Instinctive Pilot Phonetic Alphabet

The Incident

• I pulled into a McDonald's drive-through to pick up a mobile pre-order.
• When the worker at the window asked for my order code, I looked at my phone and instinctively said: "yankee whisky three four".
• I repeated it twice before a different worker came on and brought up my mobile order on the screen.
• Only a few seconds later did I realize that I had used the Aviation phonetic alphabet fluently without thinking.
• Having completed My Pilot Training and Aviation Days, the phonetic alphabet is second nature to me, and I regularly use it with telephone service providers to avoid confusing letters.