SOUTH END — Charlotte resident Ryan White, 27, says he has “no patience for bureaucracy,” yet regularly waits up to 2.5 hours for a tray of food at the Cook Out off S Tryon — sometimes without even checking if the milkshake machine is working.
“I don’t have time to sit at the DMV all day,” said Gentry, who was spotted in his 2011 Honda Civic at 2:48 a.m., idling behind 14 other cars. “But this line? This line’s different. This is about the journey.”
Despite claiming his time is “too valuable” to update his license or renew his registration, Gentry has reportedly spent enough collective hours in the S Tryon Cook Out drive-thru to qualify for state residency.
“The DMV just feels like a waste of time,” Gentry said. “At least here, there’s a milkshake at the end.”
Staff at the Cook Out location confirmed Gentry is a regular.
“He’s here at least three nights a week,” said one employee. “He even wears a slightly different disguise each time in the hopes we won’t recognize him. But we do. And yes, we’re judging.”
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Charlotte DMV responded, “Wait times at our branch average 45 minutes. That’s shorter than the line at Cook Out, and we don’t even make you shout your order through a speaker that cuts out every other word.”
As of press time, Gentry was pulled over by a CMPD officer for driving with an expired license and a disgusting amount of corn dogs in his passenger seat.
