Everybody is always saying that childhood was "carefree". But when I look back, we were all worried about things. But they were silly things. One of these main worries was whether or not we would get a specific toy from a restaurant before they quit giving it out. Remember those days? The days when you chose where you would eat depending on the toy? Yeah, I thought you would.

I have a lot of memories about how I obtained certain toys from restaurants. One of my favorites was "Lenny the Binoculars" from the Burger King Toy Story promo.


So it was 1996 and I was in kindergarten. Every morning we would have "show and tell" where everyone could bring in a toy and "show" and "tell" about it to the class. One morning I distinctly remember showing the class a rubber penguin, then as I was walking back to my seat a boy shoved it in my face and it's beak poked me in the eye. But anyway... back to the story.


At this time, Burger King was giving Toy Story toys in their kid's meals. I REALLY wanted to get Lenny the binoculars just because I thought he looked awesome. Then at show and tell, a kid named Paul brought in... guess what... LENNY! Once he showed the class his Lenny toy, I was aware that the toy must be the one Burger King currently had. I was afraid it might be too late to get it though.

That afternoon, my dad picked me up from school. Usually my mom picked me up, so this was different. My dad said he had got off work early and that he was "Starvin' like Marvin". Suddenly, he said he wanted some Burger King. Boy, was I excited!

When we got to Burger King, I of course did none other than ask my dad for a Kid's Meal. Now, my dad always had this rule that you couldn't play with the toy until you ate all your food. I guess he was trying to make sure we weren't just paying for a toy. But man, did I hate that rule!

So I got my meal, and I couldn't wait to see what toy I got. But then my dad wouldn't even let me look in the bag until I ate! So rather than taking the time and enjoying my food, I scarfed it down as fast as I could.

Once I was done, my dad said I could open my toy. He reached in the bag and as he was pulling out the toy I heard those oh-so awesome-oso words... "You got the binocular guy". I knew at that moment that he meant Lenny. I got so excited and said "Paul had that at show and tell." Then I went home and played with Lenny all afternoon.

So what fond memories may you have with trying to get certain toys from restaurants?