First thing’s first: I am biased. National Pancake Day has an unalterable place in my heart when it comes to holidays. Unlike other Holidays, which mostly revolve around capitalistic fueled events masquerading as connections to a deeper culture (see Christmas, Halloween, Mardi Gras, etc.), National Pancake Day cuts straight to the chase. Good food.

I doubt anyone celebrating National Pancake Day gives a care in the world about the specific cultural origins and development of what Americans now call the pancake. I personally can thank IHOP for turning what was probably once an obscure, uncelebrated holiday into a clever advertising scheme. Ever since 2006, the large scale restaurant chain has celebrated National Pancake Day on March 8th with a free stack of pancakes for its customers.

For the past two years, I have had the personal privilege of participating  in National Pancake Day standing in crowded, sweaty lines at IHOP for a free stack of buttermilk pancakes, a joyous new crevasse of the human experience not known to generations before us. Like other holidays (the ceremonial gift giving of Christmas, obligatory conversations with weird uncles over Thanksgiving turkey, or greetings from middle school boys covered in fake blood, ski-masks, and other low-quality gore), Pancake Day is all about the memories. So here I present to you my memorable story of National Pancake Day from last year.

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5:00 p.m. March 8th, 2015

Text from Benjamin (in paraphrase): Ayyy, so Pancake Day or what?
Author: I gotta ask my parents first

Half hour later…

Benjamin: So??? I invited a few other people too
Author: K, See you at 6

6:00 p.m. at IHOP

The local IHOP drips in the sweat of hungry patrons impatiently waiting for their free pancakes. Knees lock into place and an aura of frenzy permeates the building.

7:00 p.m. at IHOP

In an act of desperation, the group leaves IHOP. “Well,” my friend Jaryn mumbles, “Maybe we could just go to Denny’s, because I think we all still want pancakes.” In the spirit of the holiday, we travel the quarter mile to the nearest Denny’s to be greeted by a forty-five-minute line.

And then thirty minutes later a pancake miracle happened. A call from IHOP saying our table was ready. With breakneck speed, we drove back to IHOP, our stomachs’ groaning from mild hunger.

8:00 p.m.

Was the two-hour spectacle worth it? No, not in terms of pancakes. I could’ve gotten better pancakes at my mother’s house for free without driving to a restaurant. Also, I  would have received more sustenance from the leftovers at my house. Still, National Pancake Day is about experiences, and whether those experiences are good, miserable, or just extremely hot and sweaty, we leave with our stomachs a little bit fuller.