I lived in denial of Chick-fil-A's politics for longer than I care to admit. I no longer allow myself to purchase breakfast chicken and biscuit with honey butter from this publicly homophobic institution, but if they ever wanted to get on board with social justice and everything, I'd be sure to run back to their arms.
My senior year of college, my then-boyfriend-now-husband was working three hours away at his first real job. Every other Friday I'd finish up classes at noon, tote my overnight bag through the library to select a book on tape, and then set out on the open Texas road. I would make just one stop before leaving point A for point B: Chick-fil-A. In my diet conscious youth I did not order waffle fries with my ten nugget meal, but cole slaw. Like all fast food joints in Texas their iced tea was freshly brewed and garnered with lemon. With the cole slaw balanced on my lap I drove the first half an hour of my trip sneaking bites up to my lips whenever I got caught at a light.
Although I've since given up Chick-fil-A for obvious political reasons, my other car trip companion remains. I currently commute up to eighty minutes a day and find that television is all to tempting in the evening, meaning I rarely make time to actually READ a book. But I do listen. Some of my favorite books I've experienced on tape; Zorro, The Paris Wife, A Homemade Life. I'm not certain that it's safe, but I often forget entirely that I am driving. The deep sounds of stories fill the car. I feel no road rage when listening to a book on a tape. I do not swear openly as I do when listening to NPR's news updates. The books on tape make me feel sort of filled up and content, in the same way perfectly fried chicken nuggets and a side of cole slaw might.
