Post a pet peeve.

[Annoyed]

I'd rather self-order than wait in line like a penguin to order, then wait again to get my order, while fighting my way through families ordering feasts for their younglings.

Due to lines, etc.. I don't think there is any such thing as fast food anymore. The operators of these restaurants locate them in high traffic areas. It generally takes 20 minutes to get into the drive thru, wait for the cars ahead of you, place your order and then wait for and get the food.

20 minutes is NOT fast food. Most folks only get 1/2 hour for lunch.

[BruTak]

Depending on the time of day, and how busy they are, I can usually get served in my local chippy in less than five minutes.

[Annoyed]

Depending on the time of day, and how busy they are, I can usually get served in my local chippy in less than five minutes.

Well, maybe the operators are a little bit smarter where you are.

[Chaka-Z0]

I can get a McSeagull combo in less than 5 mins too, but some locations are cursed. This place, we were 3 cars in line, took over 30 minutes.

[Annoyed]

I can get a McSeagull combo in less than 5 mins too, but some locations are cursed. This place, we were 3 cars in line, took over 30 minutes.

That's the problem here; the locations are cursed. Within 2 miles of my driveway, or .5 miles of my employer's location, there is a Burger King, a McDonalds, a Taco Bell, a Sonic and several other well-known fast food joints. They are all located in very heavily traffic areas, commercial shopping zones, etc. With the traffic, stoplights, lines & such, you can't get back to the office or driveway in less than half an hour, minimum at lunchtime. Even at off hours, it's 20 min. at least. I don't know about you, but I won't spend that amount of time to go to one of these places.

[mad_gater]

Hmm.. right. Makes sense.. return you know, you go back... okay I feel stupid now

we just know them by different terms here in the US (and maybe Canada): basically what they call "single fare" in the UK would be what we call "one-way" and what they call "return fare" we call "round trip"

[mad_gater]

That's the problem here; the locations are cursed. Within 2 miles of my driveway, or .5 miles of my employer's location, there is a Burger King, a McDonalds, a Taco Bell, a Sonic and several other well-known fast food joints. They are all located in very heavily traffic areas, commercial shopping zones, etc. With the traffic, stoplights, lines & such, you can't get back to the office or driveway in less than half an hour, minimum at lunchtime. Even at off hours, it's 20 min. at least. I don't know about you, but I won't spend that amount of time to go to one of these places.

this is due primarily to the fact that even places that don't have self-serve kiosks routinely understaff their places...like the Subway I used to work at...they eventually cut the staff by so much there that there was only enough staff for one person per shift with no overlap at all even during the busier lunch and dinner times

[Coco Pops]

Well when we get food replicators we won't need McDonalds now will we?

[Annoyed]

this is due primarily to the fact that even places that don't have self-serve kiosks routinely understaff their places...like the Subway I used to work at...they eventually cut the staff by so much there that there was only enough staff for one person per shift with no overlap at all even during the busier lunch and dinner times

Nope.. The primary cause is location. While the lines at the restaurants themselves are sometimes long and slow at some of the places (Taco Bell is horrible), the main delays aren't the restaurants themselves, it's the traffic, stoplights and such you have to go through just to get to them. The only blame for the restaurants is where they chose to locate themselves.

[BruTak]

A friend of mine is restoring an ex-British Army Daimler Ferret scout car - a sort of post-WWII step up from a Jeep/Land Rover, but not quite a tank.

He's found a McDonald's drive-thru within easy driving distance which, if he pulled up in the Ferret, offers up the enticing possibility of blocking three roads and a carwash.

[Chaka-Z0]

we just know them by different terms here in the US (and maybe Canada): basically what they call "single fare" in the UK would be what we call "one-way" and what they call "return fare" we call "round trip"

Same here in Canada. Not surprised though, they use the metric systems and other random measurements.

Well when we get food replicators we won't need McDonalds now will we?

Poutine everyday, with bacon fries and bacon cheese and bacon gravy and bacon on top of the bacon.

A friend of mine is restoring an ex-British Army Daimler Ferret scout car - a sort of post-WWII step up from a Jeep/Land Rover, but not quite a tank.

He's found a McDonald's drive-thru within easy driving distance which, if he pulled up in the Ferret, offers up the enticing possibility of blocking three roads and a carwash.

America in a nutshell; you can drive tanks to get your McDeez.

[BruTak]

I've always fancied driving a WWII Jeep, I imagine they'd be easy to maintain and cheap to run. But I never learned to drive

[Chaka-Z0]

I've always fancied driving a WWII Jeep, I imagine they'd be easy to maintain and cheap to run. But I never learned to drive

Super expensive though, well the authentic ones are. Collectors hoard them.

My grandma learned to drive at a very late age when my grandad became ill. She also learned how to use a computer at the age of 80, and she became quite good at it a couple years after that. My mom went back to school at 50 years old.

It is never too late to do it BruTak!

[pscard]

some of them may have ordered already and were just waiting for their food and probably not wanting to clutter up the area near the service counter while they were waiting...not a problem now though as it seems like most of the McD's places in my area are going the "self-serve kiosk" route (this is what happens when the government places rather onerous business costs on businesses...cutting staff and replacing them with self-serve computers).

Computer: Would you like an order of flash drive fries with that?

[Annoyed]

I've always fancied driving a WWII Jeep, I imagine they'd be easy to maintain and cheap to run. But I never learned to drive

When I was a kid, my old man had one of those. it wasn't restored or anything, just an old piece of crap, but it did run. Myself and my siblings used to bomb around the back lot in the thing well before we were even 10 years old. We had a lot of fun in that thing. (along with mini-bikes, motorcycles and any other thing we could find with a running engine & wheels)