memes

I don’t usually eat fast food, but one night I was starving, and there happened to be a drive-thru right next to me. I saw only two cars ahead in line and thought it would be quick. I pulled in and waited. Fifteen minutes passed. Then nearly twenty. By that point, a long line had formed behind me, trapping my car.

At the thirty-minute mark, I started asking the cars around me if they could maneuver to let me out. After almost forty minutes, I finally managed to escape.

Frustrated and still hungry, I drove a little further to a local gyro joint. I walked inside, placed my order, and within five minutes, I was enjoying a fresh, delicious lamb platter.

If this had been an isolated incident, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. But the reality is, experiences like this are all too common. Fast food isn’t fast, and to make matters worse, it’s often not even cheap anymore. Unless you’re scraping the bottom of the so-called “value menu”—which has become scarce and filled with low-quality options—you’re likely paying the same, if not more, than you would at a local spot.

When you stack up the cost, the wait, and the disappointing quality, it’s hard to justify why anyone bothers with fast food at all.

Not cheap, not convenient, not fast, and, let's be real: It's barely food.

Looking at you five guys.

Story time. We t to five guys, go up to the country asked for a burger combo. Person behind counter says they don't have combos so I have to say out loud: lemme get a burger fries and a coke.

Like I get it but a combo is a burger fries and a coke.

When I was in high school, we'd split a gram of weed four ways and go to Wendy's for the $4.20 meal. For less than ten bucks, you got stoned, a junior bacon cheese, four nuggets, small fry, and a small chocolate frosty. This was in the mid oughts so not that long ago!

If you have a Braum's nearby you can get a bomb-ass burger with two quarter pound patties, crinkle cut fries, and drink or shake for about $9.

But you probably don't have a Braum's around unless you are in the US and in one of like two shithole states.

In my days, you got a week's worth of calories for $3.50

It’s been a long time since fast food was any good. It’s addictive, maybe comfortable, but definitely not good. Break your addiction, especially now that you could save so much money

In my industry, there's a saying along the lines of "Good, fast, cheap. Pick two."

I think the fast food industry version is "Good, fast, cheap? No, no. And believe it or not, also no."

I don't eat fast food very often, so this is entirely anecdotal. Of the fast food chains I've eaten at in recent history, Taco Bell is by far the worst. Against my better judgment, I even broke down and gave them a second chance at a different location thinking maybe my first terrible experience was a fluke. Didn't work out. Makes me think it's bad everywhere. Wendy's has held up the best of the places I've eaten. It's definitely not cheap anymore, fast depends on the location as well as other factors, and good is relative, but overall it hasn't gone down hill as bad as the others.