Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Collegedale

I reached nirvana one lazy Sunday afternoon on July 26, 2020. After a successful morning of yard work I rose from my accomplishments and ached for a reprieve from the spiteful southern heat. Like so many of my kin and kind before me, I traveled to the oasis of the contemporary Dixieland, the burbling watering hole of the post-modern man, a quaint little chain of quick and quixotic restaurants called Sonic. “Sonic.” The name carries with it an image of open blue sky, a scar of white across its gradient of navy and robin egg, as Chuck Yeager pierces into legend. “Sonic” the newscasters cry as for the first time man has gone beyond the limits of sound, an ephemeral barrier, a perception of life and love. Beyond music, beyond the words of the mythic dead, beyond history itself the pilot urged his craft not unto the cheers of the world, but into the silence of the great frontier. “Sonic” I whisper into that silence. How arrogant we were, how heady be the draft of pride? Youth thy name is folly.

Oh, but how young was I.

I crept into stall #18. The air itself was living on that summer day. Birds warbled to one another across the parking lot. The cicada Rousing to the grandstands for the evening concert began a sibilant melody, discordant but sweet, occupying that faithful hall of nostalgia. Like so often with fateful tasks it began simply, a mere accent of the pen before the tragic play is composed. I placed my order for a drink, modest in its trappings compared to the exotic array of phonemes congealed into the display above the gleaming red eye of the call button. And I waited.

And waited.

Einstein described time as a river. Within, the flow of time is obfuscated, Epochs loop and slip in eddies of the stream infinite. Conversations and lives wander like leaves in the torrent. Even after desiccation they drift down, down, down. I became as the boulder in the whirlpool. Around me the world drifted on, decaying in vibrant burning colors, all the while I was petrified and separate from the current.

I waited.

I observed all. No longer did I focus on the disparate fragments of reality. I witnessed veritable stars blaze in their infancy and hurtle themselves about the void in a dance of eons unseen by mortal eyes. Light cascaded from their entropic waltz. In their drunken path I became aware of emotion among the living fire, and the heavens became a drama playing out on the grandest of stages. I wept.

And I waited.

My gaze fell and I beheld the lives of those around me. A fly lived and died on my dashboard. From it sprung a progeny, who carried an inheritance of scale amidst its wings that spoke of the forbearer but altered ever so slightly within this new generation. This one too lived and died. A million million followed in like manner and I witnessed the permutations of life until nature used up her infinite stores and as before came the same being as the first. Born again into the cycle, the pattern complete. Zen lived in the wings of that fly, an I fell into the crystalline fractals and lost myself among lives of flies

And I waited.

I waited an hour and a half. Fed up with the situation I turned into the drive thru and talked the employees into eventually giving me the drink I paid for. After discovering zen, the diet Dr. Pepper was...

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! If I could give this place a ZERO star I would. I waited 20-25 mins in the drive thru line. Finally got up to the menu/speaker. Sat there for 2 minutes. No one said anything to me. I said “hello?” - again, silence on the other end. The speaker display was completely blank so I took it as it was broken and everyone was giving their orders at the window.

• I HAVE THIS ALL RECORDED* I get to the window and inform the lady that I haven’t given my order yet because no one answered me on the speaker. She apologized and said that if I was ordering food then I’ll have to drive back around and wait in line again. I told her I just waited in line for 20-25 minutes, I asked her if there was any way I could order with her now and scoot up out of the way and have someone bring it to me when it was ready? She said she would ask her manager. Her manager comes to the window (with an attitude from the start) saying “ma’am you’ll have to go back around we are extremely short staffed I was trying to get the chance to take your order but you drove away so” and I said “because I thought the speaker was broken?” And the manager said while rolling her eyes “you’re gonna have to drive around ma’am” and then I said “okay what’s your name?” And she rolled her eyes again and said “Susan” and i said “your name isn’t Susan” because of the way she said it and her face when she said it. She lied. She said “Chloe Goods” - which may or may not be her name. She said “anything else?” She said “go ahead bye bye have a good day” She was EXTREMELY RUDE. Again, I have the entire thing recorded.

It’s just frustrating because I had two growing boys in the vehicle with me very hungry. Already frustrated we had to wait in such a long line. And I get the fact that everyone is under staffed. But I was at the speaker for quite some time. She could’ve said “I’ll be with you in just a second” or something to indicate she knew I was there.

I’m extremely shocked that she’s even a manager at this point. To upper management, I’m extremely shocked you allow the managers of your stores to act this way. I will be posting this video on a...

I am absolutely upset with the service I received today. I have been visiting this sonic for over 5 and a half years. The quality has always been superb. Recently the service here at my local favorite sonic has unfortunately declined over time. No longer can I go through the drive through and expect a delightful caramel milkshake, instead I am given a less than scrumptious cup of unmixed ice cream that is haphazardly mixed with no care. The workers are less than welcoming to their customers. I happened to bring my issue up to the young lady at the drive-thru, I asked for a remixed milkshake because mine tasted like a flavor that I did not ask for. Instead I was treated with indifference upon my request. The young lady at the drive through took my milkshake from my hand, inspected it thoroughly. Looked at me and said “i’m going to have to check with my manager on wether or not we can remake your milkshake.” Undoubtedly she walked towards her manager, spoke to her and brought my milkshake back. She said “ sorry we can’t remake this” and handed the milkshake back to me. Immediately closed the window. turned her head and I was left to only pull away. So unfortunate, there was no option for me to further discuss why my milkshake was not what I expected. On top of this, the young lady the drive thru did not give me an option to reorder/repay them for another milkshake. In my opinion after working food and service for over 22 years, this is unacceptable behavior towards a customer, there was no reconciliation for my order that was plainly not cared about. I am sad to say, this sonic has degraded my heart, soul, and feelings. I will no longer be visiting this establishment. I have nothing to feel expect remorse for my favorite place to come and spend my hard earned money on milkshakes and ice cream that is continually being mistreated. If you are reading this, expect slow, meaningless, and...