Fast Food and a Fast Drink

Can you imagine going into a McDonald’s and ordering up your favorite Big Mac sandwich, a quarter-pounder with cheese, two side orders of fries, and, “Oh, I’ll take a can of beer with mine and a bottle of wine for the lady.”

It’s not going to happen here in the United States, or at least not anytime soon. The backlash of negative sentiment would be too strong. Even though many adults drink, the majority of them do not want their kids around it or especially getting into it until they are adults. McDonald’s wants to keep their reputations as a family-oriented and family-friendly place to eat.

But over in Europe, it’s commonplace at McDonald’s. Then again, beer and wine are more commonplace there too.

Not to be out-done, our very own Starbucks here in Seattle has started to serve beer for $5 a bottle and wine for $9 a glass. No doubt it will be a test situation to see how well it goes over before spreading the alcoholic joy throughout the rest of the country.

And that’s not all. A couple of Sonic restaurants in Florida are planning to sell beer and wine and Burger King sells beer in their stores in Miami, Las Vegas and Kansas City.

So what’s the point?

As always, it comes down to the almighty dollar. Evenings are not as busy at some “casual dining” restaurants. (Is it possible that maybe people stay home with their families occasionally?) With prices like the ones quoted above, beer and wine would easily be among the most expensive items on the menu, also. More money into the businesses, out of the pockets of the patrons.

The problems with spreading this kind of “cheer” should be pretty obvious. We would end up with more people driving home with a drink or two under their belts, and little kids or teens in tow. We’d end up with 16 year olds not being able to work there because liquor is sold, and with the youngest staff members in existence having to determine who could buy from them and who couldn’t. It would be one more step towards showing kids that there’s absolutely no problem with drinking alcohol. One wonders if the many who stop at our Starbucks for their breakfast coffee might also be tempted to have a little something to supposedly help brace them for their day.