Enjoying Those Free Slurpees

Every year on July 11, 7-Eleven, that bastion of convenience food and teenage revelry, invites all of its customers to celebrate with a “Slurpee-bration.”

Last year, more than 3 million Slurpees were given out and, by the end of Monday, participating stores are hoping to top that with 5 million free Slurpees while supplies last.

7-Eleven is no newbie to the Slurpee-bration – it’s been serving free frozen beverages on this date since 2002 and July continues to be the biggest month of the year for Slurpee sales.

Slurpee-bration was in full swing at the 7-Eleven on Broadway in Walnut Creek on Monday morning, despite the drizzly weather.

According to store owner Bill Bindal, people began arriving around midnight to partake of the free treats.

“We’re 84 years young this year,” he said. “It’s a very exciting day for us.”

But no double dipping, according to his store manager, who wished to remain anonymous. “I remember faces,” she said.

Down on North Civic, the mood was equally jubilant, although manager Derrick Clark’s take on double dipping isn’t quite as vigilant.

“I just let people enjoy the day,” he said, remembering years ago when the Slurpee-bration included free food, entertainment and even a “Slurpee-gal” bedecked in, you guessed it, a Slurpee costume.

“It’s more toned down now,” said Clark, “but we’re keeping it fun this morning by offering free coffee to anyone who rolls a seven or an 11 on the dice at the counter.”

Not to be outdone by a roll of the dice, 7-Eleven franchise owner Sandy Singh was offering 12-ounce Slurpees instead of the traditional 7.11 ouncers at her store.

Her display table was piled high with free brownies and chocolate chip cookies — a popular addition for the more than 15 teenagers who stormed the store for a pre-lunch slurp.

One such teen stood outside on her cell phone calling friends to remind them of the giveaway.

“You should totally get down here,” she said. “The Slurpees are bigger at this one.”

Comparison slurping seemed to be the name of the game Monday —quite a few of the cars in the parking lot bore evidence of earlier samples. Empty Slurpee cups and straws filled the cup holders of four out of the seven cars in the lot.  

Since its inception in 1927, 7-Eleven (so named for its original store  hours of 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.) has grown from the world’s first true convenience store (selling eggs, milk and bread in a Dallas suburb) to a social phenomenon with more than 41,500 stores worldwide.

And while 7-Eleven certainly brings more to the table than just frozen concoctions (rotating hot dog, anyone? microwaveable chimichanga, sir?) for me, 7-Eleven is forever linked with late-night Slurpee runs in high school after spending hours cutting and pasting my high school newspaper’s news page together.

Under the glow of the lightboard, the smell of photo chemicals seeping from next door’s darkroom, I and my fellow editors slurped our way through issue after issue to the tunes of Thompson Twins and, occasionally, David Bowie.

We slurped them on top of cars in the parking lot, in the back seats of a neighborhood mom’s station wagon. We slurped while we walked to the neighborhood pool, our clammy hands wrapped around the perspiring cups and our feet burning on the asphalt.

And then, in college, we slurped again, this time during an all-nighter, cramming our brains full of information we'd allow to leak out after the exam was finished.

Slurpees, with flavors like Berry Blaster, Summertime Lime and even Alienade (in honor of the upcoming movie, Cowboys & Aliens), are as nostalgic as they are popular.

For Slurpee aficionados, here are a few fun facts from the official Slurpee web site (www.slurpee.com) to wow your friends at your next party.

First, for those of you keeping track of Slurpee consumption, half of all Slurpee drinks are bought between 4 and 11 p.m. And every year, the number of Slurpees sold could fill up 12 Olympic sized swimming pools. And you know that horrific brain freeze you get after the first couple of slurps? There’s a name for that. Sphenopapatine Ganglioneuralgia.

Area 7-Elevens will be serving these free samples until late Monday. As one gentleman put it upon exiting the 7-Eleven on Broadway, “Ain’t nuthin’ like free.”