Olympics And Giveaways:
The Olympic Games start on Friday in the United Kingdom. The UK needs a break after the rainiest summer on record and their tennis hero, Andy Murray, losing in the Wimbledon Finals.
I hope these are great Games with no excitement except on the athletic fields, where it’s OK to be exciting.
The Summer Olympics always brings back memories-I can hear the NBC Olympic theme song in my brain.
McDonald’s and the Olympics
One of my fond Olympic memories occurred in the summer of 1976- I was in college.
We were on the quarter system back then, and being a biology/premed major I had to take classes that had labs attached.
Labs meant your classes took twice as long, but you didn’t get extra credit hours. I’m sure universities have since smartened up, and now make you pay extra for those labs…
With shortened summer quarters and labs thrown in, I had class from 8:00 till 2:00 every week day. I had a meal plan for food, and minimal extra spending money. Of course the cafeteria was closed by 2:00, so no lunch for Dean the scientist…meal plan, speal plan…
This is pre microwave in the dorm times, so I really was stuck trying to figure out how I was going to eat. I didn’t miss meals, no way, no how!
McDonald’s came to my rescue….in two ways. They had just opened their first restaurant in this town, so I was eating a quarter-pounder almost daily-they could set their clock: at 2:15 I was in line. They were amazingly cheap back in the dark ages…
Before I ran out of spending money, the Olympics began.
And McDonald’s, thank goodness, started their ‘scratch off’ games:
- USA win’s a gold medal win a Big Mac,
- USA win’s a silver medal-win a order of fries,
- USA win’s a bronze medal-win a small coke.
Luckily one of my dorm mates worked at McD’s. If he was working behind the counter when we went in, he would throw in extra scratch off tickets to his buddies. Instead of one ticket in my bag of quarter pounder and fries, I’d find four or five.
At the time I thought nothing of it, thinking it was a great promotion. Of course, buying my late lunch there, I was accumulating many of these tickets all on my own.
Now that I’m grown, I’m wondering, was he supposed to be “giving away” all those extra scratch offs?
In the dorm we were glued to the tube seeing who won some obscure event, if we had a scratch off with that event, we cared, even if it was basket weaving…
Luckily for starving me, I got enough scratch-offs to eat my weight in burgers, fries, and coke during those two weeks. I had so many free meal tickets, my friends and I ate dinner there too!
You might think I gained weight, but nope.
I guess my metabolism was better back then, ’cause I probably weighed 165 when I graduated the next summer. At six foot two, that’s beanpole personified…
Take that Mayor Bloomberg!
Atlanta Olympics: 1996
Another of my Summer Olympic memories occurred in 1996 when I was able to attend several events live in Atlanta with my wife and kids.
We watched basketball at the Georgia dome, at least I think it was basketball.
I’m searching for words to describe what could be higher than the “nose bleed” section? I don’t know the word, but we were there-I think it would rival Kilimanjaro, if not Everest. Our seats were so high and far away from the basketball action it was like watching ants throw grains of sand. It’s very hard to follow a game that far from the action.
We also watched several track events at the new Turner Stadium in Atlanta-got to see Carl Lewis in the long jump . The kids loved walking through the dancing water fountains at Olympic Park and trading Olympic pins.
Little did we know, a bomb would go off in the area just a couple of days after we left town. Fortunately, my call schedule had us back home when the tragedy occurred. I get chills thinking about us walking with my two kids and Cil, hand in hand, having an amazing time in an area that a few days later was the sight of a horrific crime.
Makes you appreciate life.
Hope you enjoy the games,and if you listen you should hear a chant all the way from south Georgia:
USA! USA! USA!
Dr Dean
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Tags: free burgers and fries with olympic scratch off tickets, McDonalds and free scratch off burgers, summer olympic games memories, winning Big Macs with Olympic scratch-off tickets
Probably my most life-altering Olympic moment was in Summer 1976 (Montreal). I was 11 and didn’t know much of Olympics except for seeing Olga Korbut and Cathy Rigby in Munich 1972. I thought it was amazing how they were able to move their bodies so effortlessly. Then came 1976 and I “met” Nadia. I was glued to the TV whenever she performed. That’s saying a lot for an 11 year old, pre-video games, during the summer. After her first perfect-10 I knew I had to take gymnastics. Forget that most gymnasts who were even semi-good had started when they were 5, I HAD to take gymnastics! I had done a little tumbling for about a year, but had no other experience. Not only that, but I am 5’11″, about a foot taller than most other gymnasts.
I wasn’t horrible, but definitely far from great. My highest floor score was earned on the floor exercise… A 7.5. I was 16.
I finally admitted defeat when I was 17. I also had discovered other things like boys, a love of Math and a little thing called a “part-time job”. There just wasn’t room for gymnastics anymore. I still rarely miss a televised gymnastics event and sometimes even do a cartwheel, just to see if I still can, but my days of the beam, vaulting horse and more are just a memory.
I couldn’t do a cartwheel even when I was 8. I remember watching those gymnasts. I still remember the hurt ankle grab after the landing a few years back.
When the Olympics was in Los Angeles, I remember going to a few events. I remember the whole city cooperated with staggered hours and there was no traffic. Amazing in Los Angeles, no traffic!
Strangly enough I remember the political controversies around different Olympic games and not the sport. Also, this brings memory of visiting the original olympic venue in Greece (immediately after visiting Delphi).
Cool stuff, hope the games go without political controversies or any controversies this year. We’ve had plenty in the world this year…
We already messed up with North Korea’s flag! How much worse can it get?
[...] Dean at the Millionaire Nurse Blog remembers some great times with the Olympics over the years…eating lots of McD’s and not gaining weight…ah, the good ‘ol [...]