McDonald's

Sure, McDonalds' ill-conceived packaging and low wages have gotten them into trouble, and even the mention of the word "McLibel" is enough to send Ronald scurrying under the bed. Sure, the food is, depending upon what you order, barely edible. But what McDonald's offers its patrons is one thing you won't find and those mom-and-pop operations: familiarity.

No matter where I go, I can walk into a McDonald's and order a Filet-O-Fish and know how it's going to taste before it's ever dropped into the fryer. Same with just about anything else on the menu. Combined with its ubiquity, Mickey D's formulaic food preparation puts the company, more than any other fast food joint, in a position to occupy a place as a sort of culinary (using the term loosely) security blanket.

Here's an example:

Over the last year, I've moved around a lot. I spent four months in London, returned to the United States (Wisconsin, if you must know) and moved all the way across the country to take a job in the San Francisco area. This means I've spent five months of the last nine living in large metro areas with which I am entirely unfamiliar. Not to mention the fact that I knew virtually no one in either of these cities before making the move. But the help of my good friend Ronald (whose establishment I never frequented before this all began) got me through some tough times.

When you're down and out in a strange city where nobody uses words like apartment, truck, sweater, cookie or even french fries, it's refreshing to know you can walk under the Golden Arches and have a nice, hot fish sandwich...with french fries (yes, they call 'em fries at the English Mickey D's) and tartar sauce. I think I ate at McDonald's, like, three times the week I got robbed and had to take my cat to the vet for an injury.

I'm sure most people would agree they don't eat at McDonald's because it has the best hamburger, though a few might cite the fries. How many of you, though, would go to a good sushi bar because it had good rice? McDonald's biggest draw is, hands down, familiarity.

The downside of all this, of course, is that it shatters diversity. For each time I went to McDonald's in London, there was some independent restaurant owner (whose food was probably better) left out in the cold. And the poor bloke probably needed my money to put food on his table much more than Ronald & Co. Now it's difficult to discern how many fine eating establishments have been driven under by the world's preference for Happy Meals and Shamrock Shakes, but it's certainly something to think about.

Is it possible that McDonald's–which, along with Coke, might be the instant reply to "capitalism" in a word-association game–helps drive entrepeneurs out of business, limits diversity and homogenizes our dining options?

Maybe I'll ponder it over a Filet-O-Fish, fries and a Coke.

— Eric Wittmershaus (ericw at flakmag dot com)