So it was with some regret that the rumors (you heard it here) came true and the McDonald’s near us (Millstone/235) closed on August 31st.
Whoa!! Wait a minute Mr. Bottom Feeder, you generally rail against “chains” and McDonald’s is almost the epitome of chains (with over 13,000 of them in the USA)! Well, yes, that’s true. But occasionally, when MFO and I are beat, or the weather is crap, maybe the hour is late, it was convenient for us to take the three minute drive, endure the waits, hope the drive through gets it right (remember the Joe Pesci line about the drive through in Lethal Weapon II?), but if you get the fries fresh and hot along with a quarter pounder with cheese, it isn’t too bad a stop gap.
Speaking of the drive through, a quick aside here, the last time I went there I ordered, and the faceless voice in the squawk box said: “that will be $11.73, at the first window”. Since there was a wait, and all I had were twenties, I scrambled around and found a dollar bill, and three quarters at the bottom of the console, so at the window I gave her $21.75 saying it was the best I could do. Blank stare. Sir, this is a twenty, not a ten, you gave me too much! Well, I gave you $21.75, so all you would have to do is give me a ten and two pennies. Blank stare again, and then resigned to having to deal with an idiot, she turned to her keypad and punched in the numbers. Light apparently dawned when the machine did the math for her, and she handed me a ten and two pennies. There’s another whole story here, but we’re talking openings and closings.
Anyway, back to the present, the only thing noting the closing (besides no playground, no sign, no lights, dark windows) was this sign:
At least they care about my inconvenience..
So as we segue into “comings” the new home of the quarter pounder will be in the sleek “new” design of the golden arches
I won’t say the old one had character, but it was a throwback to my youth..
Other Comings:
I guess the Texas LongHorn will join the unholy trinity already packing them in up the road, Texas's “legendary” steaks (and a “passion for grilling”). Price points generally in the low twenties for those legends in their own mind. So, I guess the beef side of things is pretty well covered, but how about fowl? While certainly available at the palaces of protein, we are informed that (with no quips about buffalos having wings. budda bang):
Of course “soon” is a relative term. As of yesterday:
So the chains continue to fulfill the seemingly insatiable local appetite of food manufactured, frozen, delivered and prepared to an exacting method specified by the corporate kitchens. We’ll see. Remember Lone Star and Damon's?
The merry go round continues…
It’s a dog eat dog… well maybe that’s not a good phrase for this subject, but there is a lot of competition for your dining dollar. And yes, the onus is upon the Indies to make people abandon the plastic stuff..
as always
DFD
1 comment:
People under the age of 30 or 40 can not make change. They have always had a machine to do the work for them.
And on that subject, a woman in our retirement community reported that a grandson could not read cursive writing and her hand written note to him had to be read to him. Apparently some schools have dropped the teaching of cursive writing.
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