I’ll start with a minor confession. I like McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish® sandwiches. Let me back away from that a bit. I don’t like them enough to have them often. It’s just that every now and then, they fill a certain void. I say ‘they’ because I usually get two. Two sandwiches and a medium order of fries—I put the fries on top of the fish—That’s something I’ve always done.
I don’t think I’ve had a Filet-O-Fish® yet in 2024, but I came close last Wednesday. I was running errands and working on some things at home. The day got away from me. I had another errand to run. I decided to stop for my personal happy meal.
I pulled into the drive-thru line. The menus aren’t visible until you get to them and the woman on the other end was right on top of things and asked for my order. I caught a glimpse of the order of the person in front of me. He had some kind of burger and a fish sandwich and fries and his total was over $18. I asked the woman, “How much is a fish sandwich?”
“Six seventy-five.”
I did the math quickly. Two Filet-O-Fish® and a medium order of fries would be over $18. I told her no thanks, pulled out of line and went to Skooter’s where a Fish & Chips dinner is $14.10, which brings me to my one-liner.
“What happened to fast food?”
Now, in case you’re thinking that this is a result of the rising minimum wage, you can put that thought aside. Connecticut has always had one of the highest minimum wage rates in the country, and although it went up this year, it went from $15.00 to $15.69 but most employers have offered more than minimum wage for years. Besides, Skooter’s pays the same wage. Skooter’s also had almost as many people working that afternoon—I counted five.
Our McDonald’s is one of the ones with giant monitors inside, where you order your own food. Of course, I was using the drive-thru. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but last year, they were one of the restaurants experimenting with the drive-thru orders being taken from a call center in a foreign country. I’m sure there’s a kid inside tossing fish paddies in a basket and pushing a button and then tossing fries in different basket, but the place isn’t buzzing with hired help. Then there’s the press about the CEO of McDonald’s who frequently boasted about their ability to raise menu prices without denting sales.
At Skooter’s a male human breaded two pieces of fish—pieces that looked like they were actually once part of a fish. I sat at the counter, ate my fish and talked to people.
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
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