Fast Food

America does thrive on our time-management.  Other than fasting, there is no way to schedule less time for eating than relying on fast-food.  America is fast cars, fast money and fast food.  The difference between the people who associate with the first two examples and the final one are blatant.  People who have the luxury of a Mississippi River-like cash flow do not have to rely on Wendy, the Burger King and Ronald McDonald to provide their meals.  

Each of these quick meal caterers carries a multitude of meals, with different tastes for different taste buds.  If you wanted (or were forced by necessity) to eat a different fast-food every day for a year, you could.  The scary thing is, however, many people are forced to assume this diet due to time-constraints.  It takes a lot of time to go to the grocery store, plan meals and cook for a family.  When people don't have this time, they are forced to rely on other means of feeding their family.  Many homes that are on the lower end of the social hierarchy relish in the convenience of fast-food restaurants.  It is so much easier for a single parent or two working parents to pick up dinner on the way home instead of making it themselves.  Plus, the value menu allows for penny-pinching parents to pick items that will fill their stomachs and not starve their wallets.  Even the inclusion of toys in kids' meals allows a parent to feed and entertain children at the same time.  I still remember the devastation I felt when I lost the secret agent binoculars I got from McDonalds.

Almost every city in America has at least one fast food place, many have dozens.  Fast-food is so engrained in our culture that we have a hard time imagining a village so destitute that it doesn't have at least the three big burger joints.  Thankfully, Ronald,Wendy and the King are not permanent guests at my table.  I do enjoy, however, the ease of inviting them when I want to.