.