Slurpee Day!!!!

Few people in this world will whore themselves out quicker for something free than a tv news crew.  Granted, it shouldn't total more than $25 at a time, then it's payola.

That said, today was July 11th... 7/11, and all the 7-Eleven's across the country were offering free 7.11oz Slurpee's to anyone who wanted one.  Reporter Alan Cavanna is the only person at my station that shares the level of enthusiastic appreciation for the Slurpee as I.  Especially the SUGAR FREE ones!

So today, much to our amusement, we were assigned to work together.  It must have been fate!  What made it all the better was that we were given an intern who first asked me if he could join us, to which I replied:

"Look dude, I have 2 goals today... get as many free Slurpee's as possible and make slot for the show.  Don't interfere with that, and you can go anywhere you want with us."

And as if this wasn't enough, said intern then told Alan he'd be accompanying us today to which Alan replied:

"Well, you could go with Becker and learn alot... or you can come with us and get some free Slurpee's."

Are you noticing a theme here? Slurpee's.  Plural.  More than just one.  Meaning multiple...


Our plan was to hit as many 7-Eleven stores as possible while out gathering video for our story, before we had a 2 o'clock deadline.  We hit the the first one over in the ghetto right around 11o'clock just as Free Slurpee Day was beginning.

Shortly after downing this tasty treat and introducing the intern to a world of liquid refreshment he'd never known, we spent well over an hour seeking out MOS sound in the park.

I earnestly turned to Alan and asked if we were going to definitely try for at least one more before returning to camp to log sound.  He assured me we would.

And then the craziest thing happened...  You see, there's a 7-Eleven right near my station.  Only about 2 blocks away.  We didn't hit it first because it seemed too obvious... the easiest choice.  If these things were free then we were going to search the corners of the Queen City in our pursuit.  So, you can imagine my surprise when we pulled into our 7-Eleven.  The one near our station.  On our turf, and saw a live van from the competition.

Something immediately in my gut told me that I knew who it was.... And I was right!

It was my sweet wife who had stumbled into enemy territory and noticed a lone 7-eleven perched between the train tracks and the homeless shelter.

We paused briefly for this picture and to exchange a Slurpee "cheers" before departing and moving on to our daily assignments.

If you missed out on Slurpee day, I hate it for you... but there's always next year.