Thread by @GailSimone

PORCH OF MYSTERY!

Okay, people send me stuff, nearly every day. Companies kindly send me boxes of stuff, publishers send me books, games and videos, and occasionally, there is a random sword.

Today is a mystery box. Shall we open it?

I don’t recognize the label...

Aha! I know what this is!

It’s a gift package from the Great Root Bear!

Okay,last week, I got this very kind DM from A&W Restaurants, here on Twitter as @awrestaurants.
This is a bit unusual. :)

But they said they were a big fan of my writing, especially Batgirl.

They said they would like to send me some A&W stuff as a token of appreciation. I’m IN, A&W!

They were very kind. What they could not possibly know is...i am actually pretty moved by this and I didn’t expect it at all. Here’s why...

Okay, I was raised poor. My dad was a farmer, he had some problems. Our farm was a good distance from the nearest town. My parents married young and didn’t get along, and split up when my brother and I were kids.

We kids moved into a small trailer with my mom, who worked three jobs to keep us going. So, non-essentials were pretty rare. Not whining, everything turned out okay, but it was definitely a tough time.

Most people go through hard times, many many people had it much worse, I have no bad feelings about it, and appreciate my mom working so hard for us.

And we had one extravagance, which was, every once in a great while, we would go to A&W as a family.

It was a big deal because we had no luxuries at all. Again, many people have it much worse, but this was a big deal, all of us sitting together. A&W was the only fast food at the time in our tiny town.

We could order a baby cheeseburger, a baby root beer, and a baby ice cream cone, and it was just a thrill. Farm people don’t eat out much to begin with, and we were very remote.
So to us, this seemed like a huge luxury. :)

I think part of it was just that it meant so much that my mom was trying to do something nice for us. Plus, come on, A@W root beer. I don’t even like soda, but it’s the best. :)

So now, I am very happy, I have a life I couldn’t have hoped for, and we travel all over, and I get to tell stories.

But a nice note from someone at A&W suddenly reminded me of being a kid, when the biggest thrill was going to get a kid’s meal and some root beer.

Life is weird, but pretty great.

What’s in the box?

A&W lunchbox!

Frosty cold root beer mug!

And best of all...

ROOTY, THE GREAT ROOT BEAR!

Also, they said they are now writing Rooty/Batgirl fanfic. Could I love that more?

Thank you, @awrestaurants!

May your floats never lose their fizz!