I Bet The Original McDonald's Was Awesome

I have no idea, but I bet the original McDonald’s was awesome. Shatteringly Crispy Fries fried in beef tallow. Burgers that never saw a microwave. Shakes made out of actual ice cream. I bet people had to wait a good bit longer than they do now, they had to order from an actual person too. 

I bet the wait was worth it. 

I imagine every iteration of development away from the original McDonald’s got more efficient. It could serve more people faster. For a while it was probably still good. At some point, the original with all its human errors and slowness gave way to the metered efficiency of a mechanized franchise.  Millions served. Billions served.

In the old original, the human that made the burger could answer to the customer if there was a mistake or it wasn’t good. In the assembly line of mechanized food there is no human to complain to except the high school kid who piled up the readymade Burger as diagrammed ergonomically at eye level. 

To McMechanization it’s all about the parts. Make them streamlined. Make them efficient. The customer wants the parts assembled in a particular algorithmic order that is predictable and scalable.  The transaction becomes more data is translated into public offerings for investment. Public companies have a fiduciary responsibility to try and make a profit and that usually means playing a volume game. 

Imagine Ray Croc’s thinking when he visited the original McDonald’s.  It seems simple enough. This burger place is great and has lines around the block, let’s systematize it and make a fortune. In the calculation and process of franchising, it is known that the end product  will get further and further away from the original. The meal will become predictable, which is great for making money.  

When we make a mimeograph of an original, the original ink starts to fade. When we copy a copy of a copy ad infinitum, we start to see only ghosts of the original.  We are left with ghost burgers and litigated French fries. 

We are the consumer, the creator, the investor, and the biological impact both human and environmental. If you want to be rich make carbon copies, you will be loaded, though the impact may leave the environment and culture stripped. 

Is it possible to contribute to and invest in cultural richness and care deeply about we do within the balance of nature?  When do we start to question systems that are so far from the original that they ring hollow? When is it time to step out of systems and be our own creator?