The "I am a C" Song

I am a C

I am a C-H

I am a C-H-I-C-K-F-I-L-A

And I have C-H--I-C-K-E

In my M-O-U-T-H

And I will

R-E-G-U-R-G-I-T-A-T-E-I-T

(repeat indefinitely)

Sung to the tune of the old youth group song. I made up these lyrics back in 1980, when I worked downtown at the Chick-fil-A in the Omni International Hotel (now known as CNN Center). I started the first day the ChichfilA opened, in early January. An ad was posted at the Georgia Tech BSU. I had flunked out of Georgia Tech, and needed a job for three months. Later that first afternoon my longtime friend Don Lott walked in, and I knew he was there to get a job…he had flunked out as well.

I kept my job as the resident manager of the GT BSU, giving me a free place to live. Every weekday I would walk the mile down Techwood through the slums, help open the Chickfila, cook breakfast donuts and sausage biscuits, then start preparing for lunch. So every day I ate Chickfila breakfast and lunch. When I got off work at 4:30 I would grab a couple of sandwiches to take home for dinner. So five days a week all my meals are paid for. Since I worked nights looking after the BSU, I was getting paid at two jobs, not driving, with hardly any expenses.

I kept up this schedule for the three months of the 1980 winter quarter. Spring quarter I took morning classes in Clarkston at DeKalb Community College, and worked at Chickfila when I could. This was the original Omni Chickfila, located right by the doors leading outside to the old Omni arena. In addition to the small downstairs dining area, there were stairs leading up to tables upstairs, overlooking the cashiers. When the Omni was torn down, the new Phillips Arena was build into the CNN Center. Chickfila was then moved to its current location, in the center of CNN Center.