the clown’s a freak

in spite of my personal disdain for the mcdonald’s chain of restaurants (and i use that terminology loosely), i have come to discover that it is sometimes a necessary evil for the world traveller. i have, in fact, been in more mcdonald’s in the past 6 weeks than i have in the previous six years (though i am quick to point out that we’ve only actually eaten there once). there are several reasons for this state of affairs. one: it is often the only thing open 24 hours a day. so when a bus dumps you off on khao san road at 5am, and there’s no place else to go, you can kill several hours in relative comfort for the price of a small beverage. two: it always has a bathroom – the importance of this factor cannot be overstated. you are assured access to a toilet (the cleanliness of which is highly varaible, and the western version is likely to have been abused by those in asia who don’t understand the seat is for *sitting* – still, a toilet nonetheless) for the same price of the aforementioned beverage. they *have* to let you use it. thirdly: it always serves coffee. something more difficult in countries where the bean makes a limited appearance, such as china. and finally: they always have a picture menu to point at. no matter how bad the communication difficulties, “point, pray and pay” is easier in mickey d’s than anywhere else.

i hate to admit it, but there’s a plus side to the globalisation phenomenon, and ronald mcdonald aptly illustrates just why he’s so successful world-wide.

i still think the clown’s a freak, though.

This entry was posted on Friday, 26 May, 2006 at 7:36 am and is filed under random notes from the edge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.