I was travelling down California’s southern coast when I stumbled upon an alternate universe. I was probably more bored than hungry but I’d pulled off the 101 to get something to eat. I walked into this old burger joint that I’d never heard of; it was called Jonty’s or Johnny’s or something like that. I could tell something was strange as soon as I walked in. The clock on the wall was confusing in itself. There were only seven numbers on it and they were all at odd times like 3:56 and 4:89; none of them were whole. I picked up the menu and read the prices; they were all strange as well: $17.78 and $14.72. The twelve dollar chicken burger really stood out. I ignored the prices and ordered a steak and some fries. While the guy was preparing my meal I went to grab a coke from the fridge. It was one of those nice old glass bottle numbers. It looked pretty normal at first but when I noticed the size I was really surprised: 456.56 millilitres. I opened the bottle and took a sip; it tasted normal. I sat down on a dodgy old seat and picked up a magazine from the adjacent table; it was a TV guide from September 1984. The scheduled times throughout the publication were really odd; every show was programmed for an exact second. From what I could see shows lasted between three minutes 43 seconds, and two hours, ten minutes, and twelve seconds. The guy announced that my burger was ready and I went over to pay. “How much do I owe?” I asked.
“$17.23,” the guy replied, as though I should’ve known. The look he gave me had an air of disbelief.
I paid, grabbed my burger, thanked the man and walked out to my car. ‘Why should I’ve known,’ I thought. ‘I guess if we were all dealing with random numbers everyone would be a lot better at maths.’ I turned around to make a note of the place but I was too late, it had already turned into a Burger King.
“$17.23,” the guy replied, as though I should’ve known. The look he gave me had an air of disbelief.
I paid, grabbed my burger, thanked the man and walked out to my car. ‘Why should I’ve known,’ I thought. ‘I guess if we were all dealing with random numbers everyone would be a lot better at maths.’ I turned around to make a note of the place but I was too late, it had already turned into a Burger King.