On a regular Tuesday afternoon, I was having just a normal day at school, until I discovered the tragic information. McDonald’s, one of my most favorite fast food places, is going to begin the end of one of their main attractions! They’re going to get rid of the self-serve soda machines! This means this is the end of being able to sneak my fourth cup of Coke before leaving a McDonald’s establishment! 

This means being able to drink as many cups of soda as you want is going to become a challenge. Do you understand how embarrassing it would be to go up to the cashier asking to refill my cup for the third maybe fourth time! For as long as I can remember the franchise has allowed anyone who bought a cup to welcome themselves to a variety of different fountain drinks, from Coca-Cola to Hi-C! 

McDonald’s reasoning on why they are planning to phase out the machines is because apparently fewer and fewer people are eating inside of the dining rooms. This can be an intriguing and futuristic move but it would completely remove McDonalds from the idea of a walk in fast food restaurant! According to them, their future designs include a variety of new things but some of the most notable ones are such as the restaurant designs with small or even no inclusion of dining rooms, and high tech drive-thrus.

What is the point of making new restaurants or remodeling old ones to accommodate no one except the staff who make the food itself? McDonald’s might as well make large super factories where the food and drinks are made and then delivered by companies like Doordash and Uber Eats! The reasoning that no one is eating inside is entirely false, while yes there may not be many people there still are people sitting inside and eating just like me!

Some of my most urgent questions are things like, what happens to the play areas? While it’s no surprise no one seriously plays in the areas as high school students, what happens to children that need to get the energy out of them? It seems kind of hard to have toddlers sit in the same place for more than five minutes. I remember playing in the massive play area of my nearby McDonald’s but then, devastation came, they decided to remodel. the entire building to be up to date with the new “minimal world.” Which meant that the play area was now stuffed into a corner with no running room!

Also what would happen if they get my order of a PLAIN cheeseburger wrong? If I got a nickel for the amount of times my order was incorrect, I’d be rich! But at least I was able to fix my order at the front cashier. But what happens now if this is just a drive-thru? Do I have to just suck it up and eat ketchup, pickles, and onion pieces!

In the end, they say it’s a great move for McDonald’s moving forward. But is it really? How does this benefit the customers themselves such as me and you! What will happen to future generations that want to eat McDonald’s? They won’t be able to mess around in the play area or look at the display case of toys!