Open scene: A family of four enter a well-known fast food chain restaurant at six in the evening. The mother is on her cell phone discussing orthodontia for one of her children. The father is perusing the menu choices, ignoring his son's pleas for a "fish fillet." Pronounced the same way a certain Jimmy Buffet pronounces his last name. The mother is now raising her voice about the fact that her son needs braces very badly. "His teeth are as crooked as that Anna Nicole Smith!" Of course, not everyone is able to put down a dead celebrity. She is significantly wittier than most.
The father orders a number seven with regular fries instead of curly ones, and as he is preoccupied watching a rather young brunette that just entered the restaurant, he repeats his son's order to the letter. One "fish fillet," please. The teenaged cashier rolls her eyes and nods. No wonder no one can read correctly anymore. The mother is still on her phone, now speaking to the same poor person about her younger daughter's need for a pediatrician. The father turns to the mother and says, "What do you want?" in a less than friendly manner. She waves at him dismissively, murmuring something to the effect of, "I don't care. I'm not hungry." The man sighs and orders a regular roast beef and a Pepsi.
In the midst of their distractions, they forget to order anything for the young girl that is standing in the back and not making a peep. A future therapy case in the works, I'm sure. The woman, in the middle of a rant about "those quacks that touch children," turns around and gasps. "Greg, you didn't order anything for Clara, you idiot!" This is returned by a hasty, "Don't talk to me like that, Sara!" The little girl is still quiet. The father turns back to the stunned cashier and says, "I'll take a happy meal." He ignores the cashier, who informs him that they don't have happy meals, to watch the young brunette that was in line behind them. "Sir! We don't have happy meals here." "Fine, chicken tenders will work. And a diet pepsi." I guess he only allows his family to have pepsi products.
"Your total is $15.47." The girl skips over the ordinary, "Is that all for you today?" I don't blame her. He hands her some cash and receives his change, all the while sneaking glances over at his dark-headed eye candy. The brunette doesn't notice. She's watching the resident bad-boy at the deep-fryer. You know, tattoos, a couple piercings, a permanent scowl. Embodiment of a 'lifer' at this place--works there for his lifetime. Typical.
Back with our award-winning family, they have received their food and are now clamoring their way to a booth. The boy runs to the bathroom, his parents not batting an eye about it. Not that they really noticed anything around them through the whole eight minutes since they arrived. The little girl grabs her box of chicken tenders and begins to munch quietly on the end of one. The mother is still on her phone; "Sheila's boy got braces when he was nine. Brandon is ten." Notice that "Brandon" has not returned from the bathroom yet.
The father's phone rings, "Pour some sugar on me…" and he answers with a boisterous "Hey, man! What have you been up to?" The little girl has now stopped eating and is just sitting and staring at the table. "Yeah! I'd love to come to a poker night later." "He is just a little ball of energy lately. I can't shut him up for anything, not even his Xbox keeps him still anymore." The boy has still not returned. Miraculously, both hang up their cell phones at the same time. A few seconds pass before the mother looks around and notices that their party of four is now a party of three. "Greg, where's Brandon?" "I thought you were watching him." Back to his sandwich. The woman huffs and looks at her food. "I'm not hungry." "You never eat when we go eat, but you huff and moan about us not eating together. I have to eat when you do, but you never do when I want to. Here we are at a nice sit-down restaurant," which I remind you is part of a well-known chain of fast food joints, "and you are not eating again." A fight ensues quickly thereafter. The little girl is still staring at her half-eaten chicken tender.
The boy runs back to the table, but his arrival is not noticed by either of his parents, for they are still bickering over petty eating habits. The boy runs off once again in search of napkins and straws, which he announces quite loudly to the whole restaurant. His parents take no notice, again. The little girl picks up another chicken tender and proceeds to nibble on a new one. No one has opened her ketchup for her yet, either. She doesn't complain. The boy returns, once again, this time bearing a handful of napkins and straws each, and throws them in the middle of the table. "Brandon! Settle down, boy! You know better than that!" Obviously not. The little girl ceases nibbling and puts her chicken tender back down after two bites. "Clara, eat your dinner. I don't want you to be like your mother." Another bicker-fest proceeds.
The little boy continues to eat his and his sister's food. He is quite plump and she is quite tiny. I wonder why. The happy family finishes and throws their trash and the mother's extra food in the trash and noisily makes their way to the door. A faint voice can be heard from behind the first three. "I'm still hungry." No one notices. They file out and into their mini-van. The father puts the girl in a child seat while the mother answers her cell phone yet again. The little boy jumps over his sister and makes her scream by kicking her mid-jump. Again, no one notices. The van is put in reverse and the scene goes black.
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