I'm a big Chick-fil-a fan. During two years of high school I worked at a store in Birmingham while I wasn't mowing grass. Longscape eventually won out in 11th grade. Nevertheless, I still really enjoy their food even though I ate it about everyday those two years. Its my go to place for quick, cheap, and good food. Its a beautifully run company with great Christian values. I kind of baffled other companies haven't tried to copy their business model.
After my years working there they started a promotion called "The First 100." The idea behind it was whenever there was a new store opening, the first 100 customers would receive free Chick-fil-a for a year. The fine print reads 52 #1 meals, so still a good deal. Well, naturally the popularity of this grew tremendously so they had to modify the rules a little to ease early crowds. So the gist of the contest is you have to show up 24 hours before a store opens. It doesn't matter if you get there any earlier than that. So at 6AM everyone who is there registers. If there are less than 100 people, everyone wins. If there are more than 100 people, then they have a drawing and pick 100 people. Those 100 people are winners. So you immediately you know you are a winner, however the contest is just beginning. In order to claim your prize, you have to stay on the property for 24 hours and you can't leave for any reason. They open up the store bathroom and give you some snacks, but other than that you are on your own including sleeping in the parking lot. Then the next morning as the store opens, the winners are the first 100 customers and then they give you your prize.
I had heard of this contest a couple different times, but finally decided to look into it. I found there was a store opening up in downtown Birmingham in a couple months. So I put it on my calendar. That Wednesday morning I went to the location and arrived at 5:15. People started filing in and at 6:00AM they let everyone into the parking lot. I was amazed at the number of repeat contest participants there were. About 75% had already done this before. One guy claimed this was his 44th time. He was a big fan with lots of cow gear. There were 125 people there. Most everyone came in groups and planned to split winnings among the group if not everyone got picked. I was on my own, but still thought my odds were pretty good. Every store opening brings in a specified crew to help, so the whole process was very well run. They started drawing numbers and sure enough mine was called at #73. Kind of cutting it close.
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| The wrist band we had to wear to indicate we were the chosen ones. |
I went into the store and filled out some paperwork. They give us some basic instructions and then take us out in groups to our campsites (or parking spaces). They give you about 30 minutes to get your stuff and park your car for a longer stay since we're downtown. I got all my gear and claimed my space. They wanted two tents per parking space so I shared mine with Dave and Kate. A super nice couple about the same age as me. They looked familiar to me and soon realized we go to the same church. So they were great companions throughout the day. I got my tent set-up and my chair out and got comfortable for the next 23 hours.
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| Hanging out in the store, waiting for instructions. |
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| My 1/2 of the parking space, right on the edge of the parking lot. |
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| Pictures aren't as exciting when you're by yourself. |
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| Tent city on the north side of the store. |
Throughout the day they had role call to make sure you were there. I think only one person left during the course of the day. They fed us three meals, of course Chick-fil-a. I was expecting it to be kind of boring just sitting around all day, but it actually ended up being a lot of fun. Everyone there is in the same boat, but a very diverse group of people. Everyone quickly becomes friends and starts to like the little community. I brought some stuff to occupy myself, but ended up just hanging out with everyone instead. It was a beautiful picture of community and fellowship, rather than isolation.
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| One of our role calls. |
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| The most enthusiastic participant. He drove from Tampa and claimed this was his 44th store opening. |
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| Chick-fil-a employee who led some of the games. |
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| Our neighbor Kevin. Kevin provided a bunch of laughs throughout the day. He was probably the only person who just happened to be awake walking down the street at that hour of the morning and inquired what was going on. When everyone else went to their cars he ran home and got a sleeping bag and bike. He followed the 2 parking spaces per camper rule. His mom brought him a tent that afternoon. Everyone knew Kevin by the end of the day. |
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| Kevin was real tired since he never went to bed the night before. |
That night Rebecca came and joined me. She had to work that day or else she also would have participated. She quickly got acquainted with my corner of the parking lot. That evening they brought in a DJ and had ice cream. We settled into our tents about 11PM. Unfortunately the downtown atmosphere is not real conducive to sleeping outside. Throughout the night there were all kind of noises including trucks, trains, deliveries, drunks yelling, and whistles. This contest isn't for the weak though.
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| Ice cream with M&Ms |
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| Rebecca amazed by the awesomeness of the day. |
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| She also got a band to indicate she wasn't a chosen one. |
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| Gearing up for the unseasonably cool evening. |
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| I thought camping under a parking lot light would be good for safety. It also meant it was very bright in our tent all night. |
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| Visions of Chick-fil-a dancing through my head. |
They woke us up at 5:30 and lined us up for last role call and a t-shirt. We then got to go through the store and get our prize. They wanted us out of the parking lot pretty quick to make way for paying customers. We all said our goodbyes and went back to our routines. I was really tired and then had to go to work, but it was well worth it. I plan on doing more in the future.
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| Almost time to go inside and get our loot. |
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| Shaking hands with the operator and getting the free stuff. |
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| Dave, Kate, and myself holding our coupons. They came in nugget boxes naturally. |
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| 52 big ones. Making it rain. |
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| Not sure if this was a yawn or an excited face. |
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| It ended up being a beautiful morning. |
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| Since it was so pretty we decided to go by the Railroad Park for some pictures since we're never really down there at 6:30 AM |
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| Alabama Theater |
