The real boring dystopia is the radical car-centrism of having a drive-thru at all to begin with.
Chick-Fil-A staff in the rain.
Submitted 10 months ago by RainfallSonata@lemmy.world to aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/51ef0e53-7bab-4568-a3b8-035b96fc7cbc.jpeg
Comments
grue@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Followupquestion@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Try having small children; drive through a can be a lifesaver because you don’t need to unbuckle them, get their winter clothes on, get them into the restaurant, wait in line, order the food to go, then wait for the food, and then reverse the steps to get back into the car. It’s a giant PITA to just get some French fries, chicken tenders, and carrot sticks, let alone the drastically increased exposure to germs associated with a crowded restaurant. You may have heard, there’s a pretty bad wave of Covid, influenza, and RSV right now. Not sharing air with other people is a big part of staying healthy right now.
my_hat_stinks@programming.dev 10 months ago
You’re assuming to get to a location you need a car, that’s still car-centric design. If your primary argument for drive-throughs relies on the fact that you needed a car to reach the location in the first place then you’re missing the problem.
Drusas@kbin.social 10 months ago
They don't need to be super bundled up just going from the car to the restaurant and back.
franklin@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Maybe but if I had a choice between the two drive thrus would be out of here
uis@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Why do you need children to wait in line with you? Are you in Soviet Union during deficit where there was a limit how much one person can buy?
Not sharing air
Give me another globe!
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It was more military focus than car focus. While in uniform the military isn’t/wasn’t supposed to run errands essentially, so they couldn’t get out of their cars. McDonald’s introduced the drive thru so that soldiers could grab a bite to eat without exiting their vehicles. Not that that is any better, just the reason that the first ones were even a thing.
Everyone else installing the things is definitely car-centric.
grue@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Damn, that’s the worst unintended consequence since employer-provided healthcare.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 10 months ago
I was going to a local place until they shut down out of nowhere that had basically the same thing as a drive thru, but for foot traffic. I could imagine even in a fully walkable city that you can’t drive in would have “walk thrus.”
Vampiric_Luma@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
One of my favorite fast-food joints when I visited the states was Checkers. It was only walk-through and looked horrible to work in (Shed-sized building but one kitchen), but I liked the concept. It was easy to wander up, order food, chill, then maybe wander off somewhere else.
Without any cars to access or even reliably park (??), it was relaxing. A small slice of walker’s paradise where all of the scenery catered to our eyes instead of condensed seating areas surrounded by idling cars.
Drusas@kbin.social 10 months ago
There's a small local burger chain by me which does this. They have a small hut for their restaurant, no inside seating. Drive-thru is on the right and walk-thru is on the left.
JCreazy@midwest.social 10 months ago
I don’t eat chick-fil-A because of reasons but damn when I did they knew how to move lines fast. Also, the food is okay but it isn’t as good as people make it out to me.
MirthfulAlembic@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I tried it a few times when it came to my area after hearing people rave for years, and I feel the same. It’s good, but that’s it. On par with KFC.
Popeye’s is way better in my opinion. It’s also cheaper, and the staff tend to be pretty entertaining in an unintentional and chaotic way. It’s the only fast food restaurant where employees are consistently very honest. Like, if they don’t have red beans because somebody fucked them up, I have been told exactly that.
Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee 10 months ago
“You get what you get. NEXT!”
Ngl the raw “you think I give a fuck about this job?” attitude their employees give off is super refreshing compared to the saccharine, focus tested to death, mandatory prompts that pass as conversation at Chic-Fila
Knightfox@lemmy.one 10 months ago
I like the customer service and overall quality of the place, I’ve never seen a bad store. I’m not crazy about their chicken (Popeyes is better imo), it’s not the best but you’ll never roll the dice on whether you got what you ordered or if there is a problem. Also, from what I hear, they pay very competitively and take care of their employees (could be wrong).
I haven’t deliberately eaten there in years (occasionally I’ll have it if it’s catered or if everyone else wants to go), because they have really terrible politics and support things I disagree with.
Also, the place has a vibe I hate, like preppy kids mixed with a church function. It just feels fake, the smiles, the “my pleasure”, etc. it feels so fake it’s unsettling to me. I like Popeyes because while I have to check my order to make sure it’s ok, the person behind the counter is a normal person not a plastic cutout.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’d put it on par with Wendy’s. Above KFC, but I still wouldn’t go out of my way for it. But I’ve also only had it at catered work functions when it wasn’t fresh, so I am a little biased. And fuck them, I don’t give bigot chicken my money, so I guess I’ll never know what it tastes like fresh.
inverted_deflector@startrek.website 10 months ago
At it’s best it’s fast food chicken. I’ll never understand the hubub.
Its closed on sundays(which is fun because they get contracts to operate in airports and throughway rest stops), and the owners have that whole anti gay thing going on.
MaxVoltage@lemmy.world 10 months ago
its a Christian thang
TORFdot0@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That hate chicken is delicious and efficient, it’s a shame it’s anti-lgbt
Illuminostro@lemmy.world 10 months ago
What your favorite Chic hate sauce?
Transtronaut@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
I mostly just liked their sauce, but that’s not enough to justify funding hate. The oppression leaves a bitter aftertaste.
JCreazy@midwest.social 10 months ago
I also like their sauce. If you care enough, you can make copycat recipes.
Drusas@kbin.social 10 months ago
The nearest Chik-fil-A to me is always with cars going around the block. I have never seen them take orders from the cars that are waiting in line like this.
Pika@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
It’s too pricey for me even if ig existed in my area, I loved the food but it was overcharged
TIMMAY@lemmy.world 10 months ago
bigot chicken
Fapp@lemmynsfw.com 10 months ago
I don’t know what those are, but I love standing in the rain and I hate getting wet. So that just looks incredibly nice
Crackhappy@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Yes but have you ever been stuck in a 1 foot square tent with yourself?
CADmonkey@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’ve been stuck in a body with myself for a long time.
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It’s probably incredibly humid and sticky too lol
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 10 months ago
cozy. And they’re getting paid for it too!
Thcdenton@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 10 months ago
GONK GONK
Fritzer09@feddit.de 10 months ago
GONG
itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
And Popeye’s sandwiches are like double the size of Chik-Fil-A
nxdefiant@startrek.website 10 months ago
And Popeye’s spicy actually is.
TheDeepState@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Wendy’s has the best spicy chicken sandwich.
stankmut@lemmy.world 10 months ago
People like to compare them, but they have such a different flavor when you order them plain like I do. The Popeyes ones are pickle-brined, so they have a faint taste of pickles with every bite. I can’t stand the flavor personally.
AncientFutureNow@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Fuuuuuccccck Chikfila
greenskye@lemm.ee 10 months ago
You can see it in the photo, but it’s always bothered me how my local chic fil a built a nice covered spot for their workers to work with heaters and fans for temperature control and then I basically never see the workers actually work there. They all seem to work at the very beginning of the line, never patient enough to just let cars move up to them.
Why build it that way if you never use it (or aren’t allowed to)??
weasel5053@lemmy.world 10 months ago
The in-person order taking is a much worse experience for the customer. Let me look at the damn menu board. It should not take any more time to prepare a meal than it takes for a car to progress from the order board to the window. I don’t see how them getting the order earlier (presumably the purpose of this) is helping in any way.
If you want chick fil a and value your time, the in store pickup is a much more efficient.
pifox@pawb.social 10 months ago
I used to work at chick-fil-a. Those things sucked. They were hot and smelled of body oder. It hard to do anything.
skydivekingair@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Chick-fil-A minions*
uis@lemmy.world 10 months ago
And they somethig about weather whentalking about pedestrian infrastructure.
PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I’ve never actually “been” to Chick-Fil-A, not even when I didn’t know about their shitty beliefs. Popeyes was always more convenient and tastes great. Now that I know, I actively avoid CFA.
I have tasted it when other people bring it in for work or something, and I still don’t get the hype. It’s just ok and definitely not worth waiting in a long line for when there are so many other options.
Thorry84@feddit.nl 10 months ago
As a non America: What are these people doing? Only time I’ve seen fast food personal outside around here is to empty the bins and pick up trash from the parking lot. Otherwise they are inside.
SilverbrookCVN@sopuli.xyz 10 months ago
I’ve read that the chicken Aldi sells in a red bag cooked in an air fryer is on par with CHICK-FIL-A. 🤷♂️
Xariphon@kbin.social 10 months ago
Rain hoods and bigotry.
itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Popeye’s chicken sandwiches are awesome and no one has to stand in the rain.
watersnipje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
Weird, but better than standing in the rain I guess 🤷♀️
boatsnhos931@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You imagine farting in one of those things
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 10 months ago
It’s like the little personal transport vehicle in Satisfactory; but Flintstones style.
Steamymoomilk@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Minion look ass
Lmao
bstix@feddit.dk 10 months ago
Human labour at its finest.
AnxiousDater101@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Beef-Fil-A’s
MxM111@kbin.social 10 months ago
I see huts with chicken legs like this: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/fairy-landscape-hut-on-chicken-legs-vector-21808909. I guess it is fitting for Chick-Fil-A.
buzz86us@lemmy.world 10 months ago
These poor people having to wait in the rain so boomers can order chicken sandwiches. It is called an app people.
some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 10 months ago
Owned by religious nutbags. Don’t eat here.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
I’ll never understand the literal lines around the block for fucking Bigot-Chicken.
lookorex@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I mean, if you don’t mind the bigotry, it’s pretty fuckin good chicken. And their waffle fries are good too. Haven’t eaten there in years and I do miss the food. But it’s still a hard no for me.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
But is it “wait a fucking half hour in a god damned drive through” good? Fuck no it isn’t.
qooqie@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It’s not that good anymore. IMO Wendy’s chicken is better nowadays
Sightline@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Is the chicken even that good?, no way they don’t come from a CAFO. Stressed out chicken meat taste like water to me.
Socsa@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
It’s isn’t good chicken though. It’s not 2003. Every fast food place has better chicken now.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I found the food greasy and unsettling, but I live in a large city full of better options. I guess I can get why people in a small town may miss it.
braxy29@lemmy.world 10 months ago
can’t speak for the bigots, but as a non-bigot who buys it for my kids a couple times a year -
there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. i say this as someone who doesn’t shop at amazon or wally world, but it’s really difficult to avoid every single brand/company with an asshole owner/ceo. additionally, my impression is they are one of the better employers in the area for people who just need a job and lack skills/ability to do something else.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
the only valid critique in the thread.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Ethics are what you make of them. If it doesn’t bother you that this organization directly gives profits to organizations that dehumanize lgbtq+ people, then keep offering them your business.
In our society our purchasing decisions can absolutely have moral ramifications, and it’s not about the impact we may or may not have. Dan Cathy stood up 11 years ago and said the following on behalf of his restaurant in direct defense of giving money to anti-lgbtq+ groups, including those practicing conversion therapy:
“we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about.”
To clarify further, Dan Cathy himself turned his chain into a symbolic beacon of religious zealotry and biggotry. It’s a symbol to many conservatives and bigots all across this nation. It doesn’t have to be that symbol to you, but to those of us paying attention, we may use a measure of contempt and caution when measuring up those who eat there.
I find the entire concept of being unable to try to be moral with our purchases positively dripping with intellectual dishonesty. Life isn’t about being 100% moral, it’s about doing our best with what we have. If we can’t avoid a greasy fast food chain for being a symbol of hate, then how will we ever foster true change in this broken world?
LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 10 months ago
We, like you, avoid what companies we can, CFA included, but this is often overlooked. The individual locations (franchises) are not equal to the anti-lgbtq+ corporate leaders and many of the ones here (Midwest) seem at the local level to better align with the community they serve.
inverted_deflector@startrek.website 10 months ago
I get this and understand to the point that I dont judge people too hard for just getting it out of convenience.
That said I feel like it’s an easy mark to boycott. At it’s best it’s just fast food chicken and the creators have an active hand in anti lgbt and weird religious fundamentalist stuff.
explodicle@local106.com 10 months ago
This applies more for corporations that own unavoidable infrastructure than restaurants with ample alternatives. The former would cost you a lot to forego and interfere with more effective praxis, while the latter costs nothing to support gay rights.
michaelmrose@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You don’t have to eat fast food AT ALL. You would be more healthy and you would avoid funding awful people.
gorlak@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’ve had this idea kicking around in my head for a few years: Christian Chicken Offset Charity. It would be an app that would notify you “You appear to be patronizng a bigoted establishment, do you wish to make a $1 donation to Charity X to offset?”
Could work for Hobby Lobby, In ‘n Out, etc, too.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
It would be so much easier to just not shop at those places.
Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 10 months ago
But Chick Fil A doesn’t do that anymore.
Socsa@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
It’s because assholes like the controversy and want to support the company. There was a time, long ago, when CFA legitimately had the only good fast food chicken, but those days are long gone. CFA is mid tier at best, so the only reason people would get in line to eat there these days is to own the libs
Jaderick@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Slim Chicken’s is better (I swear to god if any of you ruin Slim Chickens for me 🗡️)
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 months ago
The name doesn’t work if you eat a lot of their food. Does that count as ruining it for you?
moog@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Fr it’s not even that good. People lost their shit about it so I tried it and I was super underwhelmed. So many better options out there.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Man, I never missed the food even a single day since I stopped eating there around a decade ago due to the biggotry. It was always really greasy, and it made me feel like shit a half an hour after eating it.
Cold_Brew_Enema@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Because it tastes really good. What’s not to understand?
JCreazy@midwest.social 10 months ago
This may be conjecture, but I think that the reason that they’re so busy is because people think that if they don’t eat there then they won’t get into heaven.
Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Every time Chick Fil A is brought up, ugh.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
Oh no, do you cry and piss and moan every time someone validly critiques a business you just want to shop at without having to think about ethical considerations?
Someone call the fucking waahhhmnulance.
knobbysideup@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Especially now that McDonald’s has the same exact thing. They even stole the bag. And are open on Sundays.
My go-to is rofo though.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 10 months ago
$0.02: I can’t prove it, but I think it comes down to the line itself being a mode of advertisement. You wouldn’t want to eat somewhere unpopular, and a hyper efficient drive-through would give that appearance. To blunt the impact of a deliberately slower drive-through, they put people out front - that the manager can’t pull away to tend some kitchen emergency - to greet customers so they don’t feel ignored in line. This in itself is something other chains don’t do and have to crush the drive-through line fast, just to keep everyone’s blood pressure in check instead.
Meanwhile the food is bland and factory-assembly-line consistent, with toppings that range from bland to sweet and bland. Perfect for kids and adults that already have enough excitement in their lives.
Illuminostro@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Their hate sauces are delicious.
EtherWhack@lemmy.world 10 months ago
This is one of the reasons I don’t get food from them or in-N-out. It may be illogical, but they tend to get a plot in a shopping center and take over a huge portion of the parking lot, pushing out customers from other stores in the shopping center. I couldn’t even get into the driveway to go to the grocery store one time because they were mis-managing the queue and had to go across town to the other store.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
There’s a whole ass freeway exit I purposefully avoid for the same reasons. It’s a nightmare getting on and off because of a fucking chicken restaurant.
GBU_28@lemm.ee 10 months ago
It’s cause.most people have no clue about that and ultimately don’t care. They aren’t engaged and aren’t seeking to be.
It’s fast, clean and decent enough to Garner a lot of customers.