Fast Food Drive Thru Only - Is This the Future?

[jollystomper]

In my experience, there are many other options besides using fast-food bathrooms.

+1 I cannot remember the last time I had to use a fast food restaurant restroom. Rest stops, truck/convenience stops, gas stations, convenience stores, supermarkets, large stores, hotels, etc. provide plenty of other options.

 

[disneysteve]

No interest in fast food.

The only drive thru I have any interest in is a drive thru ATM.

Haven’t been to an ATM for years. Haven’t done a fast food drive through for way longer than that.

 

[ncbill]

There also continues to be a significant labor shortage. Many of these places can’t reopen because they simply can’t find enough help. And it’s not just fast food. I know of nice upscale restaurants that have cut hours due to lack of staff. Other businesses too. Our local Walgreens is no longer open on weekends due to staffing issues. Lots of other examples.

Yep, our favorite locally-owned Italian restaurant is back to delivery/carryout only since they cannot hire enough staff to work the dining area.

I've noticed many local Asian places are doing the same but when I've asked their given reason is COVID...everyone still wears masks.

 

[Sojourner]

Haven’t been to an ATM for years. Haven’t done a fast food drive through for way longer than that.

I go to ATMs as infrequently as possible, but definitely not years between visits. How do you get cash?

 

[euro]

I go to ATMs as infrequently as possible, but definitely not years between visits. How do you get cash?

Cashback at the grocery store?

 

[disneysteve]

I go to ATMs as infrequently as possible, but definitely not years between visits. How do you get cash?

I rarely need to. I keep some at home and it lasts for ages as we charge almost everything. Invariably if we go out with friends or we order out at work or whatever, I'll charge it and others will give me cash. Every now and then, also rare but more often than ATM use, Ill have to go into the bank because I need specific cash, like small bills, so I'll get it then. About the only time I use cash is for yard sales and estate sales. Everything else goes on the credit card. Even among friends, we now mainly use Zelle/Venmo to pay each other rather than cash. I can have the same $200 in my wallet for 6 months or more.

 

[W2R]

Fair enough. The two studies I looked at defined long Covid as more than 90 days whereas the GAO used more than 4 weeks, awfully short to draw conclusions IMO. We won’t know how long it lasts for a while. And not everyone with long Covid is equally debilitated, e.g. unable to work. I was was denying long Covid is a factor, but it’s not known to be all of “5 to 20 million” Americans.

I don't know how long it usually lasts, or what percent of Covid patients get long Covid, but you are right, some are way more debilitated than others. In my case when I first arrived back in Louisiana last September (after 2-3 weeks in ICU in Arkansas), my brain fog was so bad that for several weeks I could not even find the bathroom in my own 1500 square foot home that I had lived in for five years. I was even surprised to re-learn that I had two bathrooms. Can we say "scrambled"? Frank was an absolute saint and got me through that initial period of extreme brain fog. There is no possible way I could have worked in that condition, even in a presumably fairly routine job like fast food.

By now (7 months later) I think my brain fog is all gone and I am essentially over my long Covid H*ll; I could probably work but I don't have to. YAY!! Many recovering from Covid take longer to recover so I'm lucky. The point is that I just had to speak up and affirm what you are saying, that any generalizations regarding symptoms and experiences of Covid patients just don't seem to hold up AFAIK. Our member "Another Reader" and I each had a very tough time with Covid, but our experiences were not the same. On the other hand, some other people just get the sniffles for a week.

Sorry for the topic drift but I just had to say all this stuff. Now, back to "fast food drive thru only, is this the future?"

 

[Sojourner]

Cashback at the grocery store?

Yeah, this crossed my mind as possibly the answer, but I don't think my local Kroger allows this for self-checkout (which I always do). I used to avail myself of it occasionally before self-checkout was common, but it had a $50 maximum IIRC, which was annoying. There's a very convenient ATM just inside my local CVS (even closer than Kroger) which I use a few times a year to get cash. No fees for Ally customers.

 

[Morgan22]

I've read about these same "great resignation" employment dynamics, but I still don't fundamentally get how so many people can afford to simply "exit the workforce". I mean, we've all seen those news articles about how the majority of American's don't have enough cash (or credit) on hand to deal with a $500 emergency, such as a car repair or medical bill. Seems to me the vast majority of people who work the register at, say, Burger King can't just quit and replace that income stream with a more comfy, gig-economy job. So what are they doing now? There are only so many Uber and Lyft drivers a given area can support. I really would like to know the details behind all this.

I've seen the "great resignation" at my own (now previous) healthcare company. So many individuals that were in their 60's decided to retire earlier than they planned. Many of them said that they would have worked longer if not for covid.

 

[audreyh1]

In my experience, there are many other options besides using fast-food bathrooms. I typically make quick stops at rest areas to use the facilities and stretch my legs, or I use the (typically pretty clean) restrooms at large gas/convenience stores like Love's or Flying J or Pilot. Luckily, I've found that I can usually time my need for restrooms to align with my car's need for gas.

Exactly! We find county and interstate rest areas to be overall nice restroom facilities and we prefer them over gas stations. There are some gas station chains known for decent bathrooms and we’ve used them. Starbucks has decent restrooms. We’ve never used fast food restaurant restrooms as we don’t eat fast food.

 

[audreyh1]

I go to ATMs as infrequently as possible, but definitely not years between visits. How do you get cash?

Cash rewards from Costco VISA, LOL! I actually have too much at the moment and and depositing some of it.

 

[rodi]

In my experience, there are many other options besides using fast-food bathrooms. I typically make quick stops at rest areas to use the facilities and stretch my legs, or I use the (typically pretty clean) restrooms at large gas/convenience stores like Love's or Flying J or Pilot. Luckily, I've found that I can usually time my need for restrooms to align with my car's need for gas.

Exactly! We find county and interstate rest areas to be overall nice restroom facilities and we prefer them over gas stations. There are some gas station chains known for decent bathrooms and we’ve used them. Starbucks has decent restrooms. We’ve never used fast food restaurant restrooms as we don’t eat fast food.

We would have had burst bladders on our recent scooby van camping road trip. California's rest stops along 101 were all "temporarily" closed except the one only 30 miles from our house.

Yes - we used gas stations as well. But it's nice to have options.

 

[Sunset]

We would have had burst bladders on our recent scooby van camping road trip. California's rest stops along 101 were all "temporarily" closed except the one only 30 miles from our house.

Yes - we used gas stations as well. But it's nice to have options.

We take a 5 gallon pail with a camping toilet lid snapped on it, as the solution of last resort.
We've never had to use it in 7 yrs. But if we do need it, I'll be incredibly happy we have it in the back of the van.

We have always had varying degrees of success stopping at McD's , although once or twice out of dozens of stops it was pretty bad pre-covid.

 

[Midpack]

I guess most if not all are planning to reopen dining rooms, labor shortages aren’t helping. When it becomes a competitive disadvantage hitting their top lines they’ll find a way. One of several I read…

https://www.businessinsider.com/mcd...-rooms-drive-thrus-under-pressure-2022-1?op=1

About 80% of [McDonald’s] US dining rooms are open as of January 2022, with the expectation that the rest will reopen in the near future, though he did not elaborate on a specific timeline.

 

[wrigley]

It all depends on which part of the country you are in.

Mike

 

[Badger]

We take a 5 gallon pail with a camping toilet lid snapped on it, as the solution of last resort.
We've never had to use it in 7 yrs. But if we do need it, I'll be incredibly happy we have it in the back of the van.

We have always had varying degrees of success stopping at McD's , although once or twice out of dozens of stops it was pretty bad pre-covid.

Be sure to check that 5 gallon pail. After 7 years it may be getting brittle. Could be a bad experience.

Cheers!

 

[rk911]

In my experience, there are many other options besides using fast-food bathrooms. I typically make quick stops at rest areas to use the facilities and stretch my legs, or I use the (typically pretty clean) restrooms at large gas/convenience stores like Love's or Flying J or Pilot. Luckily, I've found that I can usually time my need for restrooms to align with my car's need for gas.

other options for bathrooms we occasionally use are grocery and department stores like WalMart and Target.

 

[Midpack]

It all depends on which part of the country you are in.

Mike

Seems to be the case from what I’ve read and experienced.

 

[ivinsfan]

Exactly! We find county and interstate rest areas to be overall nice restroom facilities and we prefer them over gas stations. There are some gas station chains known for decent bathrooms and we’ve used them. Starbucks has decent restrooms. We’ve never used fast food restaurant restrooms as we don’t eat fast food.

I guess it depends on the gas station and the rest stops..We've been at some uck rest stops including one that had signs saying don't not drink any water. Also I don't love regular FF either but one can often get nice salads and/or chicken breasts decent breakfast offerings and such.



Pilots and Maveriks as well as QT are pretty spotless IME.

 

[friar1610]

I hate drive-thru with a passion and will not get food from places that don't let you mobile order and pick up inside. Around here Chik-Fil-A and Starbucks are notorious for having drive-thru lines pretty much all the time. The wife will put up with this for her Starbucks fix but I won't.

I live in Dunkin’ territory. Mostly coffee drinks, pastries/donuts and a few sandwiches. I’ll often stop for a coffee “to go”. I swear I can go in, order and pay for my coffee and be back out in the car before 3 cars have gotten through the drive-in line. Plus, I can stretch my legs and, if nature calls, tend to that as well.

 

[audreyh1]

We would have had burst bladders on our recent scooby van camping road trip. California's rest stops along 101 were all "temporarily" closed except the one only 30 miles from our house.

Yes - we used gas stations as well. But it's nice to have options.

Temporarily closed rest stops - that’s terrible! Even during 2020 Covid shutdown we did not encounter this. I think some states tried but had to back off due to truckers, etc.

 

[RobbieB]

Be sure to check that 5 gallon pail. After 7 years it may be getting brittle. Could be a bad experience.

Cheers!

Hehe, this is why I bought a yacht!

Wifey saw the plastic bucket seat I bought for the 21 footer, said "what's that for?"

I said you put a trash can liner in the bucket and add a cup of kitty litter then put the seat on when you need to go.

She said "no way I'm crapping in a bucket"

Which led to this;

Women.

 

[aja8888]

Hehe, this is why I bought a yacht!

Wifey saw the plastic bucket seat I bought for the 21 footer, said "what's that for?"

I said you put a trash can liner in the bucket and add a cup of kitty litter then put the seat on when you need to go.

She said "no way I'm crapping in a bucket"

Which led to this;

Women.

Expensive outhouse!

 

[Teacher Terry]

Beautiful Robbie!!

 

[Mmm Rrr]

Driving past a local McDonalds I saw a sign that announced that their "lobby" is open now for walk-ins, but it is for take out only. So at least people can now buy of they are on foot.