Bonafide Slurpee Lover


As a child and teenager, I was known to purchase and drink a slurpee, froster or slushee. They were good on a hot day. It was always fun to mix flavours. Yet I did not fully appreciate the delights of this frozen carbonated beverage until I started dating J back in 91. My young long-haired boyfriend would actually stop at a 7 Eleven on a cold winter drive home from college in order to pick up a slurpee to tide him through the long drive. He swore the best slurpees were made in his hometown. The rationale behind his bias rested on the fact that there were two machines (holding 4 flavours a piece) in the store and a high volume of customers stopping to fill up with gas and grab a beverage. These two elements combined allowed for a variety of flavours, insured the slurpees did not sit for long in the machines and that consistency problems were quickly resolved.

J will seek out a slurpee in almost every North American town or city we need to stop in. Our 1995 road trip to move me from Calgary to live in sin with him in Ottawa meant seeking out 7 Eleven's with gas stations so we could have a slurpee fix to sustain us through the next few hundred kilometres. J is able to critic a slurpee with proficiency. His favourite flavour is Dr. Pepper. The delight on his face when a Dr. Pepper is on tap, its consistency is not watery and the flavour is true and untainted by a previous flavour is truly priceless to see. Yet J will resort to filling a 28 oz cup with Root Beer, Coca Cola, or Mountain Dew. I cannot mock his traditionalist tendencies as my flavour choice is limited to Sprite, 7-Up or grape. Plus the freaky flavours they come up with are so sugary sweet and artificial that you can't even work your way through my preferred 16 oz sized cup.

His slurpee addiction reached its height during the intense studying period for his Ph.D. comprehensive exams. Coincidently, the 7 Eleven was offering a two for one deal on slurpee at this time. I would often find one slurpee in his hand and another deligiently waiting for him in the freezer. Intervention became necessary and he weaned himself down to one or two a week in the height of summer.

We forever bemoan the state of slurpees in Ontario. They just don't measure up to our Alberta experiences. This weekend past, J and I had a chance to escape to Lethbridge without the children for 48 hours. J was giving a couple of presentations and my parents kindly took over the responsibility of our children's welfare and entertainment. It was a great trip to re-connect and remind ourselves about the importance of working on us as a couple. It was also a great trip for savouring in the delights of a slurpee. We stopped in his old hometown for a gas top up and a lovely slurpee beverage. He was of course delighted as Dr. Pepper was on tap. For our return trip we stopped at a Mac's Convenience Store for a cold beverage fix. Now Mac's does not sell Slurpees, they sell Frosters. Frosters are good and a close kissing cousin of a slurpee. The Mac's we stopped at in Lethbridge had 4 machines running, that means 16 flavours. As a result, I was able to obtain my favourite flavour, Sprite mixed with grape.

I will forever smile when I see him repeatedly tap a slurpee cup against his leg to mix it up (heaven forbid if you compromise a slurpee by stirring it with a straw or moving the straw to a different spot). I secretly delight at seeing him introduce the beverage to our young son. I have grown to enjoy this frozen beverage almost as much as I have grown to love my husband, my bonafide slurpee fanatic.

2 comments:

Trixie said...

I agree that slurpees are different in Ontario than out West. When I moved from Moose Jaw to Trenton and learned there were no 7-11's in the town, I went through major withdrawals.

Pam, you need to spice up your flavours a little. :)

November 20, 2008 at 6:12 AM  
Karen said...

I am totally making John read this post. So funny! Mainly because John is always talking about Jim's anti-Ontario Slurpee comments. Which I have to concur with now that I've seen the photo of those four banks of slurpee machines. Also, I'm so with him and you on traditional flavours. I don't even go near them often now because all they have are Sour Watermelon or Crazy Raspberry or something like that. I just want pop flavours. I'll have to get instructions from Jim on the leg tap though. I move my straw. Blasphemy!

November 21, 2008 at 4:49 AM