I can’t lie,  the first time I went to McDanks (A.K.A. McDonald's) was one of the most righteous moments in my entire existence.  I was five years old and my family and I were in Bradley International Airport  on our way to visit my grandparents in Florida.  Most of us were patiently waiting in the security checkpoint line.  I, on the other hand, was not being patient, which couldn’t have been too surprising to my parents considering that I was an energetic five year old.  I continuously complained, “Mom, I’m hungry!  Are we almost at the plane?” 

“Lyn, you need to be quiet and be patient like everyone else.” 
That just made me even more impatient and hungry.  I continued to annoy her until we got to the front of the line.  Suddenly, I was caught off guard when a large, broad man dressed in blue stepped in front of me.  He wore a silver badge on his right chest.  I immediately cowered behind my brother trying to avoid eye contact with the big man. 
My father turned to me and said, “Lynden, it’s your turn to go through the security machine.”
  I nervously walked out from my behind my brother and without making eye contact, I walked past the big security officer, slipped my off my sandals and the metal objects I had in my pocket, which was my Game Boy and some quarters.  Then I walked through the security machine hoping that the alarm didn’t go off.  Thankfully it didn’t, and I went to go grab my belongings from the table at the end of the conveyor belt.
As I sat on the grey metal bench to put my sandals on, I looked up and there it was.  A red lit up sign with a yellow M on it.   I wonder what that M stands for?  Does that place sell food?  Man, I’m really hungry right now.  I thought to myself, my stomach grumbling.  As my brother grabbed his belongings from the security machine, I rushed over to him hoping he knew what the big M stood for.  “Hayden, what does that mean?” I curiously asked pointing towards the sign.
“Oh, that’s McDanks,”  he responded.
“What's McDanks?” I countered curiously.
“McDanks, or McDonalds is the biggest fast food restaurant in the entire world.”
“Hayden, I don’t know what fast food is.”
“It’s food that is made extremely fast and is delicious.” 
Without acknowledging his answer I ran over to my parents and asked, “Can we eat at McDanks?”  They both looked at each other with a befuddled face as if they were wondering what the hell I just asked them.  They turned to me and said, “I guess we can.”  I jumped up in the air overjoyed with my parents’ decision.  I ran back to my brother and yelled, “Hayden, we are going to McDanks!”  Then I ran towards the M disregarding everything else.  I was like a kid who had just received a new toy, which in a way I had.  My parents and my brother caught up with me. Once again there was a huge line that we had to wait in which was the last thing I wanted.  But I was so excited that I didn’t even care.
We finally arrived at the front of the line where the cashier asked us what we wanted to eat.  My parents suggested that I get the Happy Meal because a free toy was included.  Obviously I wanted a toy.  What five year old doesn’t? 
The cashier said, “What would like today?”
“Happy meal!” l bellowed out with extreme excitement while I looked up at my parents for the approval of my order.
“Okay,”  the cashier responded with a soft giggle.  “And what would you like, sir?” she asked my dad.  Not caring about what the rest of my family ordered, I went over to an open table and sat down.
After five minutes of patiently waiting, my dad came over to the table with a tray of food.  He set the tray down and handed me my special bag.  The bag had pictures of the Toy Story characters on it.  I loved that movie so much.  I opened the bag and buried my head inside of it,scanning the bag from right to left. The first thing I saw was a small plastic bag with a Buzz Lightyear trapped inside.  As I continued to move my eyes across the big bag, I spotted French fries and a small circular wrapped object, which was probably the hamburger. I ripped the hamburger out of the bag and out of its wrapper.  I peeled the top hamburger bun off to make sure that there were pickles. 
Thank god there were pickles, I thought to myself.  I put the bun back on and began to sink my teeth into the burger.  It was the greatest burger I had ever tasted.  There was and still is no way to describe how delicious that hamburger tasted.  After I demolished the burger I peered back inside the Toy Story bag looking for my fries.  There they were, in the bottom of the bag hanging out and waiting to be eaten.  The smell of the hot fries swarmed the cool airport air and trapped me inside its vortex.  My nose went absolutely crazy over the fries, therefore I didn’t wait any longer to stuff my face with them.  I picked a few up and threw them into my wide open mouth hoping for the best.  The taste slowly became noticeable as my teeth crunched through the fries.  “OH MY GOD,” I said, as I shoved more fries into my already full mouth.  What is this magical concoction? I thought as my mouth watered for more.  “This is the greatest thing I have ever tasted in my entire life!”  I said crescendoing as the sentence unraveled. 
“Yeah, they’re great.” my dad chimed in.
“This is my new favorite food.” I said with extreme confidence.
“I can’t blame you for saying that, Lyn,” my dad replied while smiling at me.  “Alright guys, let’s get to our gate before it’s too late,” he added while wiping his mouth with a paper napkin.  We all began to rise from the metal chairs we had sat on and we picked up the empty wrappers which once held McDanks.  I grabbed my Buzz Lightyear action figure from off the table and slid it into my pocket, saving it for the long plane ride I had ahead of me.  As our family walked down the large hallway towards our gate, I turned around to take one last look at the big M.  I sure hope I get to go back there,  I thought to myself.
Ever since that day, I have loved McDonald's.  Of course I don’t call it McDonald’s since my brother had taught me to call it McDanks.  Whenever I set foot in Bradley International Airport on the way to visit my grandparents the first thing I say is, “Yo, let's go get some McDanks.”   I guess I could call it a ritual since I have never gone through that airport without eating there.