Flashback Friday: Karen Gallagher Drives the Cat Country Van into a Taco John’s

Yesterday, Mark and Paul were hanging out at the Taco John's on 20th Street West signing up Cat Country listeners for Flakes Trip XIX.  It brought back a fond memory from years ago when our own Karen Gallagher drove the Cat van into that very same restaurant.

We can't remember the exact year, but it was sometime in the early 90's.  Karen was driving from one live broadcast to another and headed to Taco John's to grab a quick bite.  When she pulled into the parking spot in front of the store, she accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake.  She crashed right through the window and ended up causing over $10,000 in damage.  Luckily, the Cat van barely had a scratch on it when it finally came to a stop where a table once was.

The franchise owner at the time knew Karen and his reaction was priceless.  When he saw a terrified Karen emerge from the Cat van, sobbing uncontrollably, he quickly remarked, "Gallagher, the drive thru's over there".   It was the first of many jokes Karen would hear about the incident.  The next day, when she showed up to work, other Cat employees had placed two crash test dummies at her cubicle.  To this day, over 20 years later, she still hears about it whenever Cat Country is broadcasting live from the Taco John's.  Including yesterday, when both Mark and Paul asked, "Hey Gallagher, where'd you park this time?"