Poor Times, Bad Taste

I spent the early afternoon with Andy — went to Alan’s house in Central Clearwater to drop off one of the two Captains Beds that we have. After that we stopped off at Home Depot to pick up some things (fence, utilities) that he needed for a new gate fence that he’s constructed (so he can store his bass boat)… After that he stopped off so I could get some McDonalds before going home.

I really wish I hadn’t asked him to stop at McDonalds. Every time I go to one of their restaurants, they give me every reason in the world not to go back to them. That being said – let me call up an old rant I did (on epinions.com) about McDonalds…

If there is a fast food chain that represents the fact that too much capitalism is a bad thing, its McDonalds.

Probably in the early part of the 20th century, they had the good times and great taste that they used to preach on their commercials… But somewhere down the line, they decided to reach out and preach to suburban America and take over the landscape… Instead of food, I now identify suburban sprawl with Mickey D’s.

Enough with the politics, lets get to the food, service, etc.

McDonalds is the fast food capital of the world. Your food is prepared and then stuck under a heat lamp until you order it… Meaning it could have been sitting on the rack to be sold for hours before you reach it… Yum…

Secondly, the store being the cornerstone of Suburban America, the hospitality and the courtesy from the people working behind the counter leaves much to be desired. Teens in need of work and elderly who need another source of income make up the backbones of the McDonalds work force. This is not knocking on teenagers, students or retirees (and I apologize to anyone who interprets my comments that way), but when you need some cash, do you really want to deal with the public in a Mass-produced fast-food job to get it? No…. That is the type of attitude many face. Thankless, minimum wage jobs do not encourage courtesy.

Cleanliness of every store I have been in across the US (from New York, down the eastern seaboard to Florida, all the way across the continent to Los Angeles) leaves much to be desired and makes me wonder why McDonalds aims to be such a family orientated restaurant. I certainly would not want to bring my child to one of these places to eat food… I know kids fall in love with Ronald McDonald and the playgrounds now attached to most restraints (not to mention Toys inside Happy Meals), but I would rather hook the kid on Subway. That’s not saying Subway is much cleanlier than McDonalds, but I would rather have a child get hooked on more tastes than the bland junk at Mickey D’s.

One last point I want to make is the oil at McDonalds. I was a very common eater of McDonalds foods until 1998…. After a very weird experience eating McDonalds food, I find I cannot consume anything that was fried at a Mickey D’s restaurant without tasting — and get ready for this — the peanut oil that it was fried in. Peanut oil might be more healthy than other oils (I do not know for sure) but would you REALLY want to chow down on Chicken McNuggets that taste as though they have peanut Butter smeared on them? How about scarfing down French fries, smothered in Jiff? I did not think so… Everything I have consumed smells and tastes of this oil… That includes the shakes! Ugh!

When looking to stop for lunch, find a Subway, find a Pizza Hut, find a Steak’N’Shake… Just spend your money on capitalist institutions that still know the meaning of “courtesy” and truly represent the “Good Times, Great taste” of fast food service… Just do not waste your money, your time or your taste buds on the mass produced, mass consumed food at the franchise identified by its the Golden Arches.

I’m going to be heading out to dinner with the Family in a few minutes… I wanted to get that in before I leave…