I just finished a 4,600 mile roadtrip which provided more than a few blog ideas. I had settled on writing about my second “fast food” encounter, and with a few hours of driving by miles and miles of cornfields, I was not lack for thinking time. All that ground to a halt when, on the final leg of the journey, I had that all too familiar feeling of my second Covid battle. I guess spending five days with a few thousand of my closest friends set up the Petri dish of viral abundance. I immediately got on the phone with Kaiser who knows way too much about me. They got me on anti viral medication, which I am happy to report is working. All this is to say I won’t wear you out with any more talk about my health.
When one is on a road trip, places to stop become of paramount importance for all the reasons you are familiar with. The priorities of those stops vary depending on who is driving. One of the few things we agree on is McDonald’s oatmeal and hash browns. Some where in south Indiana there is a McDonalds which is 100% automated. When you walk in, the sign says, “Please use kiosk the cashier is closed”. My response— “Seriously”. The guy next to me said “I don’t get it. There we stood— two codgers at the mercy of a touch screen.
We must have made just enough noise that a very friendly young worker came out and asked if she could help us. Somehow, it all worked and the oatmeal arrived with grossly overpriced hash browns. Every day that I live I become more like my dad, who complained constantly about prices and how they load your drinks with ice to build profits. I wear that identity like a badge of honor, however, it can be a source of amusement/embarrassment to my grandkids.
My son Mateo’s first words and I am not kidding was “Donnos” while he was pointing at the Golden Arches. I know that McDonalds is like the mothership of all things fast and convenient—however, I can imagine Ray Kroc’s ghost wondering whatever happened to Happy Meals??? I guess the research department of this corporate juggernaut knows a whole lot more about making money than I do. My cynicism is running rampant. Before I go too far down the ‘good old days’ nostalgia route— I am beyond grateful for the technology that came up with vaccines and anti virals, that both saved my life and are getting me well.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 