It is extremely hard in these though economic times to get what you pay for when buying Fast Food and using Vending Machines. When I visit Fast Food Restaurants and use Vending Machines, I recall my childhood and teenage years in the seventies and eighties and not only remember what a dollar was worth, but I remember the quality and quantity a dollar did purchase in those days. I can see it all now! I am riding in the car with my parents and siblings and we are on our way to McDonald's to get The Real Big Mac. We never ate fast food too often so my taste buds were running in to each other and my stomach was doing flip flops the night before in anticipation of those two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Back then McDonald's had the best French Fries known to man and you had to eat your burger and fries first because by the time you finish, you may be able to get your thick chocolate Milk Shake to come through the straw. Now fast forward 25 years to the present. I was never so disappointed in my life when I thought I would relive my childhood by eating a Big Mac. The quality of fast food has really declined. My guess is that the fast food industry wanted to maximize profits, so they made eating fast food more affordable and could not deliver the same quality they once did. At a glance the sandwich looked nothing like the sandwich they advertise on television. You know the sandwich that you can actually see the meat and cheese between the three pieces of bread. When I bit into the Low Budget Big Mac, the meat was so thin that I nearly chocked on the bread and special sauce. When I opened the bread up to see what was inside, the meat was so thin that I could see through it. And those fries that use to be so good are a shadow of their former selves. I wonder what they are made of? My son dropped some in the car when he was three. I found them when I was cleaning it out and they looked the same as they did when they were bought. As for the shakes, they are average at best.
When It comes to vending machines there is not a whole lot to say accept that I bought a bag of chips the other day and when I made my selection and the machine dispensed the brand of potato chips I selected, they floated down from the space they where in. It seems to me that the smaller the candy bar or potato chips, the more expensive they are. In this economic climate, it is tough for companies to stay a float with operating cost going up along with fuel prices and the American consumer is trying to be convinced that less is more.
When it comes to fast food. Most of the major players in the fast food industry shot themselves in the foot when they made their food so affordable Americans could eat it nearly every night. Super Sizing everything caused stomachs to become so big that they had to dumb down their food or cook it in different oil. Now the food has less flavor, but still popular because the present generation and the generation after mine never experienced the taste of the Real Big Mac, Good KFC Chicken, Wendy's real thick and juicy burgers and Burger Kings original Whooper.
