Signs: Gottahava

I've you're from Pennsylvania or the immediate surrounding states, you know exactly what letter is missing from this sign. W. And that spells Wawa, the Ojibwe word for the Canada goose...or a chain of convenience stores and gas stations that people either feel indifferent about or love, love, love. Or maybe you're somewhere in between indifference and love, like me. Older Wawa applesticker

Funny story (not really, but...): Even though Wawa is one of the most prominent convenience stores in the Delaware Valley, it took about a year and a half after moving to the area to discover that Wawa is not a health food store. Health food store? Why in the hell would I think that Wawa was a health food store?

You see, the first two years of living in Pennsylvania, I lived a very sheltered existence in a small town where I did not have the time to get out much due to work, so the only Wawa I saw was of the homely, older variety (the super Wawas with gas pumps weren't even on the scene at that time) with a hippy-dippy orange and brown bird logo and the words "food market" on the building. Yep, health food store. I, of course, had never stepped inside a Wawa.

It wasn't until a roommate of mine told me that the sandwich she was eating was from Wawa, and that she worshiped Wawa and their sandwiches, that I got the full story on Wawa - sort of like a 7-Eleven and a Subway combined, but better.

I don't know when I actually tried a Wawa sandwich, but I can tell you that my first experience convinced me to love, love, love Wawa - as far as convenience stores go. Far better than Subway, and almost as good as a local corner hoagie shop, Wawa has some pretty good sandwiches. ElCapitan

But what I love the most about Wawa is the touch-screen ordering system that spits my order out to a person behind the counter. No interacting with people, no repeating my toppings, and a button that actually specifies a little bit of mayonnaise, I wish every sandwich, burrito, salad, or any other lunch spot where you move down the line calling out the ingredients you want had this system in place. Yes, I prefer not to interact with strangers (bah humbug), but my order is always correct at Wawa.

While Wawa isn't my first lunch of choice, I can't deny that I gottahava Wawa sometimes. And after returning home from a food-scarce road trip with no Wawas to duck into, you practically fall down on your knees and kiss the ground when you get back into Wawa territory.

Other reasons to love Wawa: cheap gas; coffee (some people swear by it, but I'm not a big coffee drinker); snacks like cheese, crackers, yogurt and fruit that you'd actually feel good about eating; and surcharge-free ATM's.

I love Wawa's sandwiches and touch-screens, but am indifferent about the rest.
Why do you love Wawa?