McDonald's

I thought it important for me to blog tonight, on the eve of my GP examination. For a boost of confidence, and for the confirmation that I can synthesise without grammatical or vocabulary error.

I spent much of my day in Harbourfront trying to swallow the chunks of information fed to me by the Economics notes (metaphor!). Much of the time was spent in Macs, then at Subway.

What struck me when I was in Macs, and what Ms Pan said gave me an inspiration to write this entry about Macs.

The conspicuous thing I observed when I was in Mac was the fact that it attracted people of all ages and classes.

An old man sat diagonally across where I was seated eating a vanilla ice-cream cone, a mother was feeding her baby with milk, two contractors sat at the far table discussing blue-prints over Coke, and caucasians littering the whole outlet laughing heartily, absorbed in their own world. An Arab couple sat a few tables away, taking photos.

Ms Pan mentioned that Macs gets everywhere. How true! Isn't it amazing how a fastfood giant like McDonald's has the power to bind people together?

You would be able to find the same double cheeseburger here and in say, Russia. You can discuss the health hazards a Big Mac would pose to you if you ate it everyday with Coke and Supersize with an American across the Ocean. Kids can talk about Ronald or the coolest new toys right out from Cars.

In our hurry to condemn mega-companies with Anti-Trust and Competition laws, are we forgetting the miracles just such companies have brought to our world?

In Goodbye Lenin, McDonald's was portrayed as the vessel of democracy. The first sign that East Berlin is "modernising" after the Berlin Wall fell. The people of China celebrated when they saw their first Macs open late last century.

Indeed, Macs is no longer simply a fastfood chain, but a powerful symbol. The Golden Arches link us to the world - the perceived 'modern' world - more than we give it credit for. It may kill you if you eat it compulsively, but each bite represents a bite in the giant pie of the world. Each bite is the product of years of invention, innovation, dreams and ideas.

Next time you step into a McDonald's, think about this. And thank Ray Kroc for ever founding such an incredible institution.