Saturday, June 20

Not Every Franchised Business is Similar

I don't eat at MacDonald's or any fast food joint but I like their coffee and go to one, from time to time. I used to eat breakfast in their locations. Not anymore. I stopped many years ago. Different reasons for that. Here I list them as some might find it helpful:
1) McDonald's food and generally fast food meal contains a lot of fat, salt, sugar and artificial flavour. They all are harmful to the body. Continuous consumption of them will result in illness, chronic pain, you name it. If they're consumed at a very low amount, say, once a month, it's not that harmful. The body could get rid of them, particularly if there's enough exercise. Eating them repeatedly and at ages passed 40s would certainly have detrimental consequence. That's why I stopped eating this kind of food nearly 15 years ago.

2) There was a time that everything was affordable. You could get a decent meal for a reasonable price and enjoy it and get full, even if you had a normal job. Time has changed, particularly after the Pandemic. Prices of almost everything have gone up significantly. What do businesses like McDonald's do to stay competitive? They reduce the size of their meal and charge the same. I remember Buy One, Get One coupons would arrive every two weeks. You would by a Breakfast Sandwich and you would get the exact same sandwich free of charge! Now you get a sandwich which contains two and a half bites, you're still hungry and you either have to buy another one or leave half full! 

3) Population explosion! You'd find most of the fast food very busy these days, unless you go very early, like I did this morning, although it was around 09:40! It is considered early for many on a Sat. morning, I'd assume! A week of work. You're exhausted mentally and physically or at least one! You remain in the bed until 10:00, some even 11:00 and after. What do most of people do, after they wake up on a weekend? Have a quickie and then head out for breakfast or brunch. The other reason is the cost. Fast food joints remain the most affordable food in life. No cooking is required. You don't have to wait for the meal to be prepared, you don't have to go to a supermarket to buy the ingredients and know how to fix them! Those are the reasons they make fast food joints busy. That is only the way that a family with not a considerable income entertain themselves. Get out of the house, drive for a few minutes only as there're fast food places in every neighbourhoods, get an ice cream simulated cone for $1 and everyone is happy. Go back home and wait for the next day to come! Repeat the action. It's a loop!  
Most of McDonald's and Tim Horton's (I don't set a foot on a Tim Horton's property anymore. It's been a long time, not even for a coffee) are equipped with CCTV. You know why but in case you don't it's because of the number of mentally challenged, drunkards, drug-addict, psychopath and other crazy people who wander around in Canadian cities and town are significantly or perhaps I should say astronomically higher than a normal healthy society! The business owners hope to capture the criminals in case something happens, to have the chance of, perhaps, prosecution and conviction, I'd assume. That chance in Canada is very slim because the Judicial System is built in a way to encourage committing crime not to prevent it. That's how they run the business and keep the employment acceptable. 
A woman in her 70's wearing sleeper ordering food at a McDonald's! This was during the Pandemic. There're many people like this one in Canada who their lives revolves around fast food, Las Vegas, Mexico and cable TV!
With those said, I went to a McDonald's to get a coffee and study some XRF Level II for my upcoming examination, this morning. It was quite and almost clean although you never can expect a place like that to be spotless. food pieces were sitting on some tables and they looked they were from the last night! It's a McDonald's! What do you expect. I ordered a coffee and started my reading. I realized, while taking a sip that there was no camera, as far as I could see and it was a big lobby. My guess is the closer the location to Downtown and homeless and drug-addict routes, the more security cameras are installed. I've been to Tim Horton's, many years ago, where the number of security cameras were more than a bank! It also depends on the owner, I would think. 
If you're looking for a quiet and clean McDonald's to have a coffee or anything, it's located in Edmonton Tr., in Airdrie, Alberta and I found their coffee price less than other locations. Another reason for every franchise is similar.
(Photo, top: The McDonald's lobby around 10:00 on a Sat. morning. Quiet and clean, almost. Many Drive-thru customers but not many eat-ins)

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