Patty Charker's Charcoal Drive-In

People who choose to dwell in the past, or worry about the future are usually very stressed out people. Many of these dwellers get diagnosed with depression or anxiety. While constantly dwelling on the past they lose what is important: living in the moment. Patty’s Charcoal Drive-in is a poem written about a girl who just got her first job. She is sixteen and college-bound and chooses to live in the moment rather than worry about her future too much. She lives freely in the moment experiencing the juiciness the world has to offer.
Crooker uses this mental state of living in the moment as a way of telling people that although we can think about the future and the past, it’s best not to dwell too deep in them that you get lost. This can be seen in lines five thru seven, “I’m sixteen and college-bound, this job’s as temporary as the summer sun, but right now, it’s the boundaries of my life”. In these lines, the main character is saying that she is college-bound which means that,

This can be seen in lines ten thru thirteen, “I take out the silver trays and hook them on the windows, inhale the mingled smells of seared patties, salty ketchup, rich sweet malteds. The lure of grease drifts through the thick night air”. Imagery is clearly seen by the reader. You can smell the patties the salty ketchup, the rich sweet malteds, and you can see the grease drifting through the humid night air. Crooker uses imagery as a way of showing the positives in living in the moment and how it affects another's well being. This can also be seen in lines twenty-two thru twenty-four, “Doo-wop music streams from the jukebox and each night repeats itself, faithful as a steady date”. You can almost hear the music playing from a jukebox, and how every night repeats itself. There is a simile when she says “faithful as a steady