Fast Food

It's GROSS. I can't eat it anymore. And I haven't in 3 months. Not one chicken nugget or a single french fry. It all started last Christmas. I was tasked to bring in lunch each day for everyone that would be working the few days following Christmas and before New Year's. So I brought lunch to roughly 20-25 people for 3 days. The first day was fine, I ordered pizza, no big deal. The next day, I brought in Jason's Deli (online food ordering is soo nice for big groups). The last day was when it happened. I figured tacos/burritos would be a pretty easy lunch for that many people, so I drove to the Taco Bell. Now, I planned on ordering 25 soft tacos, 25 crunchy tacos, and 20 burritos so I figured it would be best if I went in and ordered so everything would be kept straight. I go inside and it smells like only a Taco Bell can. I place my order and they lady at the counter told me it would be a 10 minute wait to get them all ready and that I should just sit down and wait. So while I'm sitting I look around. All of the tables are dirty, along with the floor and soda machines. Sauce packets are strewn about and straw wrappers are everywhere. No one else is inside the restaurant. Gee I wonder why??

So one of the employees comes out from behind the counter with a mop and bucket of SICK, dirty brown water. She's also got a rag and spray, that I'm hoping had some sort of disinfectant in it. As I watch her clean the tables and counters I'm thinking to myself, shouldn't this have been cleaned up when you closed last night? Certainly it should have been done prior to opening this morning. My mind keeps going...if it's this dirty where people eat, what does it look like behind the counter where they prepare my food? Ughhh GROSS.

Before I could think any further, the lady at the counter lets me know my order is ready and pushes 4 bags towards the edge of the counter. I picked them up and you would be surprised at how much 50 tacos weighs! I felt like a caveman, my arms dragging behind me from the weight of all the meat and beans. So I walk to my car and start to drive back to the office. . I drive a Jeep. It's small, there is no room for air circulation. My car fills with the terrible smell of the Taco Bell. I finally arrived at the office and take the bags upstairs. Everyone cleans them out in a matter of a few minutes, and all I could think about were the dirty tables and the bucket of brown water. The smell was in my car for what seemed like days. It finally went away, but I'll never forget it. And to this day it makes me a little pukey when I think about it. So, Taco Bell ruined anywhere with a drive thru for me. I feel like they are all dirty and I'll never know what's really in the food I'm eating. I will make one exception - Subway, which I haven't had since Dec, but would if I had to. There's something to be said for being able to actually watch someone prepare your food.

Not eating fast food has definitely made a difference. I spend a lot less money and I've lost some weight. Luckily, my parent's still feed me everyday (thanks Mom and Dad) otherwise I'd probably look like a twig. Anyway, let's start a movement and steer clear of the fast food.