Sad Happy Meal

Busy, busy, busy but not as busy as I remember it from last century. The cost is too much for the products and the vibe is kinda desperate. Yeah, there's still the aroma of sizzling fries and grilling burgers that instantly whets my appetite but now there is a low budget  whiff of desperation within the scent of frying oil. Crispy, comforting, guilty pleasure indulgence beckons.

What sounds like a series of sinister conversations behind me is punctuated by the clatter of trays, the beeping of cash registers and the sizzle of ground beef slapped down upon a sizzling grill. 

I wouldn't be surprised if somebody had a gun.

I make my order. Always the same order. Only the price has changed. The food takes a little longer than I remembered plus there's a snotty kid behind me who didn't get what she wanted wherever they just came from and this peace offering is not going over well.

I head over to my table. The smooth, kinda greasy tray that I'm carrying reminds me of my days of work study in college when students with more money would slide their trays of mystery meat and gravy at me for three hours every day.

My gigantic cup of Diet Coke is cool to the touch. The paper crinkles as I uncover what will be my meal on this day. I know that it will taste exactly like the last one and the one before that which I can barely remember.

I take a bite.

Still the same

It's so God damned good and so sad at Mickey Dee's.