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There are a lot of things that we didn??™t have when I was a
child and one of them was fast food; all we ever had was
slow food. Perhaps if we still had more slow food, people
would learn how to wait and there wouldn??™t be such a thing
as road rage because at least half of the people on the
highway would be at home or in ordinary restaurants
patiently waiting for their slow food.
The fast food chains have captivated the children with their
slogans and special meals designed just for kids with a toy
thrown in for further enticement. It would be nice if
children today could recite the
golden
rule, ???Do unto others as you would have others do unto you???,
as quickly as they can pick out the
golden
arches from a mile away.
Just the other day I was in a hurry so I pulled my car
through the drive through lane of a fast food restaurant. I
was simply thinking about just getting a quick sandwich. I
pushed the button on the menu board, and ???the voice??? began
speaking. I tried hard to decipher what was being said from
the rapid spiel of obviously memorized words but it was very
difficult to interpret.
Finally, I did manage to place my order when suddenly ???the
voice???, sounding something like a hysterical chipmunk,
frantically exclaimed, ???Woonyulakfriswittat???? After asking
for a repeat three or four times, I finally understood that
she was saying, ???Would you like fries with that???? At this
point, after I replied in the negative, I thought I would
get my food and leave, but no, she wasn??™t finished with me
yet.
Next, she wanted to know if I wanted my meal ???super sized???,
which seemed to mean that I would get larger portions (for a
price) and a soft drink in a gallon bucket. I wondered if
the super sized food came with a warning label stating, ???The
surgeon general has determined that super sizing may super
size your body and cause your arteries to slam shut.??? I
explained that I didn??™t want anything super sized unless
they could do something about my bank account. At this
point, I just wanted to scream, ???Please, can I just have my
chicken nuggets so I can go home!???
By the way, take
it from me; do not mention the word, ???diet???. If you do, you
will be offered the latest low-carb, low-fat meal that
consists of a wilted lettuce leaf with a paper-thin slice of
something that vaguely resembles meat. Upon receiving this
wrapped concoction, you realize that you could have made
your own diet fast food at home in five seconds at a total
cost of twenty cents instead of $3.60.
Also,
parents today drive away with the kids fighting over the
toys in their ???Happy Meals??? and dumping sticky soft drinks
all over the car. The children only consume two bites of
food because they are only interested in their free toy. In
addition, they manage to get most of the food all over
themselves and the car, which in turn causes parents to lose
their cool as they scarf down their own food that has
quickly evolved into a ???Cranky Meal.??? A few minutes later,
parents end up hunting for the Tums.
Fast
food is not just assigned to the drive-through restaurant.
If you want to have fast food and just stay home for the
evening, never fear, just check out the frozen food section
of the grocery store. You can bring home and thaw out or
nuke a complete meal and you won??™t have to worry about the
kids fighting over the toys from the fast food restaurants.
Instead, they can fight over who gets to open the pudding
six pack and you can hear them whine to eat it now because
the frozen lasagna hasn't finished heating up yet.
It is interesting that these days most people have a kitchen
full of the latest appliances, yet they are only used on
rare occasions such as Thanksgiving because the rest of the
time everyone is eating fast food.
There
are a variety of appliances in the average kitchen these
days from bread machines to pizza bakers. It seems like we
could surely come up with an ???all in one??? appliance.
Perhaps that is what our grandmothers possessed in that
antiquated appliance known as ???the cook stove.??? It seems I
remember Grandma making coffee, tea, bread, grilled meat,
and a variety of other things on that one appliance without
the need of a separate machine for each item. Grandma??™s
trash compactor consisted of smashing cans with the feet,
dishwashers were you and your siblings, and garbage
disposals were found barking outside the door or in the barn
lot.
In some ways life is a lot easier now but in other ways
we??™ve lost something in not gathering around the kitchen
table together with prayer and thanksgiving as often as we
should. This is where children learn to help and memories
are made even if the food isn??™t made entirely from scratch.
It is nice to share a meal without drive through windows or
the interruptions of the world around us, so
I think I??™ll give it a try and trudge over to the microwave
and nuke a couple of hotdogs. Hey, it??™s got to be easier to
wipe off the kitchen table than to dig French fries out of
that little space between the car door??™s window ledge and
the window.
By
Pamela R. Blaine
Copyright, December, 2004
My husband and I live in
Missouri.
We have 4 children and 5 grandchildren. I enjoy writing,
music, and country living. I write "Pam's Corner" for the
local newspaper and many stories have been published on the
internet as well as in several books. I have loved music and
writing ever since I can remember. I play piano at church
and I'm an avid reader. One of my goals is to be able to
write for my children and grandchildren so special memories
will not be forgotten. We have recently made a new CD
entitled "I'll Walk You Home". If you would like one,
they are available by freewill donation. More information
as well as a clip from the CD is on the website at:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
)
??.?·?? ??.?·????) ??.?·*??)
(
??.?·?? (??.?·?? ??.?·??
`?·-?»Pamy
"Security is not the absence of danger,
but
the presence of God"
My
Website:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail:
pamyblaine@blaines.us
"NO ONE IS USELESS IN THIS WORLD
WHO
LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ANYONE ELSE" |
