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An Evening Out at Taco Bell

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If you were around in the ’90s, you probably saw Demolition Man. It starred Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock and depicted a future in which – among other things – the most extravagant luxury was an evening out at Taco Bell.

Well, we experienced our own version of this extravagant luxury the other night. At Burger King.

It was late, we were tired and so – for the first time in years – we rolled up to the order window at a fast food drive-through. We ordered two “Whoppers” with (allegedly) cheese. I place the name of this hamburger in air fingers quotes because if it is a “Whopper,” then my understanding of this word requires correction. What came through the drive-through window was a bag containing two very modest-looking hamburgers; hardly “Whoppers.” The patty was a sad-looking disc maybe a fourth-of-an-inch thick, salted like beef jerky and almost as leathery. There was a piece of flaccid lettuce, a tasteless tomato and two little pickle slices about the size of a penny. The buns were the biggest component of the “Whopper.”

Maybe the word refers to the price.

This would make more sense. Those two “Whoppers” cost $15. No fries. No drinks. Fifteen bucks for two sad-looking “Whoppers” that were, by my reckoning, about the same size – the patties, for sure – as you used to get when you ordered a kid’s-size cheeseburger and paid maybe a buck for it.

We marveled. In part, because we are both old enough to remember when you could have fed four people at Burger King for fifteen bucks. This Before Time was about six years ago – before “COVID” set in motion the acceleration of the enserfment we’re all experiencing now every time we go to buy anything.

A downsized Snickers bar, for instance. I picked one up at the (cough) Dollar Store, which really ought to be renamed the Five Dollar Store in the interest of honesty – because there is very little you can buy for a dollar at this store. A downsized Snickers bar goes for about $2.50 now. Buying one is not far from being an evening out at Taco Bell – or soon will be.

Cars? How about a plastic-wrapped piece of crap with a plastic LCD touchscreen and a 2.0 liter four cylinder for $60k? Not an exaggeration. I just describeb the current Mercedes E-Class sedan (or BMW 5 Series). Both used to be luxury cars. Meaning you got something a cut-above for the money. A six cylinder engine, for instance. Now you get cut-rate for more money.

It wears one down, like accelerated aging. It imparts a kind of helpless bleakness to life because what are we supposed to do about it?

Obviously, you do not have to spend fifteen bucks on a evening out at Taco Bell. Or $2.50 on a Snickers bar. Such things are not just bad for your finances, they are bad for you, period. They are luxurious extravagances easily skipped, without feeling as if you’ve lost something good that you perhaps formerly regarded as a kind of eternal given. If you can remember the Before “COVID” time, you probably remember not giving much if any thought to buying what actually used to be a Whopper – because you cold buy one for about what it costs to buy a downsized Snickers bar today. Yes, really. In 2005, a Whopper cost $2.17 so you could have bought six for the cost of two, today – and still had a couple bucks left for a side of fries. Fast food was cheap. And – once upon a time – it was actually not bad. It tasted good, at any rate – and it wasn’t nearly as bad for you. The fries at McDonald’s used to be fried in beef tallow – which is much better for your arteries than the pressed seed oils used today.

The Whopper actually was that, too. One was more than enough to fill your belly. Today, the “Whopper’s” buns try to make up for that, filling your belly with GMO wheat, which works because it bloats.

You depart the drive-through feeling broke and sick.

The difficult-to-fathom thing is that the drive-through lines are almost always long. People line up for this goy slop – and pay top dollar for it, too. They accept this as normal. This enshitification of things. Perhaps it is just what you have to do when that’s just how it is. At the zoo, you see this defeating acceptance of the way things are in the listlessness of the big cats, confined to small cages. Sometimes, they pace in circles, haunted, perhaps, by ancient memories of open spaces. Occasionally, an ape will shit in his hand and throw it at the children laughing at him through the bars.

Maybe he’d be more content if they let him out once in awhile . . .perhaps for for an evening at Taco Bell.

. . .

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83 COMMENTS

  1. Burger King’s Whopper Wednesday deal is currently $3.99 for a classic Whopper or Impossible Whopper at participating locations, including in Michigan

    during taco tuesday at a nice mexican restaurant about 10 miles from home we can spend $1.99 for an excellent fish taco
    there are other choices of fillings too

    Their fish taco better than any taco we’ve had anywhere at any price & a filling lunch for two is under $8
    no drinks required
    we’ve done this four weeks in a row and we still can’t believe the prices … this is a wealthy area where most hamburgers and fries are $15 each (2 for $25 at applebee’s)

  2. I must admit I am an infrequent customer of BK. We get BK coupons in my area and I was able to buy a $18.99 family bundle which consists of 3 Whoppers, 3 cheeseburgers and 3 medium fries. I supplement the Whoppers with store bought extra lettuce and tomatoes. After that build up this Whopper actually looks like the Whopper in the TV commercials. That meal with a supplemental beverage like PB Extra (6.5 alcohol)and you have a substantial meal and can almost tolerate the propaganda matrix emanating from the ole Boob Tube.

  3. Chain fast food is often expensive because the government got involved. The government doesn’t seem to consider that these places are generally franchises and they aren’t big employers. Even where there isn’t some stupid high fast food wage I don’t know why anyone goes to these places any more. The food is crap, there’s no price savings over a ma & pa place that has real food. Then again the covidian law eliminated so many ma & pa places which could be why they raised prices so high even without government minimum wages jacking up their costs.

  4. Enshitification is a double whammy. Premium price for something that was just de-contented.
    It wouldn’t be so bad if they de-contented to make the price go down, but it never does, it goes up.

    So you end up with a premium priced product that isn’t premium.

    I can’t be the only person not buying. It’s clear it’s hitting the auto industry badly, as it should. Cars got a lot shitter lately but also a lot more expensive. No sale!

  5. Y’All’
    The Egg McMuffins served in AUS…Mickey Ds in 1998 were the Best!!!
    Dang, they didn’t use BS “Canadian bacon” (ie ham)…..
    BUT REAL AUSSIE BACON…..YEAH BABY!!!!!!!

    Dat Chit Kicked Ass Kidderoos!!

    • Last time I went to McDonalds for egg McMuffins it was 11 bucks for two of them and a hash brown potato. Insane….

  6. The line looks long because it takes 45 minutes to get your order. At least that was the last time I went to BK. So not even FAST anymore either…….

    • Well, fellow Goyims,

      Enjoy the best “Goylent Green” that’s possible, because probably soon enough we’ll find out it really is people we’ve been eating for years, and actually paying for it…

      Tragically, I wish I could say i was joking about this, but it seems all the conspiracy theories I heard growing up turned out to not just be true, but were actually a lot worse than they were purported to be….

      YMMV….

      • Ain’t that the truth! Orwell’s 1984 no longer seems like an unrealistic cautionary tale of the future; it seems more like a quaint understated anticipation of the present world.

  7. Back in the day, before they changed the oil, McDonald’s fries were GOOD! Ever since they were pressured to change it (by “The Center for Science in the Public Interest”), they’ve been meh, at best.

        • HM,
          Palm oil plantations are all over the Malay Peninsula.
          After bugging out of Indonesia….because of that Suharto “Coop D Tot” thing
          May 20th 1998…we end up in Singapore ..then start working our way up the Malay Peninsula. And as soon as you cross into Johore Bharau Malaysia….
          The Damn palm oil trees are Kool looking ..at first….then you realize the
          Ridiculous “Mono culture” BS……..totally uniform green…..all the way to Kuala Lumpur..Honest Injin!

          Oh Well…

  8. Went to BK last month. Picked up a couple classic chicken sandwiches, 2 for 6$. Nice deal right? Took em home, pulled em apart and the lettuce was as you described, only brown as well. The Mayonnaise wasn’t mayonnaise at all. But instead, some opalescent goo. Ate a couple bites and threw the rest in the trash. Wife ate hers and felt like crap the next day. The Burger King must be rolling in his grave.

    In the early 80s we could roll up on the BK drive through with case of mid-night munchies and get a whole sack full of delicious hamburgers or cheeseburgers for a couple dollars. 80s -90s was probably the apex of our civilization. When the fat assed bulldykes took over in the Clinton ‘years of the woman’ thats when it started to go to shit.

  9. AI: [not sure if this factors in the Iran War/fertilizer/fuel price increases] “As of April 2026, the price of one pound of ground beef has surged to approximately $6.70, marking a dramatic increase of roughly 65%–72% from the roughly $3.90–$4.00 range in early 2020. Driven by supply shocks, high demand, and inflation, beef prices have hit record highs and are expected to continue rising, with some forecasts suggesting prices could exceed $9 per pound by late 2026.Price Breakdown and Comparison (Ground Beef):2020 Price: Approximately $3.90–$4.63 per pound.2026 Price: Roughly $6.70 per pound (average).Total Change: An increase of over 65% since 2020.Forecasted Trend: Prices are expected to rise an additional 10%–18% throughout 2026, potentially reaching $9.00–$9.50 per pound by year-end.

    Key Factors Driving Price Changes (2020 vs. 2026):Supply Shortages: Droughts in grazing lands and a shrinking national cattle herd have resulted in the lowest supply in 75 years.Inflation & Demand: High consumer demand and inflation have sustained elevated costs despite record-high prices.Industry Trends: As of early 2026, experts suggest that ground beef prices are unlikely to return to $4 or $5 in the near future.”

    AI: “In February 2026, President Trump signed an executive order to increase Argentinian beef imports by 80,000 metric tons annually, allowing them to enter the U.S. tariff-free. This initiative aims to address high domestic prices caused by historically low U.S. cattle herd numbers. However, the move has faced backlash from U.S. ranchers, who argue it could hurt local livelihoods and only represents a small portion of the total beef supply.”

    • AI: In 2010, the average price for a pound of uncooked ground beef in the U.S. was approximately $3.00 to $3.20. Prices varied slightly based on the month, with some data indicating a range from roughly $2.24 to over $3.00 depending on the specific fat content and regional, with common retail prices for ground chuck around $2.83, according to Farm and Dairy news.

      In 2000, a pound of fresh regular ground beef cost an average of approximately $1.48 to
      $1.63 at U.S. grocery stores. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices ranged from a low of $1.48 in January to around $1.625 by December of that year.

      In 1980, a pound of ground beef generally cost around $1.39. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 100% ground chuck averaged approximately $1.82 per pound in early 1980. Prices varied based on fat content and location, with some sales listing ground beef as low as 98 cents to $1.39 per pound.Ground Beef Price: Generally $1.39/lb.Ground Chuck Price: Ranged from $1.59/lb to $1.82/lb.Fast Food (McDonald’s): A burger or cheeseburger cost around 50–58 cents, with premium burgers like the Big Mac around 89 cents to $1.10.

      In 1970, a pound of ground beef cost approximately $0.60 to $0.70. Prices varied based on fat content and location, with some sources listing ground chuck for around 78 cents in the early 70s.

      In 1960, a pound of hamburger generally cost between 29 and 63 cents, depending on the cut and store. Some advertisements listed it as low as 3 pounds for $1.39, while “chopped beef” was around $1 per pound. Ground chuck was approximately 59 cents per pound in the early 1960s.Grocery Prices (c. 1960): Hamburger was widely advertised for around 29–39 cents a pound in some regions, with 3 pounds for $1.39 common.Fast Food: A McDonald’s hamburger cost 15 cents in the late 1950s/early 1960s, while White Castle hamburgers were 12 to 15 cents.

      I no longer eat hamburger or beef except 2-3 times a year, but I don’t miss it because I’m now an AI junkie.

      • WTF does this mean? “I no longer eat hamburger or beef except 2-3 times a year, but I don’t miss it because I’m now an AI junkie.”

        Super weird.

        Are you a robot?

  10. I had fond memories of Arby’s back in the 1970s where you’d see an actual slab of roast beef under a heat lamp. You’d watch the teen employee slice it into your sandwich. It wasn’t Mom’s roast, but it was okay. You could see it was real meat.

    On a cross-country trip last year, given the late hour and middle of nowhere, we begrudgingly tried Arby’s. Ohmigosh. Whatever was in that bun was not meat. After two bites, we couldn’t finish it … and threw it out. It had to be some kind of fake meat grown in a factory — no cows involved at all.

    Never again.

      • 10:25 am Anon here.

        I read the Wilder piece right after making that post. I remember watching that movie and even then being extremely dissatisfied with the ending.

        Wilder is right on a lot of his points. There has been a very long, subtle campaign against Heritage Americans that began back in the early 1900’s.

        It really picked up speed with the Hart-Celler act in 1965, but the real roots are in the Woodrow Wilson era.

        They really want you dead – that is if your are a Heritage American.

        Get rid of the 100 million or so illegals and make government assistance sparse and for only real needs and you will soon regain a high trust society and as a nation back to one of excellence.

        Alas, I don’t see voting our way out of this.
        Anon

      • Wilder sees the big picture regards demoralization. They want you dead of course but what really sets them off is when they make life tough and nearly unlivable but you smile anyway. Contentment and happiness are their kryptonite, misery is their fuel. When we hang around complaining all it does is encourages them.

      • I am sick to death of articles that try to tell me “why I should hate” some movie. The writer always invokes the same tone of haughty superiority in these pieces too, whether their political biases (which are always the source of their “critique”) are coming from the left or the right. I am free to have my own opinion and have my own interpretation, am I not?

        These killjoys can STFU as far as I care.

        • Sweeper…..
          You have got to watch…The Critical Drinker…
          Movie etc critiques on YouTube….
          The dude KICKS ASS! Semper Fi

        • Demolition Man had a LOT of substance to it! It foretold a lot. If you know anything about Bible prophecy, you’ll see it in the movie, i.e. how the cashless society was implemented; read Revelation 13 in the Bible, and you’ll see what I mean. Demolition Man was prescient, and it was predictive programming; however, because it was, on the surface, an action flick, a lot of these subtleties were overlooked and ignored; the movie was written off. No, Demolition Man was wish list/preview of what the powers that (shouldn’t) be want to impose on us.

  11. It’s very easy to pack good food in a small cooler that could last you for several days.
    As a lifelong builder, I’m also used to taking my lunch to work with me every day, which is not only healthier but saves me a lot of money.
    Fast food is literally poison.

    • If you build with wood lumber, if it’s like the PNW (home of the Douglas Fir) this is another arena of high cost/poor quality. I’m having a 16 x 22 carport built, done but waiting on the metal roof panels now. The wood is mainly firewood masquerading as framing lumber. “Wanes world” 2x8s since good luck getting a four clean sides board 18 ft long for my 16 ft span.

      Douglas fir around these parts prized for strength and stability. Problem now is the fast growth quick harvest practices result in piss poor lumber cut from too small logs. Yep, it’s marked DFIR DRY HT #2 (some #1) laughable as 50 years ago it would barely qualify as UTIL grade.

      God help you if you ever buy HEMFIR around here, hemlock will twist around and smack you in the a**.

      • What is this, ‘Douglas Fir’ which you speak of? No young’un’s know what that is.
        All of those trees are likely long dead here, too.

        Maybe, it’s wrong to hype the young’un’s up on ways of the past? They can’t have it.

  12. Unfortunately, when you are on the road constantly, restaurant food is a fixture of life. The fast food has gotten really expensive, and the quality so low it makes me noticeably ill about half an hour afterwards and leads to constant heartburn.

    It also isn’t fast- the (un)trained monkeys behind the counter at McDonald’s, BK, Arby’s, all of them seem to delight in plodding around and taking 15-45 minutes to get your food. I’ve started using the app just because when I enter my order it usually comes as ordered.

    My preferred go to is family owned Mexican restaurants, of which there are many in the area. Food with recognizable meat, tortilla shells rather than excessive buns, real salsa and guacamole, all for around the $12 price of a Big Muck meal. The topper, usually it is served, hot, in about 5-10 minutes.

    Sadly, there are very very few traditional-American small eateries. Government bureaucracies and costs have killed them. The family Mexican places have mostly family employees, paid in cash, and I assume they are paying off the various parasites directly as has always been traditional in most cultures. They also use clean fresh ingredients to avoid drawing attention from same parasites.

    Americans have been domesticated and broken for the most part. Too many generations of small, powerless government and mostly honest culture have bred a complacent culture with too much respect and far too little hate and fear of government. But the small, respectful, weak government has been gone for several generations, and the public school indoctrination has kept the focus off that reality.

    • This is one of the super Biggest Bullshit twist34d I Ever read on The Internet: “Unfortunately, when you are on the road constantly, restaurant food is a fixture of life.”

      Psft!

      I mean, PSFT!

      I think, perhaps, you’re lost.

      …There are so many options.

      It just reads like, you’re lazy. …And, maybe a bit dense? Do you know what’s in that crap you eat?

      • Yeah, Helot, you’re right. I’m lazy and dense. When you’re on a week long sales and service trip, living out of a suitcase, there are lots of options other than having a comforting dinner in a restaurant. Or of lunching with a customer. Or grabbing some processed shit in a bag because your belly demands something.

        Yes, I have a pretty good idea what’s in the crap I eat, which is why I eat game and garden when I’m able, and compensate by running and working out.

        Life is hard, it’s harder when you’re stupid.

    • As usual, the young whipper snappers always beat me to the punch….

      Right On!! Big E…

      That’s why I stick to old timer travel story bullshit…
      I sleep in…so always miss “breaking stories “
      So There!
      Time to change my diaper…Oops

  13. Eating out has gotten so expensive for my family of 5. We rarely do it any more. But there is a huge positive effect. My wife is becoming quite the chef. Her skill in the kitchen has improved tenfold over the last several years, which means we are saving money, eating better, fresher food.

    We used to have a few favorite fancy restaurants around town we would go to on special occasions. We have taken those meals and recreated them in our own kitchen (and my grill), and the food is better than the overpriced, overcrowded restaurants by a mile.

    Lemons – Lemonade

    • Last time I bbqd prime cut steaks for my family they cost $115 at Walmart.

      5 avg sized rib eyes $115. Pea proteins lookin better every day.

    • I had a co-worker who was from Sri Lanka. She would quite frequently bring me dishes she had cooked, that her and her husband enjoyed. Wow! Her version of “…not too spicy at all” was enough to make my eyes water, and my nose run. But, you talk about delicious! It certainly was a meal no traditional, fast food chain/ restaraunt could churn out.

  14. You’d have to go back to the 80s for good corporate fast food with beef tallow, that was all crap GMO seed oil silicone mixed 25-30 years ago too, though probably still less than today. Now they have computer models for top level wealth extraction for minimal product. My tolerance for that food may just be lower but I stopped eating that stuff around 2006

    But the point is true that GMO seed oil silicone food was more affordable then

  15. Anyone else remember the movie “Super Size Me?”

    The movie director, Morgan Spurlock, tried eating at McDonald’s for a month. He got really sick just two weeks in—and all the doctors he saw were shocked at how sick he was.

    He gained 25 pounds, his blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar spiked, his liver function and erectile function was getting fucked, and he felt depression and lethargy, not to mention that he was drinking a lot.

    And this was in 2004. Imagine how much worse things are now.

    • To be fair, you could probably take any single food item, and if that’s all you ate for a month, you’d develop problems. Variety and moderation.

      • Truth: What was a shock to me was how quickly he got sick even after eating not that much. He felt ill not long after starting and did a significant monologue on how he was
        feeling after eating a typical, albeit super sized, meal.

    • I remember he did an experiment with fries where he took fries from a local deli or two and Mickey D’s, then left them out to see how quickly they went bad. The deli fries got moldy after a few days and the McD’s fries never got moldy going on several months when he had to end the experiment. Wonder what chemicals were in those fries.

    • He was also an alcoholic at the time . . . So there’s that health effect that was never mentioned in the propaganda.

      Spurlock died relatively recently at 53 or so from “cancer” Could’ve been the alcoholism damaged his liver. Could have been the clot shot doing its thing. We’ll never know.

      He was just another idiot seeking celebrity and pushing propaganda to suit a purpose.

      • Hmm, you come across as kind of an ass, “He was also an alcoholic at the time . . . So there’s that health effect”

        Unproven association.

        But, you know, keep up with the Empire you love…. ? Monster.

    • Super Size Me is generally thought mostly fake. To the extent that researchers under controlled conditions were not able to replicate the effects. The test subjects did not get healthier but their health also did not deteriorate nearly as badly or quickly as his. The liver problem was likely due to a lifetime of alcohol abuse and the weight gain was simply overeating. A person of his build who ate 5000 calories of salads (if such a thing were possible) would also gain weight.

      https://ethicsalarms.com/2024/05/25/the-late-supersize-me-documentarian-was-a-big-fraud/

  16. Once in a while my husband gets chick fil a and its pretty good. You don’t feel super great the next day but no big. McDonalds fries used to be delicious now they’re only ok for about 5 minutes until they cool down. Any chain restaurant these days is a pale version of itself from 20 years ago. Overpriced small portions of bland ill-prepared food. Some of them even want you to order from an app.
    We stopped going out a long time ago. On our anniversary we go to Ruth”s Chris and man is that an expensive meal.
    Then again if we lived in SF or LA we would have much better options but suburbia food is bad.

    • You, and many others, Miss This!, ” You don’t feel super great the next day but no big.”

      Yes! It’s, ‘a big”!

      It’s your body’s way of saying you fucked up and ate detrimental sheet!

      DOn’t bash it off and poh poh it.

      You say, ” McDonalds fries used to be delicious now they’re only ok for about 5 minutes until they cool down.”

      No, even after they cool down, they are Not ok.

      They used to be cooked in palm oil and beef tallow. Now, they are cooked in crap oil.

      …You have been warned.

      • Yes I realize Chick Fil A is not healthy but we only eat it occasionally. That is why I don’t consider it a big deal in the same way occasionally downing a bag of Fritos is not in the grand scheme of things a big deal.
        We are all human and I am pretty sure most of us occasionally eat snacks that are not good for us.

  17. If eating out, patronize your locally owned diners and restaurants. For the same price or maybe cheaper, you will get better quality food and better service. Those big chain fast food establishments have gone downhill in quality and quantity. The CEO of McDonald’s eating a hamburger looked like he was ready to eat a shit sandwich and had a facial expression to convey that on video.

  18. I don’t know what’s worse; the high prices for fast food or the low quality of the food. Either way my solution for this is batch cooking most of my meals and then freezing them. In the morning I put the food in the fridge to thaw out and in the evening I nuke it and get decent food for a lot less money than the fast “food” joints offer.

    If I get hungry while driving I keep a couple cans of peanuts under the seat for snacking.

    If this trend continues I suspect a lot of restaurants will be closing as bad food at high prices will surely result in them failing.

      • Hi Bryce:

        There’s enough videos on the interweb that will show you how to cook no matter how meager your culinary skills or how minimal your equipment is.

        Heck, I’ve roasted wieners with a propane torch and toasted the buns with same. Just imagine what I can to with a wok and a rice cooker.

        Economy Rice A Roni? One cup of rice, a crumbled up package of ramen noodles, a little butter, spices and 15 minutes later a side dish better than some restaurants for well under a buck.

        At this point it’s all about attitude.

  19. You thought the 2 Whoppers you ordered at a Burger King were bad, wait til you see what that particular corporate fast food chain is testing for employees. AI headsets that would monitor restaurant operations and how friendly employees are with customers. I suppose next Ford and GM will want to do something similar given the patent applications they’ve already filed.

    http://www.foxnews.com/tech/burger-king-ai-listens-workers.amp

  20. Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

  21. The local Dairy Queen does a pretty good job with burgers and fries and not overly expensive. Their soft serve is way overpriced though. There and In-and-Out are pretty much the only fast food I’ll eat these days.

    I do sometimes eat junk like hot dogs at home though. I’ll pick up a pack at Costco and freeze them. But last week I ran out and wanted some so off to the store for a pack of Nathan’s, which is supposed to be a premium brand. The hot dogs were half an inch shorter than the bun! Shrunk like a frightened turtle!

  22. Goyslop indeed. Frankly, I can’t eat that shit at ANY price. Most of the major “food” chain franchises are filthy shitholes staffed by really sketchy, disgusting people, especially the ones on interstates.

    I’m VERY picky about eating on the road and even then only rarely. I prefer to pack stuff like apples, water, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some oat bars. The only franchise I really trust is Chick-fil-a, because they make it their corporate policy to be clean, fast and to hire decent people.

    I have found a handful of small-town McDonald’s stores that are still clean and decent, but 90% of them I will not patronize. I have not been in a Burger King in over 30 years.

    Coming back from grad school one day I was starving and stopped into one. The place was a dirty shithole and some freaky, purple-haired kid in a filthy smock with a pierced eyebrow that was turning red and possibly infected stepped up to the register and sneered “Whaddya want?” I lost my appetite.

    Nothing from YOU, pal.

    Some higher-end grocery chains have delis and sell prepared sandwiches and have tables to eat, some of those are a good alternative to the chain goyslop franchises.

    • ALL restaurant food is seed oil laden goyslop. Even $500 a plate celebrity chef trendy spots.

      Limit eating anything where you don’t know the source of ANY ingredient in your food.

  23. Counter Taco Bell with a local Mexican restaurant the wife and I went to yesterday. Two taco salads and a bowl of fresh jalapenos sliced, with tax, $23 (+left $7 tip). Naturally we got a nice basket of chips, bowl of bean dip and unlimited salsa bar.

    The salads were so big neither of us could finish it.

    Table service and friendly folks.

    Compare this to what my Dad and Brother got at Culvers. Burger, fries and milkshakes for two: $35…standing at a counter…carrying your own tray…just like GovCo schools.

    • You’re lucky. In my experience local restaurants are usually better but not any cheaper than the mass produced goyslop.

      Indulge me a trip down memory lane…

      …when I was a young pup fast food was a treat. We had to go 40-ish miles to find a McDonalds in either Huntsville or Florence. Looking back though, my mom was a way better cook. And the local eateries (one greasy spoon and one bbq place) were also better. But McD’s had commercials on one of the three tv stations so that was the allure, I reckon.

      • Yep. I eat out rarely but since covid the prices are absolutely insane. Went to a Mexican restaurant that we would patronize maybe 2-3 times a year before covid and it was usually $40-50. Went there once since covid and it was $85 for two.

        Haven’t been back.

  24. Your comment on the not-so-whopper, whooper, also reminds me of when Stallone goes to the underground for a “burger”. With Huxley commenting, “do you see any cows around here”? For he find out he was eating a rat burger. Funny how such a movie could portend the future. There are not fields upon fields of cows that are being raise for our burgers, so what kind of meat constituted that “whopper” you ate? Hmm, one probably does not want to know.

    • IIRC, Stallone’s character didn’t have a problem with the source of the meat after the revelation.

      The Whopper is beef but heavily processed to the point that the flavor, smell, and, to some extent, texture originate from chemical vats at International Flavors and Fragrances in New Jersey.

      • Yes, New Jerseys miracle mile where lotsa fake shit like tastes, coloring, and texture are compiled from poison.

        Cuz “it takes two hands to handle a whopper” one to sell one to eat.

      • There were so many nods to Brave New World in that flick. Huxley being the most overt. But eating the fake meat, and using computer simulation in lieu of real procreation activities seem to have come true.
        Eric, I’m sorry you had to be reminded that poison is all that is served on the road. In my experience, it has been that way since about 2010.
        My family packs deer jerky, dried fruit and nuts on road trips. It gets us through and keeps me from having to stop at the shady turd world infested road stands.
        But last year I discovered that the Walmart version of Kikkoman soy sauce contains an extra ingredient to maintain “freshness”. Same bottle, same size, same front label. But at Walmart there is poison added that is not present in Kikkoman sold at other grocery stores. So deer jerky marinade now requires a bit more discernment.
        The enshitification extends to all consumer goods. Reminds me of the Chris Rock bit where kids play area keeps shrinking till they can just hop on one foot in a small circle to stay “safe”.
        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_w-hqwNWd6A&pp=ygUTY2hyaXMgcm9jayBzdGFuZCB1cA%3D%3D

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