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Should We Stop Traffic so People Can Get Their Fast-Food Fix?

By , SparkPeople Blogger
I rarely venture out of the office during the day. After yesterday, I am thankful for that! Midmorning, I ventured out to the big suburban shopping area north of our office to pick up the remaining prizes for the dailySpark Holiday Giveaway. (What are the prizes, you ask? They're a secret! Check back each Monday until the end of 2008 to enter to win those prizes!)

I was so pleased with myself for hitting both the mall and Target without a traffic jam, long line or even a hunt for a parking place. Then I headed back to the office just before noon.

About a block from the highway, traffic thickened and slowed to a crawl. Confused, I looked ahead and noticed two sheriff's deputies directing traffic.

"A fender-bender," I thought. "What bum luck for those people, but that explains the slowdown."

Not quite. As we inched forward, I noticed the deputies were standing in front of the Burger King driveway, and just next door, another pair of deputies were in the Wendy's driveway. They were directing traffic so that people could get in and out of the fast-food restaurant drive-throughs!


Are you kidding me? Our tax dollars are being used to direct traffic during the lunchtime rush at the fast-food joints?! AMENDMENT: I've been informed that our tax dollars are not being spent on this. The restaurants typically pay those officers, who are off duty.

Have you ever heard of something so absurd? Does this happen elsewhere?

When I saw the effort that it took just to get a Whopper, I was amazed. Call me lazy, but why bother trying to go to a fast-food restaurant where the line reaches into the road? These restaurants are located in a busy intersection where there are no fewer than 20 other restaurants and two grocery stores, plus a mall food court, in a mile radius.

Instead of sitting in their cars for 20 minutes waiting to get French fries and a hamburger they'll inevitably gobble down behind the wheel, those people could easily bring something from home and use those extra minutes to slow down and savor their lunches--or even enjoy a quick walk with a co-worker. People complain about being pressed for time. Eliminating the fast-food waiting game would surely save hours in the course of a week.

Do sheriff's deputies direct traffic at the fast food joints in your neighborhood? Would a line out to the road discourage you from eating there? What is your reaction to this situation?

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