The cheapest fountain Diet Dr. Pepper, counters stained Cherry Slushee red, wandering the aisles studying nutritional labels of foods I’ll never eat, teenagers tryna sweet talk the cashier into sliding Juul pods their way, cashier laughing Fuck no, pre-cooked egg patties slapped onto potato rolls, skipping parties to stare blankly into the beer cave, construction worker kicking the ATM, fussy gas nozzles, King Size Snickers, ORDER 367 READY TO BE PICKED UP AFTER PAYMENT – because you can’t get the food until you’ve paid for the food, you fucking amateurs – stupid slogans, forgotten cups of Boom Boom sauce, ditching first dates to park in the last stop beside the dumpster that I could just climb into and wait, broken coffee stirrers strewn like breadcrumbs, truckers who roll up their white paper bags of fried food on the walk back to the 18-wheeler, three self-checkouts that kinda/sorta work, I Wanna Dance With Somebody lilting through the speakers at 6 AM when I am so tired of living this way – Whitney, my lonely heart is calling calling calling with only these fluorescent lights to hear –