Today I had the opportunity to witness a military operation. I quite literally stumbled upon it. It was an organized effort like nothing I’d ever seen before. I’m sure this particular battalion or company or whatever you call it had been training for months.
I thought I’d seen similar operations during my days at Texas A&M. The Corps of Cadets would run precision drills through campus late in the day and if you were lucky enough to be in their path you would see them run by, singing strange songs. Heaven forbid you weren’t paying attention; you’d either have to join in the run or get run over.
What I saw today is worthy of General MacArthur. The unit was orchestrating up to 100 vehicles, 4 lines across, moving at a slow but steady pace. Carefully placed traffic cones helped guide the vehicles to the right location. Those in command walked in and out of the lines, speaking with drivers and guiding them in their next move.
Walkie-talkies were in full use as each team member communicated updates to central command. Hand signals were also being used. Occasionally a uniformed member would hand what appeared to be an instruction sheet to the driver of the vehicle. It was hard to tell what they were saying, but it seemed like they were talking in code.
Sounds of static could be heard as the uniformed officer barked orders into the walkie-talkie. “That’s right; I got a couple of 4×4’s, animal style, a flying Dutchman, one fries, two drinks for car number 125. And make it snappy.”
What was this strange operation?
You guessed it. I was not at Ft. Hood or Camp Pendleton. This was the opening of an In-N- Out Burger.
Oh yeah, it needed this much organization.
For those of you who are fortunate enough to live in California, another In-N- Out is no big deal. For those of us in Dallas, it’s HUGE. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We love our home-grown Whataburger, but IMHO there’s nothing quite like an In-N-Out burger, animal style, of course.
We parked a block away and walked over. I’ve never been in such an organized crowd. Waiting with the other burger-hungry fans, it was amazing to watch the drills executed around us. At least 15 people cooking, prepping, passing out orders. Several others on table clean-up. I lost track of the number of employees outside working the car lines.
The mob was hungry and noisy but patiently waited their turn in line. The order takers barked our requests like military drill sergeants. The whole situation reminded me of a SNL skit, with John Belushi and Dan Akroyd yelling, “Cheeburger, cheeburger, chips, no Coke, Pepsi!”.
We shared a table with strangers, all of us drawn by the force of a simple hamburger and fries. We just had to have one. And everyone had stories. “We go to California each year and every time we eat at In-N-Out”. “I used to eat them when I was in LA on business”. “Last year in Phoenix, we spotted one as we were driving to the hotel and had to stop for a burger – and it was only 10:30 am!.”
I heard on the news that In-N-Out pays pretty well, more than minimum wage. And I bet you get to eat free too.
Hmm…maybe I’ve found my next career opportunity.
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
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