Something light and fluffy to dissent with today. I despise drive through windows. I hate ordering at a speaker/microphone menu apparatus where no one can understand the other because our consonants are distorted and our vowels sound clipped. Do we really save anytime or money by waiting in line? Let’s explore…

When I was younger… like my mid 20’s I used drive through windows for fast food quite a lot. It was convenient. It was quick. There were plenty of workers in the restaurant and the establishments paid their employees a decent wage. I remember frequenting Hardee’s to buy fried chicken, and various sandwich places. I also visited the bank quite regularly to deposit or withdraw money from my accounts. ATM’s made this even more convenient. Now that I have direct deposit I think I visit my bank only once or twice a year… and I actually go inside the lobby.

What is the attraction of the drive through? Does it save time? I don’t think it does. With the online store apps I think we can order everything ahead and just walk in and grab the product. My wife is really good at this with her Starbucks addiction. I usually walk in and grab our beverages. My order is bold and boring: black tea, no water. Occasionally I may get a red eye or a black eye, but my wife is the specialty coffee or sparkling refresher drinker. I like bitter, she likes sweet, we are a match. When we order ahead I find the visit inside is only a minute or two and there are usually cars wrapped around the building.

Does it save money? I remember how some people rationalized that drive through kept you from browsing the other merchandise in a pharmacy. Or it prevented you from ordering extra items by sticking to the value meals. I’ll have a #8 with curly fries and a coke… per chance… hold the onion… if you please… When you are idling your car an extra 5-10 minutes the expense adds up. When it is very cold or very hot the car burns more fuel to keep you comfortable. Think about the wear and tear on the engine… Do you change your oil regularly????

Then there are the patrons who order from the car that ask for the 16,000 different variations of the drink or meal they want with the half-caf/light foam/vegan/no soy/mocha with extra sprinkles of god knows what… All this extra stuff just bogs down the line as everything must be made special just for their self-importance. Capitalism has sure made people selfish. I hate being an inconvenience towards anyone. Others take great pride in being the greatest self important inconvenience the world has ever seen.

This reminds me of one patron at my pharmacy who was in the drive through, but their prescription couldn’t fit into the container for delivery. The patron threw a verbal fit on the intercom and then barged in front of us that were standing in line inside, using the rationalization that they had already waited twenty minutes in the car. I said calmly, “Your self-made inconvenience is not our problem.” They were lucky the pharmacist pulled them aside to the conference area to deliver their meds as not to inconvenience us. I was sure the two in front of me were going to deliver some words that were much more curt and sarcastic. People are awful when they are in their cars going through a drive through. They must think that the metal protects them from something….

Think of the environmental costs of waiting in the drive through. How much carbon monoxide is released into the atmosphere by a five minute wait? Multiply that by 100 cars and trucks. Multiply that by the number of businesses with drive throughs. It is just waste, waste, waste, and environmental ruin. Plan ahead. Order before. Turn the vehicle off and go in. Buy the candy bar or the bottle of wine… Enjoy the farting around a little with your fellow citizens… Come on Man!!!

Will I change anything with this dissentful blog? No, of course not. People like the illusion of convenience. People like the illusion of choice too. Speaking of choice, there is this thing called door dash too. Have it delivered for a fee, but please be kind enough to tip your delivery person. After all, your convenience is their job. Be kind to them please.

Moral of the story… stop being selfish… entitlement is deadly. Look what happened to the New Jersey school administrator who took her entitlement too far at a Phillies game. She should have let the kid have the ball… end of story… Plan ahead… Don’t be someone else’s inconvenience… Engage with your fellow planetary citizens… Better yet… Stop using the $#@%^&%## drive through!!! Thanks for reading… so it goes….