by Rhyman Gaines

Created on: February 26, 2009

Fast food, our kitchen away from home. A place to sit down and relax with the family and enjoy that home cooked experience among total strangers, screaming kids, impatient lines at the counter and the rich aroma of burnt grease. Over one billion served and as of yet, to my knowledge, no one killed from botchulism. They should add that little Mcnugget to their slogan.

We are definitely a society that wants everything right now and woe to the red headed clown that does not deliver on that promise. Remember the Michael Douglas film, Falling Down? Was that scene with him in the fast food joint, upset over his burger not resembling anything that looked like the picture, not priceless? You bet it was.

How many of us have felt just like he did? There we are unwrapping our burger slathered with enough killer go on it to send a twelve year old into cardiac arrest and we, as adults, feed it to them because we just don't have the time or energy to take a healthier route. Besides, they want a toy and we want to play monopoly and we are only two or three more game pieces away from being able to afford our own gold mine under the golden arches. Don't worry about cholesterol. A bran muffin and a bowl of Battle Creeks finest will swing the pendulum of good health back in our favor. Eat two aspirin and take two laps around the living room, you'll be fine.

I swear I think this whole fast food mentality started with the invention of the microwave. Remember those first miracles of modern technology? I rushed out and bought one and returned home carrying it inside like I had just bagged a moose. Considering its size, roomy enough for a family of four and its hernia inducing weight, I should not have been surprised, when after its first month of usage, I received an electric bill that prompted me to get a second job. Kudos to you GE.

But the overwhelming support of the buying public has turned McDonalds into the behemoth of fast food joints that spans the globe. Even in countries were large segments of the population cannot afford shoes, let alone decent shelter and medical aid, those golden arches offer an oasis from the minor trials and tribulations of daily life. Their success has spawned an entire fast food industry that can serve up everything from chicken, to subs, to fish, to five dollar cups of coffee and too many other delicious treats we didn't know we needed until they told us we did. They built it and we came, in droves.

Imagine the time, when today's youth all grown up with

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