So today I went to McDonald's for the first time in at least 9 months.
A year ago and a half ago, I swore off their addicting food because I had gained a LOT of weight since I started eating there a few times a week. I mean, its cheap, easy and delicious. Sometimes I miss the taste of those freshly made, crisp, salty french fries I forget why I stopped going there.
Honestly, I don't miss them anymore. I haven't in months. I drive by McDonald's and I have absolutely no motivation to ever eat there again. In fact my reason for entering the establishment 9 months ago was to return a RedBox movie.
Today though, I went inside one.
I still don't like it, there, it's disgusting. It still smells funny and 75% of the people in there were construction workers and the other 25% college kids.
But they offer something that I desperately needed.
Free WiFi.
So I walked in and up to the long counter and the girl looked at me expectantly, "Hi, what can I get you today?"
I didn't even glance at the menu.
"A large diet coke, please?"
She typed it in and then stared at me for a second, "Anything else?"
"Nope, just the coke thanks."
I pulled out my cash and separated out five dollars in ones ready to hand over to the cashier.
See, I've grown up in a world where a 32oz drink is, minimum, $1.83 before tax. I think most 90s and 2000s kids did. I'm prepared that in order to get a large fountain drink from a place like McDonald's, I'll pay an arm, a leg and half a soul.
"$1.08 is your total."
I just blinked at her for a moment.
One dollar and eight cents for a 32 oz (large) drink.
Before tax that would be less than a dollar.
What?
For those of you making weird faces at your screen repeating "So?", I just want to bring a couple of facts your way.
A 16oz drink at Taco Bell - $1.49 (before tax)
A small drink at Burger King - $1.69 (before tax)
A small drink at Dairy Queen- $1.59 (before tax)
A regular drink at KFC - $1.69 (before tax)
A regular drink at Steak 'n Shake - $1.79 (before tax)
A 20oz drink at Subway - $1.60 (before tax)
In fact a 32oz soda from the local gas station Break Time is $1.29 before tax.
Now, maybe I'm just a soda junkie and this won't matter to anyone else.
But I'm actually physically aggravated by the fact that McDonald's hasn't marketed this. If I had known that McDonald's fountain drinks were less than a dollar I would have been at their drive through most days of then week.
Now this isn't to take away from the fact that their food isn't suitable for ingestion, but it is something that I appreciate about them now.
Going along with the prices of fast food, I wanna take a second to talk about Subway.
Now before the Subway fan club throws a fit about me referring to them as a fast food chain, the definition of fast food according to Webster is "1: of, relating to, or specializing in food that can be prepared and served quickly; 2: designed for ready availability, use, or consumption and with little consideration given to quality or significance".
I can't remember the last time I felt like the employees of subway actually cared about the preparation of my sandwich. In fact they spend more time talking to coworkers or not communicating period.
On the price side of things though, how many people go into Subway planning to spend just under $10 on food. I don't.
I feel like Subway used to be the home of cheap, fresh sandwiches. The $5 footlong has become a joke. I've been with people when they have ordered the $5 footlong of the month and even with tax subtracted they have paid more than $5. Call me crazy but that seems like -achoo-
Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit.
I want to say the appeal of Subway is the idea that it's healthier fast food. Ever since Jared Fogle, came out with the 'Subway diet', the diet in which Fogle says he lost 45lbs in a year by commiting to a diet of Subway sandwiches, the United States as a nation has decided that this means Subway is good for you.
This my friend, is a lie.
In fact according to an article posted on TakePart.com on March 30th, 2013, "The Subway sandwiches contained an average of 784 calories, versus 572 at McDonald's" (Holt).
I, myself, gained 20lbs in the couple of months following my introduction to subway. The 20lbs that I shed off months before by cutting McDonald's out of my life.
So if its as good for you at McDonald's and twice as expensive why are we still, as a nation, still wasting our money on them?
Just a thought for the day.
~ Beth
Subway vs. MacDonalds Article: http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/05/17/breaking-subway-just-unhealthy-mcdonalds
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