A Flying W in a Haystack

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By Jim Shearer on 04/06/2009

Filed under: ME LIKEY

Friday was a bummer.

Not only was my weekend flight to Pittsburgh delayed, but it was cancelled altogether--grrrrr. Instead of arriving in the 'burgh at 8:30PM that evening (to attend various family functions for my sister's upcoming wedding), I was told the soonest I could get in was 5:30PM the following day via a connecting flight from Washington DC--grrrrr.

Since many of the pre-wedding festivities were taking place early on Saturday afternoon, my only option was to eat the price of the plane ticket (can you believe they don't give refunds!?), rent a car and drive seven hours west--grrrrr.

(above: Shout out to Shartlesville for leading me to the flying W.)

After I sliced through Friday evening rush hour in Manhattan--grrrrr--the traffic wasn't so bad, and since I needed to get back to Pittsburgh as soon as I could, I budgeted for one gas stop/pee break/fast food meal. My unplanned rent-a-car journey lead me to a truck stop in Shartlesville, PA.

Filled up the gas tank. Check.

Took a pee break (ahhhhhhh). Check.

En route way to my scheduled fast food meal, I came across a bin of $5.99 hats. It was filled to the brim with Penn State, Iowa, Arizona, Pennzoil, and Cat Trucker caps. As I glanced at the pile, I noticed the back of a navy blue, mesh cap--the only one in the entire bin. My curiosity got the best of me. Hmm, what random hat could this be?

I dug in, picked it out, flipped it around and almost didn't believe my eyes. There was a flying W logo on the cap. Could it be (no, maybe it was a Whataburger hat)? Yes! It was! A Weezer trucker cap--at a truck stop no less--for six bucks! It took me two seconds to figure out that I was supposed to buy it (which I now believe was sent down form the Gods of Geek Rock to make my Friday evening a bit more bearable).

As soon as I placed the Weezer cap on my head, my weekend turned around. The adjacent McDonald's even served Shamrock Shakes, a mid-March/early-April delicacy that you (curiously) can't find in NYC.

With the flying W on my head, and a newfound bounce in my step, I grrrrr'd no more.

Tags: Flying W Logo, Mesh Hat, PA, Shamrock Shake, Shartlesville, Trucker Cap, Weezer, Whataburger