yet another anniversary blog

So about a year ago, I stopped going to McDonald's. I never thought the day would come. I grew up eating McDonald's. It was the fast food of choice. I remember going there before our major bi-monthly shopping excursions with my Mum and Dad. Mum and I would take the bus to Dad's work and the three of us would go to the golden arches after Dad deposited his pay cheque at the bank. That's how it was done back then. The three of us would eat for less than $10. Mum would never order a full meal for herself, choosing to pick off fries from Dad and me.

Flash forward about 25 plus years. I took my daughter to McDonald's for lunch one day. I ordered one of their chicken salads and found some beef schmutz in it. I complained to a worker who offered to replace it. I asked to speak to a manager. After a long wait, he emerged, quited annoyed that I had bothered him. "It happens, but not a lot," he lamely explained. He was miffed when I asked for a refund. Hope it came out of his pocket! I wrote a strong letter of complaint suggesting that I may notify the local health board or whomever looks into matters of poor food handling. For this, I received an apologetic phone call from some PR hack. I asked her if I would be receiving anything in writing, she informed me that customers much preferred the human contact of a phone call. I was and am curious about how they discerned this fact. Did they ask each complainant at the end of their call if they were satisfied with the response? I can assure you that I was not. My guess is that their crack legal team has advised them never to put anything into writing. It might suggest culpability.

A month later, we decided to try another McDonald's after we were running late for lunch and there was little else around. This time, I was told that I had to buy my daughter a toy with her Happy Meal. Apparently, this piece of plastic is what makes kids happy. I am sure it does the same for stockholders. Again, I asked to speak to the manager, who basically shouted at her staff to inform me that my only other option was to buy a dessert or forfeit the money. She could not be bothered talk to me directly and certainly would not share her name. This time I called the PR woman who had called me previously about my complaint. She was not there, but someone else listened to my wrath and said that the matter would be dealt with swiftly. A few hours later, a very contrite manager from yet another McDonald's called me. He had been mistakenly told that I had had my issue with his restaurant. Regardless, he apologized and offered to send me gift certificates for my next meal. I advised him that I would not be dining there again. He insisted and took my address, etc. I figured I'd pass them along to my Mum. Needless to say that the certificates have yet to manifest. For the first time in more than thirty years, I have not eaten at McDonald's for an entire year.

Is my absence hurting their business? Likely not, although I have heard that their business is down. Simply a coincidence. Perhaps. I'd like to think of it as karma, but of course, that would be bad karma. I would like to say that the void of Rotten Ronnies in my life has been filled with healthy nosh. Not so much. Fast food abounds. We hit White Spot a lot more than we used to and their fast food satellite Triple Os. I saw Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me at some point during the year and am glad that I have cut out McD's from my life. Now, I need to stop with all the other less than healthful food. This will likely happen soon.

On an unrelated note, Merv Griffin died today from prostate cancer. He was 82. I obviously did not know the man. We shared a birthday. I remember watching his show in the afternoons when I was a kid. I think that he and Mike Douglas and even, Dinah Shore are responsible for my love of talk shows. They just don't make them like that anymore. Now, it's all about gimmicks and giveaways, the talk has all gone. RIP Merv!