Ralph "Rak" Vickers

This is my local McDonald’s. I just left there without ordering and I’ll never eat/order from there again. Let me tell you why: First off, you see those McDonald’s arches right at the top of the building? Right underneath those arches was a BIG play place for kids to frolic and interact. Tunnels, slides, tic tac toe, the whole nine yards. It stood for decades. Parents would banter and gossip about small town news, sports, and happenings. And then, with no rhyme or reason, they tore it down. They also thought it would be a good idea to repaint the building from a bright and inviting white, yellow, and red, to Siberian prison rape grey. Why? I don’t know. Regardless of the ‘gloom doom’ paint job and prison industry vibe, about once a month I’d still take my toddler there for some fries and an ice cream. It’s simple, easy, and inexpensive ‘one on one’ time. Today I took Ritty inside and the building has changed even more. Instead of 5 registers, there were only two. Where the other registers used to be is now a brick wall with little windows for people to pick up their food. Anonymously and without interaction. Just. Like. Prison. No smiling faces. No greetings. No ‘welcome to McDonald’s!’ Nothing. There is also a sign by the little windows that reads ‘if you need help notify an employee.’ Behind me are two kiosks to order from, but I don’t get down like that. I prefer human interaction and being treated with the slightest notion of human existence. So I’m standing there. Nothing. Just two empty registers. Nobody in sight. You can’t see very far into the back anymore because of the ‘new wall.’ I lean over the counter and yell, ‘yo!’ More nothing. After about 5 long minutes (counting second for second) a young girl emerges from the back with a frappé in one hand and a bag of food in the other. She says, ‘what can I get for you?’ I look down at the food in her hands. (This is just ridiculous.) I said, ‘honey go run your food.’ She darts out the side door of the restaurant and into the parking lot to hand an awaiting customer their food. I walked out to never return. We are no longer human beings. We are no longer valued customers. We are just an order number. Nothing more. I refuse to spend my money at any establishment that operates on a similar format. Man. What the fuck happened to society?? What happened to customer service?? What happened to human interaction?? What happened to fucking McDonalds??