People bash fast food but I won't do any such thing. I try and stay away from it, but it has its time and place. Sure it's disgusting; saturated fat, stuffed with preservatives and additives, grease and ingredients that were last fresh sometime around the mid twentieth century. It's also DELICIOUS! Food isn't an issue when you get to Saudi, pretty much everything is available, and the local fare is familiar to the American pallet. However, every now and then you want a fast taste of American home, and considering that Saudi's love American fast food...why not head over to Mickey D's! What shocked me most the first time was the cleanliness of the restaurant, then despite the slight language barrier the friendliness of the cashier and the staff. Quickly followed by the king of my pleasant surprises when I bit into my beautifully assembled, perfect temperature, better than I'd ever had "Quarter Pounder with Cheese". That's right the 'ol "Royale with Cheese" of Pulp Fiction fame, the same burger I've been ordering since I was a kid and you guys killed the old McDLT. I had to come to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to taste it the way it was meant to be, to eat it in a clean restaurant with friendly service. To really enjoy it! Over the next few months, I gained a few pounds discovering that it wasn't just McDonalds that was better, but Subway, Taco Bell, and Hardee's too!
This is why, I can't in any way shape or form support an American walkout of fast food workers. I know you're not all teenagers working after school, but $15 an hour? Really? For crappy food and crappy service? WTF guys...Maybe's its completely different on the East Coast, but in 2012 in the Midwest and the south, it hadn't changed one bit. The cashier mumbles, the drive thru girls is high as a kite, the order is always wrong, the "manager" is sleeping off a hangover, and two of your shift workers didn't show up due to their incarceration last night. Therefore, the floors are dirty, everything rushed, and the situation is generally just crap. Long before I realized I was getting older and ought to start watching what I put into my body, I stopped eating fast food. I did this because going to the place was disgusting, and everybody working had either taken a ride on my ambulance or was a probation client of my wife's.
So instead of walking out and throwing a tantrum try this, take a little pride in what you do, whatever it may be. Take a little pride in yourself. Work hard and thank your lucky stars, God, The Aliens or the Great Spaghetti Monster that you were born in the USA. That your version of "starvation" comes with an iPhone and cigarettes.
I snuck a Quarter Pounder with Cheese the other day. Don't tell my kids. I don't take them there. I'm an evil dad. Also, they think they're eating granola bars, but they are really fiber bars.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I sometimes think that the only way to really appreciate being an American is to be raised or have a lot of travel outside of the US. There is no reason for kids to eat at McDonalds. No reason for them to eat out anywhere really. When I was a young child and corporate restaurants hadn't really been invented yet, eating out was a 2 or 3 time a year treat. Now, most people I know feel that If they don't go out once a month they're suffering somehow. Don't take your kids to fastfood all the time and the one time you do...its a treat, rather than just something to stuff down.
Delete