Place: B-Bop's
Lunch: 1/4 lb Single (no tomato), chili, Pepsi
I pull up to the drive-thru speaker. A male voice says "mumble mumble B-Bops mumble mumble."
"I'll have a quarter pound Single, no toma..."
"DO YOU WANT CHEESE ON THAT."
"No. Also no tom..."
"DO YOU WANT THAT IN A COMBO MEAL."
"No. But I want..."
"$3.39 PLEASE PULL FORWARD TO THE WINDOW."
I pause, then shout in a tone completely mocking his "DO YOU THINK I COULD ALSO HAVE A SMALL CHILI AND A PEPSI WITH THAT."
He pauses, then says (not shouts) "I'll have your total at the window."
He didn't Some girl did. Coward.
It's National Hamburger Day, so I'm having a hamburger.
Not a cheeseburger, mind you. A HAMburger.
Most will probably celebrate National Hamburger Day by having a cheeseburger. And that's just wrong. There's a whole different day for that. But given the way the burger chains do their menus these days, it's a little understandable.
I ranted a little about this last year. I'm ranting more now.
For years, fast food chains had hamburgers on the menu, and the counter help pushed you to add cheese. A slice of crappy American processed cheese would cost you anywhere from 30 to 50 cents at most joints.
(For the record, I would probably say "yes" more if you offered Tillamook cheddar. So Burgerville wins.)
Then somebody came up with the bright idea of making the upgrade mandatory by just listing cheeseburgers on the menu with the upgrade price built-in.
The national chains are mostly on board. Wendy's does this. Hardee's does this. McDonald's does this. Unless you want the very basic cheapo value hamburger, you're buying a cheeseburger.
(Kudos to Burger King, where cheese on your Whopper is still optional.)
I remember fondly the McDonald's Quarter Pounder of my 70's youth. The non-cheeseburger one came in a white Styrofoam clam shell with "QUARTER POUNDER" printed in an olive green color on the exterior. Still probably my favorite sandwich wrapping ever. I think the cheeseburger one came in a yellow clam shell with brown text. Not nearly as nice looking.
You can order your burger without cheese, but in most if not all cases, you're still going to pay the cheeseburger price.
So on this National Hamburger Day, mourn the lowly hamburger.
It deserved better than this.
