8 JUN 07: FLOAT ON

Maybe you think it happened on the last day of school, or the Memorial Day weekend. But as far as I'm concerned, Thursday marked the unofficial start of summer. Of course, that's because the National Hockey League playoffs are finally over....

Sonic Drive-Ins seemed to agree with my perspective, because they offered a summery special Thursday night. For four hours, they gave away FREE root beer floats. And given their fancy new electronic promotional signs, it's a wonder car crashes didn't happen around their restaurants as this was advertised.

True confession: Until Thursday night, I had never tried any sort of an ice cream float. In fact, my life has been so sheltered that I've never even ridden on a float in a parade....

I grew up in a family which was more into malts than floats. Trouble was, McDonald's led the fast-food world in the direction of milk shakes instead of malts. Apparently that was because shakes were faster to prepare. Malts made from scratch need time for mixing. Shakes can come out of a spigot connected to a giant plastic tub.

But anyway: our family was so malt-centered that we didn't really experiment with the other items in the ice cream world. We ate sundaes once in a while, and went all the way for a banana split on rare occasions. But floats never really crossed our minds - except when I was struggling with swimming lessons at the YMCA.

So Sonic's offer of free root beer floats Thursday night allowed me to have a "first" in the world of desserts. And it allowed me to make up for the "free cone" day at Ben and Jerry's which I missed several weeks ago. I might have needed a lengthy explanation of some of their funny flavor names, anyway....

It was exactly the 8:00 p.m. starting time when I pulled into Sonic on Wynnton Road - and a big crowd already was on hand. In fact, a church van pulled in moments before I did. So I might be in for a long wait, and the staff might be in for a long night.

Instead of pulling into one of the "car hop" stalls at Sonic, I parked in the small parking lot behind the restaurant. That area is for those who prefer "patio dining" - even though in your car, you probably don't have to worry about the Georgia smoking rules.

A fitting old song played on Sonic's radio system as I walked toward the patio - Leslie Gore's "It's My Party." Well, the title seemed fitting. But then I remembered the song's next line: "....and I'll cry if I want to."

It was a true family night at Sonic, as several mothers with children were waiting at the patio tables. It was comforting to know I was not alone - and they weren't planning to buy any food with the floats, either.

The Sonic serving team had trays filled with root beer floats ready to go. But the first two trays emptied just before the servers reached me. But I tried to keep that Sandra Bullock movie in mind - about "Hope Floats."

One reason why the first two trays emptied in a hurry was that some people seemed to be taking not one root beer float, but two or three. It was as if they secretly worked for Wendy's, and were trying to bankrupt the competition.

"You owe me a dollar, you owe me a dollar, and YOU owe me a dollar," one of the Sonic servers said to three young men near me at a patio table.

"The price of a free root beer float is not free?!" I asked.

"I want them to leave me a tip."

The third tray had one root beer float left for me. But then the server completely threw me with a question. "Straw or spoon?" Uh-oh - I knew there was a catch to this free offer. I didn't know how to answer, because I didn't know exactly what I was getting. I was truly a float freshman.

"A straw," I guessed after thinking for a moment. Then I mumbled to the server, "I didn't know I'd have to make such a big decision."

It turned out the straw was the right decision for me. I was able to slurp down the root beer at the bottom of the cup as I drove home. Then I pulled out my own ice cream spoon at home, for the hard vanilla ice cream on top. Trouble was, my stainless steel spoon was too heavy for Sonic's foam cup -- so I ruined the delicate balance of the dish.

My first-ever float was quite tasty and good -- and the free ten-ounce size was the right one for me, before eating a late dinner. I'll keep them in mind on future trips to drive-ins or ice cream shops. But I hope I never have to bring up floating things at the optometrist's office.

Speaking of cheap cool treats: penny-pinchers will be disappointed to learn Columbus Spectrum stores have ended their fountain drink discount for "refill cups." There's now one price for everyone - yet I still consider my 2005 Talladega Superspeedway cup a bit of a collector's item.

The new leader in the low-priced soda contest is Raceway, at Interstate 185 and Victory Drive. It still accepts refill cups, and 32-ounce fountain drinks in those cups cost only 49 cents. That beats Spectrum by 40 cents - except you might burn up that much in gasoline, to reach the store.

Come to think of it, maybe summer is NOT quite here yet. One week into June, I still haven't turned on my air conditioner. I expected Thursday would be the day, but then ominous clouds brought a little rain and cooled things off. There's a big difference between 87 degrees F. and 91, you know.

On a day when root beer floats dominated my attention, it's clear not much news was happening....

+ The Russell County School Board named Lillian Baker its interim superintendent for the second time. Board members say replacing the late Vivian Carter could take months - especially since this time, they realize they need to find a mixed-race candidate to satisfy everybody.

+ The final day of the Alabama Legislature's session included a fistfight between two state senators. I thought the state had enough revenue to avoid any fights about who gets the pork-barrel spending.

+ A fire destroyed several old buildings in downtown Talladega, Alabama. But the worst moment came when NASCAR fans showed up, and started throwing beer cars at slow-moving firefighters.

+ Instant Message to any Republican who might be enraged by Paris Hilton's early release from jail: At least she spent three days there. If she can spend time in jail, why can't Scooter Libby?

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