Saturday, July 21, 2007

Quest for the Holy Grail

I left my home this morning in an attempt to find some energy gel. I had decided to start using it on my long runs. I thought this would be as simple as driving down to the nearby GNC, paying the clerk, thanking them and leaving this was not the case...

The intrepid knight left his castle on his steed named Kia in search of the holy grail. Knowing its rumored location the Knight hurried from his secured lands with his charge, his daughter Emily in tow. When he arrived at the location of the Grail, known as GNC, he inquired with the keeper of Grail of its location.

"we once had the grail, many actually, but now it is on back order"

Back order thought the knight, is this possible. Surely many are in need of the grail to keep it in stock. The knight inquired if the keeper might contact other GNC grail keepers to inquire if they had some in stock. The keeper replied that she was from New Jersey and didn't know where other GNC's were in the region. The knight thought it was odd that someone's residence precluded knowledge of other like businesses in the region. The knight would have kept a list. But he left perplexed and disappointed.

The knight left with his young daughter to search for another store. However, 4 year olds have their own schedules and it required a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. There is great evil in the Chuck E. Cheese and the knight knows this. But he agreed to take his daughter for a quick video game break, ever vigilant against the evils that lay within. 45 minutes of games later, they were on the road in search of the holy grail.

He tried two successive potential locations for the Grail. but both replied that they already had one and didn't need another. (monty python reference). Rather, they really replied that they did not stock them. Does no one run in Philadephia, the city population is 1.2 million and the metro is over 5 million. It does seem inconceivable. The knight did not lose hope. He knew of a place fraught with danger that might be a potential location. A mall, the Franklin Mills Mall, a large one with many locations that might be useful. However, as he lived a ways off there was much travel involved.

After arriving at the Mall, our knight and his young daughter walked quickly to the GNC where they did in fact sell Holy Grails and they were willing to part with a box for a reasonable price. The knight was relieved. It only took him 3 hours to find the grail, he was so grateful that his daughter scored a small stuffed dog from a local toy store. All is well that end's well.

5 comments:

Elkerette said...

A search for the Holy Grail and only one Monty Python reference?

I = impressed you were able to hold back.

Your daughter and I share a first name as well :)

Robert Barker said...

One can only plagarize so much

Anonymous said...

You may not have been laughing during the adventure, but hope it is funny now. Regardless, I was laughing with you as I read this. I have sent my everloving husband on a search for GU for a couple races only to find out that is kept in secret hideaways in our kingdom as well. Beautiful - especially the part about 4 year olds and Chucky Cheese. Amen!

jpnairn said...

Great story. I was amazed to find Power Gel in the local Fry's supermarket. But the checkout clerk squinted quizzically at the little pouches then said, "Oh, it's some kind of candy!" as she rang it up.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog!! I love to shop at GNC store..It is one of the my favorite stores......!!