I think this blog would not be complete without telling you about my obsession with Chipotle.
Our relationship first began while I was seeing someone else. My girlfriend at the time and I were on a road trip to her hometown in Colorado. She told me about this cool place with huge burritos so we went to check it out.
My first time in line I was a little bewildered by everything. It seemed like so much was going on at once.
I was a little upset with my first experience. I remember getting barbacoa with everything on it. The thing that upset me (I don’t know why) was that I couldn’t finish the whole thing. It was too much for one man. And being my first time with such a burrito, I probably made a mess and embarrassed myself.
Chipotle and I had another brief encounter in Manhattan, Kansas a few weeks later and I assumed we would never see each other again.
To my surprise, Chipotle followed me to Texas later that year. We picked up pretty much where we left off as if nothing happened. It was close to where I was working while I was going to school and we saw each other pretty much every weekend.
It was during this time that I learned how to really hold a burrito (the secret is to never let go) and came to love Chipotle for more than just its good taste. There was a whole message “Food with Integrity” that I really started to respond to. At first, I was blind to antibiotic-free meats and organic black beans, but those were things I came to cherish.
Things have been going pretty strong now for many years and it’s just getting better. In the last year, I was given access (not once but twice) to Farm Team, which constitutes Chipotle’s loyalty program. I was given free high-quality Chipotle t-shirts and burritos plenty. Plus just being recognized so much, I get comped burritos at random.
It feels like Cheers, except they don’t know my name.
When I mentioned a few posts back about how an employee was surprised when I started getting meat on my burritos, it was no joke, it happened a few times since then.
Everyone I work with that knows me, pretty much knows I eat there almost every day. People from other departments that don’t know me as well have asked, “I heard you eat Chipotle 4 times a week”. Little do they know about the weekends or what I do after work.
Many times I have created special lunch invites when Chipotle is our destination:
According to Quicken, in 2013 I spent $756.50 on Chipotle. That doesn’t count the many gift cards I have been given by family and friends.
To sum it up, until Chipotle finally gets that restraining order against me, I will be fogging up the glass staring at those big beautiful burritos.
