Why Do Americans Hate To Leave Their Cars?
Posted on | May 29, 2008 at 6:17 am | 16 Comments
Add to the List of Things I Don’t Understand: The popularity of drive-thru fast food. Are we, as Americans, so lazy that we can’t get out of cars to pick up our giant-sized mega burgers and super bowls? Are they that much more convenient than just parking and going inside?
I stopped at Taco Bell on the way home yesterday, since I had a hankering for a Cheesy Beefy Melt (which they apparently don’t make anymore and which the clerk couldn’t find on the register, but that’s another blog entry). There was an immense line for the drive-thru: 5 or 6 cars. So I parked and went inside to order. I was the only one in line. I got my food and was out of there in the space of time that it took maybe two cars to get through the drive-thru, if that. Suckers! I just don’t understand the appeal. Not only do you have to wait, but fiddling around for the wallet can be a real pain. And you use up gas and pollute the air. Doesn’t anyone care about saving gas these days? If you go inside, you can swap coupons and fun stories with the other people in line. And you can grab all the condiments you want. And you can pour your own drink with the proper amount of ice.
I see the same thing when I drive past Starbucks in the morning – a long automobile line for coffee, when the people hunkering down inside those cars could just as easily face their barista in person and probably get their $7 coffee faster. Maybe they take that time in line to do their makeup and read the paper?
The only downside to going inside is that sometimes the workers will be so focused on the drive-thru that they won’t even notice there’s a walk-in customer. I notice this most at Wendy’s. Once, N and I had to wait like 10 minutes to get waited on, even though I’m sure the employees saw us and ignored us. (She finally bellowed, “Hey! Waitin’ for some service up here!”)
So, someone please explain to me – what’s the lure of the drive-thru?
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 49°F). Leg felt better. But the iPod was out of juice.
Comments
16 Responses to “Why Do Americans Hate To Leave Their Cars?”
May 29th, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
I hate trying to dig out my wallet and do all taht stuff in the car. Then, while I’m trying to sort my bills the right way and put them in my wallet like any good obsessive/compulsive anal-retentive person, the person behind me is ready to ram my car!
Sometimes I’ll pull up a little first, but I don’t feel like I should have to throw my food and change down and peel out like it’s a pit-stop. Of course, I rarely use cash, but it still takes me a while to get the debit card snuggled back in it’s place and the receipt situated.
Of course, truth be told, my own wife is usually sitting there fuming because I’m too slow – even if I do go inside! I guess you’re supposed to take wallet, change, and receipt and stuff them straight into your pocket and get out of the way.
I’m done ranting and whining now. Really. Yup.
May 29th, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Personally, I hardly ever use drive-thru’s for two reasons. One, more often than not I’m on foot. Two, more often than not if I do use the drive-thru, they get my order wrong.
I think, though, we’re on the brink of technology coming to rescue the drive-thru. Already, in some drive-thru’s you place your order not with some guy inside wearing a headset while he’s wiping tables (and, around here, who’s native language isn’t English), but with a professional order-taker in some other state. At least he’s trained specifically in order-taking, speaks English proficiently, and isn’t doing some other restaurant task simultaneously. Normally, this order-taker would be in India, but apparently fast-food places are reluctant to have someone who believes cows are sacred taking their burger orders.
Those screens that show your order as you place it are a big improvement, too. But not many places around here have them. Now, if you could just text your order in. Preferably while en route so it’s ready when you get there (no doubt texting while dodging traffic on a 10-lane highway).
I’ve been saying for decades you should be able to drive/go up to a fast food place and swipe your credit card, and a screen would show you your most recent orders. If you want the same thing again, you just select it. Otherwise, you punch in a new order. Oddly, no one seems to do this yet. About the closest thing is places using caller-ID to allow you to repeat your latest phone order.
May 29th, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
Yeah, and what about all those damn kids always messin’ up yer yard?!
As for improving drive-thru services, I don’t see why we can’t SMS or EMail orders ahead of time and have them bagged and hanging on a hook alongside the road to be picked up without even coming to a full stop. Cost debited from an account set up ahead of time, of course, and everything automated as much as possible. But apparently even the countries with better tech infrastructure than the USA (like Korea, Estonia, Norway etc) haven’t tried this yet.
May 29th, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
Weird how you both came up with the same thing at the same time.
The problem with that is your information will also be beamed to your health care provider (and/or employer) and they’ll have to give their permission for you to complete the order. Especially if chili-cheese fries are involved.
May 29th, 2008 @ 5:14 pm
We added a drive-up window with the renovation of one of our libraries. You all don’t have small children sleeping (or squalling) in the back seat.
May 29th, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
The future involves all food-related data (and all other data) being collated in a central computerized bank, and the meal you want will be delivered to you, your bank account debited appropriately, before you even realize that it’s what you want. ‘Course, there’s a minor potential for screwups: you will enjoy your $1,295 cilantro-and-mushroom-button stew, Flassh
More seriously: the problem with the “give you a list of previously ordered things” is that, in fact, I rarely order exactly the same thing. In most places I patronize regularly, looking at the menu is far more efficient than would be looking through a list of my prior orders. Plus, I don’t want the FBI digging through my food orders and assuming I’m a terrist because I ordered baba ghannouj. With arugula and a latte.
May 29th, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Here’s the “e” I owe you, Flasshe. But remember: I know your real name.
May 29th, 2008 @ 7:32 pm
You all don’t have small children sleeping (or squalling) in the back seat.
Good point. I do live in a kidless-centric world.
May 29th, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
More seriously: the problem with the “give you a list of previously ordered things” is that, in fact, I rarely order exactly the same thing. In most places I patronize regularly, looking at the menu is far more efficient than would be looking through a list of my prior orders.
Then you simply wouldn’t use this feature. That doesn’t mean others wouldn’t find it quite useful. And it doesn’t hurt you any to have it available but ignored.
May 29th, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
Around here it is assumed (especially since it’s such a small town that the fast food places are near the highway) that the drive thru customer is actually someone passing through town, so the staff at these places don’t really give a cr*p whether they get your order right or not. They’ve got your money and they know they’ll never see you again. If possible I aways try to go inside. And then I’ll wait until they give me my tray of food before I say “Oh, I’m sorry, I wanted that to go”. That usually puts a stop to screwed up orders.
May 29th, 2008 @ 10:48 pm
That doesn’t mean others wouldn’t find it quite useful.
One thing everyone should know about Phil: once he finds something he likes, he sticks with it. Especially where food is concerned.
I like to be surprised, so I don’t care if they get my order wrong. That’s how you get exposed to new and potentially cool things!
May 30th, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
One thing everyone should know about Phil: once he finds something he likes, he sticks with it. Especially where food is concerned.
This is true. Well, maybe not the “everyone should know” part. But I’m not the only one. In Evergreen there used to be a guy working at Quizno’s who could remember everyone’s previous order. A person would walk in, and he’d look at them and say “Classic Italian on white with extra olives” or whatever the sandwich was. I never heard anyone say he was wrong. Rarely did anyone say that was what they ordered last time, but this time they wanted something different.
Maybe it’s just that way with subs, and not other food?
I like to be surprised, so I don’t care if they get my order wrong. That’s how you get exposed to new and potentially cool things!
So maybe you should just order by saying “I’ll have what he had”? Hmmm… hard to imagine going into a fast food place and saying “What looks good on the menu tonight?”
May 30th, 2008 @ 7:42 pm
“Same thing”? No offense to your friend Phil, but my idea is A: better and B: legal. Businesses can’t retain credit card numbers and use them for any reason other than fulfilling the particular order you placed, unless I’m mistaken. Even Amazon’s 1-click accounts have to be indexed by a number other than one which is on your card.
And my idea saves a lot more time, for everyone involved, especially when you expand it to include convenience stores, pharmacies, or almost anyplace else that sells goods rather than services. Ultimately it could even lead to FULLY automated convenience stores, which would be expensive to build but then so cheap to run they’d be like printing money.
Plus I had my idea years ago. And I patented it – in my mind.
May 30th, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
All that said, Phil’s idea could work if the business issued their own membership card though – as many do nowadays – and if they allowed people to maybe customize a menu via a website, to allow for people who frequently visit under different circumstances (such as breakfast on the way to work, or with the kids on a weekend) but then it’s a simple step just to let people place an order ahead of time – via web, SMS or iPhone and have it ready to snag as you drive past.
They can even use a license-plate reader camera to see who’s coming and have the right bag dangling over the pickup area. All the technology is already on the shelf. Eventually, as I once wrote in a facetious essay, they’ll be able to just launch your food in a ballistic trajectory that’ll get it to where you are in seconds – though I warned, “nothing ruins your day like having a hot dog rammed up your nose at 600 mph”…
May 30th, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
Businesses can’t retain credit card numbers and use them for any reason other than fulfilling the particular order you placed, unless I’m mistaken.
I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken, in the USA anyway. However, credit cards have your name on the magnetic stripe, so the business could use that rather than the number to remember your previous orders.
May 31st, 2008 @ 5:44 am
The stand-alone Chick-Fil-A near me is just like that. 5-10 cars in line and never a line in the store. I figure I’m saving a good 15 minutes each time.