Drive-Thru Mentality
Posted: January 27, 2016
So I admit to eating fast food once in awhile. Usually when I hear, “Daddy, can I have a cheeseburger?” But not all the time. Certainly never a couple days in a row. But today, they were running a little slow. Cars were stacking up in front of us, and we were all getting a little impatient.
Finally, after what seemed like a “long” time, we made our way to the “pay window” and then up to the next window to pick up our food. But then, they told us to move up and park in “Space #1,” because all our food wasn’t ready. Okay.
Usually, it just takes a minute or two, and they’re on it. But once in awhile, you have to sit and wait for it. This time, it took over five minutes. Now I was steaming. I had a five-year-old going, “Is it ready? Is it ready yet? Is it ready?” So is it ready, already? Come on!
Fast food is supposed to be… well, fast. We’ve come to expect it. So when it’s not moving fast, we tend to get irritated. Even when it’s moving at the regular speed, if the line is long, we get the same reaction. But really, even with the delays, it’s still pretty fast. Especially in contrast with going in and sitting down.
I always thought McDonald’s had the first drive-thru, but as it turns out, they weren’t. Not by a long shot. They didn’t launch theirs until the 1970’s, but drive-through’s have been around for decades before that.
While it’s not 100% agreed upon, it appears that the first drive-through was created by a man named Sheldon “Red” Chaney, who opened “Red’s Giant Hamburg” in 1947, on Route 66 in Springfield, MO. The abrupt ending of the name was apparently due to incorrect measurements when making the sign.
As for fast food chains, “In ‘N Out” and “Jack In The Box” also stake their claim at being first, but each opened their drive-through in 1948 and 1951, respectively. Once McDonald’s and the other mega-chains joined the fray, there was no going back.
Culturally, this was a massive shift in thinking, and in the way we lived. Before, most families sat down together and ate a meal that took some time to prepare. Now, we were eating on the go, often while driving.
This mentality has pervaded our society to the point where we have on-demand movies at home, the all purpose smart phone (on which I’m writing this), and even what I’m calling the drive-thru fitness mindset.
We’ve all seen the ads for Insanity and P90x3, two massively popular DVD workouts designed to last about 25 minutes. I personally teach Boot Camps designed to kick your butt and kick you out of there. Ive seen 8-minute Abs, 5-minute Buns, and even one program that lasts just 2-3 minutes a day. It just takes a $20,000 piece of equipment to do it, though. Good luck with that.
So we live in a drive-thru culture. People come in wanting their changes to happen right away. But it might have taken them years to get out of shape. Why would we think we reverse all that over night?
Some things take some time, and this is one of those things. There’s no such thing as a drive-thru fitness center. You’ve got to come in and do the time. You’ve got to jump in and stay awhile. But when you do, you’ll really like how things turn out!