RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

Okay... let me start by saying that I never really did like McDonalds in the first place, but when you have a craving, you just do. I heard about this on the news a while back, but I didn't think it was going to happen for a while.

Employee: MMMRRRcome to McDonalds... can I have your mmmmmmddr? (I assume she said order, but the speaker was fuzzy)

Me: Yeah, I'll take a number 3 with Super Size fries.

Employee: Um Sir.... we don't MMMMMMMffrrr SSSSPPR SZZZ Fries anym *pop*

Me: Okay. Then I'll go for a large frie, then. Can I still get a Super Size Sprite, then?

Employee: Um Sir... We don't FIIIIZZZZZ ffer that either.

Me: Fine. Give me a large Sprite, too. my wife wants a large Dr. Pepper.

Employee: That'll be $5.90. FZZT around.

After sitting in line for about 10 minutes, we get to the window. For starters, there's a big sign saying "SAUCES ARE .15 CENTS EXTRA" taped to the window. I happen to look past the sign, deciding that I don't really need ketchup, but I see something else. The biggest cup they have, their "large", is now the size of the average "small" you'd see at a quickie mart. To boot, their quarter pounder was about the size of a quarter, and their "large" fry was only half full. Seeing that I was about to blow $6 on all of this, I asked for my money back and told them I wouldn't be eating McDonalds today.

After that, I'm not eating at McDonalds anymore. There's been this big push to "fight fat" lately, which I'm all for, but I don't think such a fight has to be pushed on people who don't care about it. Every time I watch a story about obesity on the news, they always show fat people, sitting around with half eaten McDonald's food, or they always immediately show a larger person, then pan out to show a shot of a McDonalds or other fast-food sign, supposedly to indicate a link between obesity and McDonalds. Then, you've got health fanatics out there pressuring companies like McDonalds not to offer what the public is demanding. This iritates me to no end, because contrary to how much "they" tell me not to, I LIKE MY SUPER SIZE!

Why is it the job of the company to make sure people don't get fat off of their food? Why is it McDonalds responsibility to produce healthy food? When was it determined that you were entitled to a healthy meal from any fast food restaurant? You CHOOSE to go to McDonalds, they don't force you to eat their food. Not only that, but they post nutrition facts about their food, so you can find out how unhealthy their food is if you exercise enough due dilligence, so it's not like you're being duped, either.

Personally, I work out 3-6 times a week practicing martial arts. I'm 6'5", coming in reasonably healthy at about 210lbs. I feel I can withstand a couple of super size meals every now and then, and still work it off. Heck, if I couldn't, that's my business, too, I'll just get fat, and it will be my fault.

I guess what irks me the most is that McDonalds as a company has fallen prey to the same type of stuff that is being pushed through in other areas, like banning smoking in a public place, even though that place is privately owned. Or, banning smoking in your own house, as one state recently tried to do. LOADS of people bought super size fries and drinks, so it's not like they weren't popular. It irritates me that a vocal minority has so much sway over what the majority says, does, and in this case, eats. If McDonalds were really attempting be a free-market company, they'd have kept offering what the customer wanted.

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

Okay, let me start by saying that I used to work for Micky D's and he is right... Everything is smaller now than ever b4.
All the lawsuits and the movie (Super Size Me) have made a dent on the McDonalds Corp. I think that they deserve it. I mean sure, it is a great place to take the kids to get thri fave meal, and it is okay to to there when you have the craving (I do on occasion), but I mean, to go there for a meal that looks like someone scraped it off the floor and served it on a seseme seed bun. I remember seeing people come in all day long, breakfast, lunch AND dinner, that was their main source of food. (YUCK!)

They need to have a warning sighn as you walk in:

CAUTION: FOOD MAY CAUSE HEART ATTACKS, STROKE AND ATRIFICIAL INSIMINATION.
Or better yet:

SPILL YOUR COFFE? TOO FAT TO WALK TRHOUGH THE DOOR? TOUGH! WE'RE BROKE.

I have seen some nasty stuff in my life, but nothing like working in a McDonalds.

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

After reading the first post I was going to get me a super sized meal just to get one. Then, I saw the socnd post and have changed my mind. I have laundry to do anyway.

Alcides.

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

...Glad to have feedback from a former employee. I'm sure every fast food worker could tell some horror stories. Surprisingly, I don't have any tales of disgustingness from my stints at Pizza Hut and a Pretzel joint that I worked at!.

But my whole issue is one of free will. After discussing my gripe with some of my coworkers, a valid point was raised. The government is actually trying to crack down on McDonalds because of people getting fat off of the food. Their reasoning for it is that cases of morbid obesity, stroke, and heart disease end up costing taxpayers greatly, especially when the fat person is on government assistance to start with, thus on government funded healthcare. This I can understand, but I even have a gripe about such social programs that I won't get into here.

Heck yeah! Put a sign up that says that your muscles will turn into styrofoam by eating McDonalds. (After all, they had to do something with all of those old containers-- "all beef" patties, anyone?) Put up a sign that says whatever you want, I don't care. I just feel that people should be less compelled to not do things by the government and guided more by their own common sense. I've never seen a single commercial purport that McDonalds is the epicenter for a healthy lifestyle. People go there of their own accord, and should accept the consequences of what happens if they go there too much, just like I have to accept the consequences of deciding to shove my finger in an electrical outlet.

My biggest concern isn't with the "vice" itself, but with the fact that there are people out there who seem to think that we world's population should not be responsible for our actions. Additionally, they feel that our choices should be minimized to the least harmful choices, so that the responsibility for our actions that we do assume is of little real consequence.

Note: Just to celebrate losing McDonald's super size option, I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant here in Nashville and ate a chicken, sour cream and pico de gallo burrito that was the size of my forearm. Take that, nutrition dictators! pfft! Those with full bellies snub thee!

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

Hi Alex, Here in the UK Mac Ds are blocking the drains with unhealthy fatty deposits, they also are trying to sell us salard or something like that now. I am 47 years old with 2 daughters who eat the stuff...I dispair of their way of life sometimes but all I can do is look on and invite them up for a full sunday lunch, lamb or pork sometimes beef with all the trimmings...I feel that one meal a week, all sat around a table enjoying each others company for a few hours is worth all that washing up but who cares what I say.

Ho I am a fatty too as most of the western world is, and like them I don't need a public servent like the prime minister to tell me Im fat.

Yours Tex.

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by alc6379 ...Glad to have feedback from a former employee. I'm sure every fast food worker could tell some horror stories. Surprisingly, I don't have any tales of disgustingness from my stints at Pizza Hut and a Pretzel joint that I worked at!. But my whole issue is one of free will. After discussing my gripe with some of my coworkers, a valid point was raised. The government is actually trying to crack down on McDonalds because of people getting fat off of the food. Their reasoning for it is that cases of morbid obesity, stroke, and heart disease end up costing taxpayers greatly, especially when the fat person is on government assistance to start with, thus on government funded healthcare. This I can understand, but I even have a gripe about such social programs that I won't get into here. Heck yeah! Put a sign up that says that your muscles will turn into styrofoam by eating McDonalds. (After all, they had to do something with all of those old containers-- "all beef" patties, anyone?) Put up a sign that says whatever you want, I don't care. I just feel that people should be less compelled to not do things by the government and guided more by their own common sense. I've never seen a single commercial purport that McDonalds is the epicenter for a healthy lifestyle. People go there of their own accord, and should accept the consequences of what happens if they go there too much, just like I have to accept the consequences of deciding to shove my finger in an electrical outlet. My biggest concern isn't with the "vice" itself, but with the fact that there are people out there who seem to think that we world's population should not be responsible for our actions. Additionally, they feel that our choices should be minimized to the least harmful choices, so that the responsibility for our actions that we do assume is of little real consequence. Note: Just to celebrate losing McDonald's super size option, I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant here in Nashville and ate a chicken, sour cream and pico de gallo burrito that was the size of my forearm. Take that, nutrition dictators! pfft! Those with full bellies snub thee!

Like I said, I have seen some stuff that would make you never want to eat at another resturant as long as you live. I remember this one time that we had a manager take this guys order.
Well, he was horriabley rude, cursing up a storm, yelling at her for something that she did not do, etc.

So what she did was she took the chicken patty that she was cooking for that sandwich and 'accidently' flipped it on the floor. She stepped on it and what not, and then put it on the bun, added the dressings and served it.
The reason that he brought it back was not the fact that it had been trampled on, but the fact that it was cooked only 30 seconds, and was cold and dripping with grease.
She then (fully) cooked another one, stepped on it and everythign else that she had dome before, and served it again. He took it and happily ate it, despite the black tread marks, and the other things that were on it.

The manager was never fired for it.

Yes, people do want to always place the blame on someone (or thing) and try to make it not their problem. It's like Leno Said:
'You ever notice that when a man (no offence) gets indigestion, they blame it on the last thing they ate... They could have had Ribs, with baked beans, a side of potato and then at the very end, he has a small dinner mint.... what do they do? BLAME IT ON THE MINT!'
Kinda like the 'Blame Canada' thing. (Not trying to offend ANYONE here!)
It is not the nations fault that other people are overweight, can't breathe or fit in their beds. The food is there to eat, no one is forcing them to do so.

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

HEHEHEH! If all she did was step on it Blue, then it's light weight compared to some of the things that have been done! Which only goes to show, one should not be rude to anyone anywhere ever, because everyone has their little ways of getting even. Don't think that high priced chef would ever spit in the soup? Ha!

As far as the social engineering is concerned, I've been screaming about all this for years, but it's like shouting into a snow storm. There is simply nothing more dangerous than a well meaning person. Why? Because they feel so self rightous about what they are doing and they look just like your mom and dad and aunt Ethyl. Back when our state was passing it's mandatory motorcycle helmet law and I was screaming because those involved in passing it didn't actually ride motorcyles, my words fell on mostly numb brains and I was greated with "but it will save many lives." So is that all that freedom has come down to? Our personal freedom is no longer relevent if there is an element of risk? Well, the do gooders usually pick on small easy targets first and then build momentum. So of course, we were bound to get the seat belt law next. Which we did and now we have the fat police. Don't think it's too bad yet? Just wait. Here are some predictions based on what I've seen. Our police forces are working largely as tax collecting agencies. This is why in many of our cities there is a glut of motor officers writing traffic tickets while little gets done about real crime. Why? They get money for tickets and nothing for real crime. Well now we have the stop light cameras keeping us save and sound while making big bucks for the cities that install them. The technology is already there and you can bet the do gooders, armed and financed by the insurance companys will be forcing us to put satelite tracking devices in all new cars. Then, guess what? Yep, they'll know when that car goes over the speed limit. Ca-Ching goes the city cash register when you get your speeding ticket in the mail. Smile goes the insurance company as they raise your rate and pat each other on the back about how safe we all are now. But why stop there? Why not a tax for being fat? Yep so much a pound at tax time. Or more subtly a tax break if your skinny, that way they don't actually have to pick on a fat person. Come to think of it, why should we be driving for pleasure at all? Think of all the lives that could be saved if we just drove only for work? And gas too! Maybe this could be accomplished with a special driving pass. For a fee of course. No pass and your engine won't start. Simple. The possibilities are endless. Think it's too dark and silly a vision? Well I think we are being socially engineered by insurance companies who use the do gooders and government as their pawns. Every one of these ideas has had a major payoff for the insurance industry. One thing we all should know for sure is, the Insurance companys and do gooders are out there and they are coming for us and they positively WILL NOT STOP! EVER! {ref Terminator :) }!

So the next time you hear a local politician talking about how much saver we will all be, be afraid. Be very very afraid. Because somewhere in the shadows, smiling through sharp yellow teeth is a pasty face executive counting his bonus and squeaking "Precious, My Precious".

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

The Smeagol Insurance Company: "Just give us a Ring. That's all we ask."

I thought *I* was cynical. But you are correct, the insurance companies have been big sponsors of traffic safety laws and anti-smoking laws.

<rant>
But, while I think insurance companies would like to make us healthier eaters, the pro-eating lobby is also very powerful. Selling products involving eating and sex-appeal are huge industries. It's taken 30+ years for insurance companies to bring tobacco companies down to where they are, and they have a long ways to go.

You mention helmets; that's an area where the "opposition" is under-funded and easy to dismiss. Once the public buys that helmets save lives, they aren't likely to listen to argments about free will. Let's face it, car drivers are either envious or fearful of bikers, so anything we can do to make them tow the line is fine. :-)

</rant>

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

Always good to meet another cynic :mrgreen: . Yes, it's always a good military tactic when facing overwhelming numbers and time is no object, to try to pick off the easy targets of opportunity to whittle down the numbers and soften the defenses. ;) Also helps to bloody your troops and hone them for the major offensive. But while you're enjoying the victory over motorcyclists, be sure to buckle up! Funny thing is, I nearly always wore a helmet before the law, same with the seatbelt, but now it just galls me that I HAVE TO! And quite frankly, now I get a little chuckle every time I see someone getting written up for not wearing the belt! Just deserts for not fighting the fight thinks I.

Re: RANT: McDonalds has fallen
 

<rant>
I'm also completely against anything that restricts human action (besides actions that cause harm to others such as fraud, assault, murder etc.). If the guy feels like eating at McDonalds all the time and driving his motorcycle with no helmet, that's his business. I've got the common sense not to do these things, but I have no problem with other people hurting themselves and getting fat.

Also, I don't smoke but I don't have a problem with other people doing so so long as it isn't in my house. Get cancer and die for all I care, it's your decision. If the gov't would just get it's nose out of everyone's business, the market would drive these decisions - many restaurants and public venues would still prohibit smoking to cater to the majority of us - who don't smoke.

Take all the regualtion in the UK that attempt to prevent suicide. They regulate exhaust pipes for pete's sake. You see, people could breate the fumes and die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Now new cars in the UK have a system that makes it hard to inhale the exhaust. And the fences along the train tracks to keep people from throwing themselves under a train. It is a persons OWN @^!# DECISION to kill themselves - and it isn't the government's job to make the whole world a padded cell.

Nearly all social systems are self-regulating, so long as no interference is introduced. However, a system can become dependent on the interference and lose it's ability to regulate itself when it is.

Our society as a whole has become quite dependent on regulation and government interference (ex: the entire economy hanging on Greenspan's arbitrary interest rate). I'm not very optimistic about this; we may never be free from excessive regulation again.
</rant>