FROM BON APPETIT TO AGITA

It’s a whole new COVID World of going out and eating out. Having a nice time, socializing, enjoying the vibe… from Michelin-starred to McDonalds, you will have new rules to obey.
For those hooked on Big Macs, as well as McDonald’s employees, they’ll have to abide by the company’s 59-page dine-in reopening guide. Highlights include:

• Foot pulls, which make it possible to open rest room doors without using hands;
• Bathrooms cleaned every half hour;
• Digital kiosks cleaned after each order is punched in;
• Touchless sinks;
• All workers must wear masks and gloves;
• Face shields available for customers requesting them;
• Staff must submit to frequent temperature checks;
• Decals are to be place on floors to show direct customers’ movements and keep them properly socially distanced;
• Employees must bring customers food in a bag folded twice;
• And to pretend the “New ABnormal” is normal, workers must give customers a feeling of comfort with a thumbs-up hand signal or verbal greeting.

Not only will the new re-open guide cost franchises substantial capital outlays, all profit margins will be thinned by Executive Orders limiting seating capacity.
Commenting on the slow, arduous, and expensive rules for reopening, a spokesperson for McDonald’s said, “We have a responsibility to get this right, and sometimes doing the right thing takes time.”
Restaurant Brands International Inc., which owns Burger King, Popeyes, and other fast food eateries, said its North American franchises will be required to have plastic shields installed to separate diners.
TRENDPOST: Just as Governor Andrew Cuomo stated, “Nobody can tell you exactly what happens, nobody has been here before,” which makes it clear “leaders” are randomly making up rules to obey, so, too, with McDonald’s statement that “sometimes doing the right thing takes time.”
Never mentioned in the media coverage are the high levels of obvious guesswork being sold as rational decision making. Thus, while “doing the right thing takes time,” when is there acknowledgement of doing the “wrong thing” at a time when “nobody has been there before”?