Drive-thru Difficulties

There is something wrong when it takes 10 minutes to move forward 2 cars in the drive-thru.  It's worse when you haven't yet reached the order mechanism in that time.  What really pops a stitch, however, is watching someone walk in when you arrive, and in about 6 minutes, leave with 2 large bags and a cardboard tray with 4 drinks.

I can understand that fast-food restaurants tend to be busy; I can especially understand it at mealtimes.  What I can't understand is the event above occuring at 3:15pm on a Wednesday... at a McDonald's.  Outrageous!

What happened to the concept of "fast-food" in this country?  Did you know that I can get Chinese take-out at an eat-in restaurant--10 blocks from home--within 5 minutes of placing the order?  Talk about fast food!  What happened?  When I was younger, if I wanted fast-food, I could go to McDonald's, Hardees, Burger King, etc., and be gauranteed a meal within 5 minutes.  If the line was long, another register would be opened, by the manager if necessary.  I can even remember when drive-thru's started showing up.  You'd place your order, move to the window, and recieve your order quickly and perfectly.

Then there's the price issue.  I know prices are going up everywhere, but in some cases they're just ridiculous!  Take Hardees for example.  It was originally a fast-food place like so many others.  It even had a set of characters like McDonald's.  No Ronald McDonald, the main character at Hardees was Hardee, a cowboy with a heart of gold.  Lately things have changed though; the cowboy has long since disappeared, and the restaurant is only interested in filling its registers with more and more money.  Have you seen its prices lately?  Urgh!

These days, if you want fast-food, I recommend ordering from Jimmy John's.  The food is good, the price is reasonable, and the delivery service is amazingly fast.  What more can you ask for?