Arby’s: On the road to independence

Recently, I stopped by Arby’s in Lethbridge after visiting my mom. As I looked around the restaurant and the neighbourhood, I remembered my first trip to Arby’s – a long time ago, in a city pretty far from here. It wasn't just a meal though, it was also a step on my path to independence.

Con-Version
It was the summer of 1985, and I had just finished Grade 10. I made some new friends and strengthened some existing relationships.

Two of them were David Perlich and Craig Tanaka. I grew up with Dave and had gone to school with him since Grade 5, while Craig had gone to the other junior high in Coaldale and I met him when we all went to the same high school starting in Grade 10.

One thing the three of us had in common was a love of science fiction.

Dave had joined a Star Trek fan club in Lethbridge, and had made a bunch of new friends, many older than us. Most were adults with jobs, their own cars, and the trappings of adulthood.

It was two of those friends who invited Dave to join them in for a weekend science fiction convention in Calgary called “Con-Version”. Dave in turn invited Craig and I to go too.

Surprisingly, my parents had no problem letting us go. Craig’s were science fiction fans themselves so they had no problem either.

Part of that was two of Dave’s older friends, a couple in their 20s or maybe even 30s, were driving us and essentially “chaperoning” us.

If memory serves, the registration also included a hotel room, which the three of us shared, although Dave was gone late into the evening, hanging out with his two friends.

Craig and I basically spent the weekend together, which was cool because we were pretty good friends.

The other thing I remember was that, before I left, my mom gave me one of my dad’s old wallets to put my money in.

It was the first wallet I ever owned.

And it would come into play later.

Supper time
The whole convention was at the Carriage House Hotel, and we were left to our own devices for supper.

We got there, settled into our room and had a bit of time before the convention actually started.

Craig suggested we go to Arby’s. I had no idea what he was talking about.

We were outside on Macleod Trail and he pointed to the restaurant off in the distance. It was actually a pretty good jaunt, but I was in. So we walked all the way to Arby’s. It seemed like a long way too, but we got there.

Craig knew exactly what to order. Me, not so much. He explained Arby’s uses shaved roast beef, and that just sounded awesome to me. I also remember Craig explaining Arby’s Sauce and Horsey Sauce. Arby’s sauce was like a barbecue-type sauce, and I made sure to have that. Horsey Sauce sounded a lot like horse radish, which I really did not care for.

Ultimately, Craig ordered and I did a well. My first ever order was on July 26, 1985, a regular roast beef sandwich for $1.95 and a large root beer for $0.80 for a total of $2.75. There was no GST yet.

It was so good too,

We finished up, then headed back to the Carriage House Inn. We were like a block from the hotel, when something occurred to me.

I had forgotten my wallet at Arby’s. It was the first one I ever had a wallet, and I was just not used to carrying it. I took it out to pay, put it on my tray, took it back to our table, then left it when we ate. We just put our trays on top of the garbage can.

So we walked back to Arby’s. I was pretty much resigned to not getting the wallet back.

Once we got back to Arby’s, we went straight to the counter and I asked if they found a wallet. They asked me to describe it. I said it was a ratty old brown wallet I left on a tray.

The guy smiled and handed it to me.

I remember breathing this sigh of relief, because my money was also in there after all. Since then, I have never left my wallet anywhere again.

That experience didn’t really deter us either.

We were back again the next day, July 27, 1985 for supper. The order was a French dip for $2.65, a super roast beef sandwich for $2.95, large frys (that is the actual spelling) for $0.75, and a large Pepsi for $0.80 for a total of $7.15, again with no tax.

And we were back the next day, July 28, 1985, where I had a beef-n-cheddar for $2.75, large frys for $0.75, and a small root beer for $0.60 for a total of $4.10, with no tax. If memory serves, we grabbed that food on our way out of the city.

My relationship to Arby’s has continued to this day.

Arby’s artifacts
It is funny how sometimes things just seem meant to be. I had pondered writing about my first Arby’s experience for months, and finally started a few weeks ago.

A year and a half ago, I was cleaning out my mom’s basement and discovered all kinds of things I grabbed to discuss on this blog. The vast majority – like 99 per cent – are in boxes in my garage and my soon-to-be home office closet.

Yet, there was one bunch of stuff I rescued that I put elsewhere. It was the contents of that first wallet. I put them in my work office for safe keeping.

I was cleaning that office recently when I discovered the contents of that first wallet – including the receipts from my first trip to Arby’s.

It was just meant to be written at this point in time. (I also found the receipt from the entry fee for “Con-Version”, but that is another story).

Parting thoughts
More than discovering a new kind of fast food, those trips to Arby’s symbolized something more ­– a step on my journey to independence.

It was the first time I went away from home for an overnight trip in a hotel. In fact, it was the first overnight trip I went on that was not to a relative’s of some kind. And it was the first time I ever ate out somewhere on my own.

A year later I was hanging out with my friends, going out with them for pizza and burgers. A year after that I was on my own, going to university in Edmonton.

It all started with that trip to Arby’s.