42.66 Fluid Ounces of Freedom
12 July 2005
Tuesday, 9:50 AM
Another Free Slurpee Day has come and gone, and for the second year in a row, my roommate Peter and I took to the streets with visions of conquest, this time with our new roommate Kevin in tow. There are eighteen 7-Eleven stores in metropolitan Philadelphia, and we set out to suckle at the syrupy teat of each and every one of them.
Free Slurpee Day, for those not in the know, occurs every year on July 11th (7/11, get it?) at participating 7-Eleven stores, who relinquish festive 7.11 fluid ounce (.21 liter) cups to customers who wish to sample a free taste of the convenience store’s special brand of delicious frozen beverage.
We didn’t hit the road until close to 9:00 PM, so, realizing that time and topography were against us, we narrowed our route down to the seven closest stores. This of course meant that we would be neglecting eleven other stores, and we were satisfied with the serendipity of those numbers.
All but one of those seven stores sated our thirst for free flavored slush, even though a number of them were not carrying the special cups (learning from last year’s mistakes, we came prepared with our cups from the previous stores that did carry them).
Four of my six Slurpees were different varieties of the Mountain Dew flavor (including regular Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew LiveWire, Mountain Dew Pitch Black, and Darth Dew). On the two occasions that a Mountain Dew variety was not available, I opted for Tropicana Twister Grape Wild Strawberry and Hawaiian Punch Sour Apple.
Along the way, we alerted any and all passersby to the free Slurpee situation, be they on foot, on bicycle, or in motorcar, and at our final stop, we handed off our bottomless Slurpee goblets to a fresh crop of adventurers.
Many hours later, when I was able to sit still again, I was filled with sadness that it had to end. But more importantly, I was filled with 42.66 fluid ounces of free Slurpee.
Check out our Free Slurpee Day 2005 photoset on Flickr and wish you were there.
Filed under: Personal, Philadelphia
Comments Closed (12)
2. Kim says… | 12 July 2005 / 1:54 PM
Hmph. You've neglected to tell your BFF (Best Friends Forever) that there was free sugar yesterday.
3. Mickie says… | 12 July 2005 / 2:51 PM
I think I saw a penis in one of those photos. Ew.
4. Ian says… | 12 July 2005 / 5:21 PM
42.66?! You drank more than that at K&K's this weekend! You did better than I would have though— Baltimore housing an estimated three 7-11s and my having an incredible intolerance for and susceptibility to brainfreeze would have put a damper on the affair.
Next year, find a way to work Bacchus/Bacchanalia into the post, please.
5. Rob Weychert says… | 12 July 2005 / 5:39 PM
monkeyinabox, even if they did let you take all the free cups you could carry, it’s still more fun to be devious about it. Our goal for next year is to just stay at one 7-Eleven all night, and bring a big bag of disguises.
Kim, what can I say? You can usually smell this kind of thing a hundred miles away. Take off the noseplug.
Mickie, keep your filthy wishful thinking off my pristine web site!
Ian, there’s a big difference between alcoholic beverages and Slurpee beverages. And Bacchus is not relevant to Slurpee. You’re thinking of the Roman god / Master of the Universe villain Slurptor.
6. Jordan Moore says… | 13 July 2005 / 3:48 AM
I'm going to have to agree with Mickie -- the photo from Round 5 looks questionable. Does someone want to explain what that optical illusion really is?
7. bearskinrug says… | 14 July 2005 / 8:40 AM
I'm worried about your sugar intake, Rob...
How sweet is your urine?
8. Rob Weychert says… | 14 July 2005 / 11:41 AM
Well, Kevin, considering the Slurpee saturation level, it’s taken some pretty fierce willpower not to try for a “second taste.”
9. Bandelin says… | 15 July 2005 / 6:30 PM
I don't know kevin...yet I feel such sympathy for him.
10. Biggest Apple says… | 17 July 2005 / 11:11 AM
There may well be benefits to raising my children in another country but I have deep concerns for their future when I realize they have never known the joy of brain freeze nor the sweet slurp of a slurpy. Perhaps it's time to give all this up and move back State-Side.........
11. Hoy says… | 18 July 2005 / 10:36 PM
You should have chased the Slurpees with Hostess Sno-Balls and Lik-m-Aid Fun Dip. You'd be borderline illegal.
12. Biff says… | 05 September 2005 / 10:04 PM
they need a 'free wawa coffee' day...
1. monkeyinabox says… | 12 July 2005 / 12:00 PM
I missed out on this years free Slurpee day, but in the past I made more of an effort to make it there. They used to let you have as many as you could carry, and some times they even gave you those cup trays. Those were the good ol' days.
Where I live the 7-Elevens aren't that numerous and close together, so I've found doing the bring your own cup for a Slurpee refill is the way to go. I've got this massive 52 oz insulated 7-Eleven mug that I use and can get filled up with yummy Slurpee for 99 cents, and if I have to drive to these places, I'm not burning up gas to get a bunch of free little ones.