While Big A enjoyed his last full day of class before Thanksgiving break, I - having taken Mon-Wed off of work this week - decided to tool around town and do a few things. After lollygagging over Good Morning America, getting "work out" dressed and walking Hooch for 1.25 miles and then riding the stationary bike for 15 minutes and doing things that slightly resemble sit ups, I showered, watched 'Ellen' and then headed out to a mall. Not the mall that is closest but one that is about 45 minutes away (scenic route...I sped up the process going home by just jumping on the expressway).
Why this mall? Last time I had been there (something like 3+ years ago), it had an As Seen On TV store. All those cheesy things you find on infomercials are sold there. I wasn't sure if it was still there (it wasn't) but it was a lovely day for a drive anyway. Just me and a lot of silver foxes walking around (oh to be retired...).
On my way home, I decided to make a quick stop at the McDonald's that is between the expressway exit ramp and my next two destinations - the bank and Target. As I pull up to the drive thru, I am thrilled to find no one ahead of me. I order, pay, and collect in record time. I then pull back around the building to park where I can watch traffic as I am enjoying my McNuggets and 80's music on the radio.
This McDonald's is on the corner of 2 fairly busy roads - Michigan Ave. and Canton Center. There is an entrance into McDonald's from each road but the Michigan Ave. entrance is what takes you directly into the drive thru lane. The Canton Center entrance requires you to a)pull up directly to the speaker if you are that lucky or b) drive around the building and then pull into the drive thru lane.
As I was enjoying my fresh McNuggets, I was near the Canton Center entrance and thus, able to put my Sociology major to use and see what people do when they turn in. This amused me so much I no longer heard what music was on the radio.
Most of the time, there was a line of about 3 cars - 1 at the speaker and 2 waiting so none of the people that entered off of Canton Center were able to just pull straight through. Instead, some did go around the building while others went the wrong way in the parking lot and turned around to get in line. Or as one smug woman did, just block traffic in the rest of the parking lot until she could get into line (unfortunately this worked for her because there wasn't any other traffic...and she was on the cell phone). With every person that turned in from Canton Center there was a moments hesitation as they internally asked themselves what they should do.
With Target beckoning, I didn't hang around longer than necessary but it would be interesting to sit and watch and get a sampling of how many people go around the building to get into line or do it some other way and then ask the ones that didn't why. I'll save that for my PhD thesis, perhaps. Forget about tribes in Africa. McDonald's drive thru people are in need of further studying.
7 comments:
I am sure that the drive thru is Satan's greatest creation, surpassing even the speed bump, neither of which will be allowed in heaven.
My favorite is the Newcomer who has to stop at the first menu board holding up people behind them as they decide what they want to eat before pulling up to the microphone. With the exception of a couple items over the last decade, it has been the same.
I have used it a couple times to my advantage when I see a Newcomer to pretend like I am going to the backside parking lot only to cut in front of them and order first. Helps to have a small car for that one.
We have a Chic-Fil-A that is similar to this. Except that the "good" entrance, you can only get into coming from one direction, because it's a mall parking lot and they have the road divided by a little curb thingy (that's a technical civil engineering term) for some reason.
Coming in the other entrance, you pull almost right up to the drive-thru speaker, but they've also constructed a little curb thingy there to try and make you go around the building. I can still negotiate it without going around the building, but if they extend the curb thingy any further, I'll be forced to eat somewhere else.
Just as I thought. I'm going to have to include you three wackos in my thesis.
Bone - What is your usual meal at Chick-fil-A?
More times than not I go for the 12-piece nugget combo, with Polynesian sauce and lemonade to drink.
I think you could JUST study those three and forget everything else.
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