Sunday, February 21, 2010

Things are tough all over.

Apparently the current steep unemployment rate beats the stuffin' out of Egg McMuffin.

I find this easy to believe due to my observations while working at the outpost of the Vast Petroleum Conspiracy, which was co-located with an outpost of the Vast Fast Food Conspiracy. On weekdays, lunch and dinner business at Mickey D's was best described as "steady", but breakfast was a madhouse, with people four or five deep at the registers and a line of cars snaking around the building as though they were giving dollar bills away at the drive-thru window. This entire crowd would evaporate at 9:00AM sharp, which would seem to correlate strongly with the customers being in a "going to work" condition.

9 comments:

  1. I can't tell the difference at my local McD's. I suppose that might be due to the hefty count of retirees.

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  2. Clinton just has two stents put in-that alone drives the numbers down.

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  3. I'd have to agree. Not only are people not having jobs to go to, but they aren't stopping for fast food. Even though I pack a sandwich, after working outside all night, it's nice to be able to get some hot food while I'm on the way to my next location. But I have been cutting down on it, or only getting coffee. The food I bring from home has already been payed for.

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  4. Nice theory, and no doubt partly true.

    Still doesn't explain the short lines on Sunday morning lately, though. I only read the Sunday paper anymore; the comparatively centrist Tampa Trib. Instead of having it delivered, I grab my wallet and keys, pull on a cap, and wearing boxers, flipflops, and big t-shirt, take wifey's car to pick up the paper and hit McD's drive thru for a baconeggandcheese biscuit and orange juice, knowing I would have ten cars ahead of me and ten minutes to peruse the local section while waiting in line...a nice little Sunday morning ritual for me (ah, simple pleasures).

    This crowded but manageable condition didn't evaporate at nine, it continued right up to eleven a.m., as that's the breakfast cutoff on Sunday. But not anymore. The last several times times I've done this, there would be one or even none in line before me, screwing up my whole routine and forcing me to scan the paper as I take wifey's car through the tunnel wash, the time normally set aside for leisurely eating my biscuit and sipping my juice.

    So, Sunday morning, so the rush-hour explanation doesn't work. But the unemployment thing still applies; if there's no job to rush to there's likely to be less funds for even humble non-essentials like McDonalds on Sunday morning. So I guess I won't bytch too much, things could sure be worse.

    AT

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  5. offside thought... is looking at something and getting the wrong idea an "abservance"?

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  6. All part of Dear Leader's plan to make us healthier.

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  7. On the positive side, we should start getting better service at fast food joints, as the kid (or under-employed adult) behind the counter decides that his job is more worth keeping.

    A few years back, I lived in a neighborhood where there were fast food joints all over. The economy wasn't too bad, and the kids in that neighborhood knew that, if they got fired, all they'd have to do is walk across the street, lie on their applications, and get another job.

    Let me tell you: the food may have been bad, but at least the service was indifferent-to-surly.

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  8. I do admit to a fondness to Egg McMuffins. However, my b'fast is still limited to bagels and cream cheese. Hmmm, I wonder which is worse?

    When the Egg McMuffins were selling for $1, I did sneak out and grab some.

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  9. Fancydancy local restaurant has DOLLAR MIMOSAS for Sunday brunch.

    DOLLAR MIMOSAS.

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