I have to confess, the reflections in this post are quite horribly belated. During the road trip I took at the end of the summer, I jotted down thoughts and ponderings by hand as a way to get me off the blog (without forcing me to abstain entirely from writing), and during one afternoon of staring at dull Nevada scenery I managed to crank out an entry that actually bears sharing. Back in August of last year I'd posted about ordering food from McDonald's ["http://amidthenoiseandhaste2.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-ate-at-mcdonalds-this-evening.html"] and how it was such a big deal to me at the time. Now? I probably get fast food once a week; it's become that mundane to me. Read on to find out why (but first, here's a microcosmic pic of what I spent all of that particular day starting at):
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Afternoon: somewhere between Winnemucca and Reno
As I'm starting this, the time is 2:56 PM. Hard to believe that it's 5 PM in Chicago already. Weird to think of places that I usually am as being later in the day than wherever I am at the moment.
As expected, Nevada hasn't been all that interesting to look at, scenery-wise. There were a couple cool scenes in the eastern part of the state, but the middle section has been flat-out boring. I guess I shouldn't complain, as it makes for easier (and safer!) driving, esp. when dealing with trucks and steep grades. Currently, Michael Jackson is playing on the iPod, and a few hours ago I was pretty excited to hear "Thriller" when it came on (at Dylan's wedding last month, a bunch of us guys actually did the dance at the reception -- had a couple practices too!).
I've spent most of the day staring either at the road and the blah scenery, or at a roadmap, keeping tabs on our progress the old-fashioned way. (Man, how I miss the pre-Garmin days!) But I wanted to write a little bit about my thoughts on me and fast food. Last year I was roadtripping with Chris, and we were coming back from Ohio. We were getting hungry at the next oasis had a McDonald's, a Dairy Queen, and nothing else. I was very hesitant to eat at McDonald's, but Chris, the driver, made the executive decision and got off. At that time, eating at McDonald's was a big deal for me, as I'd been on a years-long streak of eschewing it and its fatty brethren Burger King, Wendy's, etc.
Today, Chris and I grabbed lunch at a Burger King in Elko, Nevada. It was the first time I'd eaten there in years (I've been to Wendy's and McDonald's several times since, but more on that in a bit), but I'm not about to blog about that just because it's Burger King (like I did last year with McD).
Reason I'm writing here is to jot a few thoughts because I do plan on updating the McD blog post from August 2009. I used to have an anti-fast food stance that began in 2003 (I think during the month of preparation before our choir tour to England), in which I would absolutely eschew McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, etc. There are a few exceptions in that span, but for the most part I'd stayed fast-food-free.
However, since I moved back to Chicago last December and made new friends in that span, I've been going to fast-food restaurants more, most often to Wendy's and only occasionally to McDonald's. I reasoned that maintaining a low frequency of visits to these places was important for my health, but I didn't have to be so hard-line about it. After all, I'm still quite skinny, and I'm generally conscious about what I put in my body, anyway. That's the key right there: know yourself and what you need and what you can handle.
The other issue deals with corporations and the McDonaldization of the world. I'm not a fan of anything remotely representing monopolization and/or "the big boys" deciding what's good for us and for the world. In my opinion, only God can do that, and the idea of anyone else playing God, especially those in positions of power and influence -- that bugs me immensely. After all, in the Book of James, God judges those who have positions of leadership and power more harshly (though it more specifically referred to those in the Church, I would argue for an expansion to those same corresponding positions in the State world too).
I guess my point in mentioning this is that I used to hate them back in the day. Today I don't hate corporations or excessive American influence as much. As long as those in power operate with a good mind, heart, and a set of ethics, I don't mind. Nowadays I merely shrug at McDonald's and say "OK" to eating their food.
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OK, the above pic is far more interesting than most of what we saw in Nevada. I think by this time in the road trip I more or less stopped taking scenery pics. I took quite a few while in Wyoming and Utah, and I was probably tired by this point. Just imagine driving through the cornfields of Illinois or Iowa and replace the cornfields with brown slabs of nothingness (and the occasional mountain in the distance).