For better or worse, there's a McDonald's between me and the gym. Last night, I pulled in at 10:30 for a Mac-Snac-Wrap, and the drunk guy ahead of me was bobbing and weaving and trying to read the menu like he didn't know what type of food they sold. Finally, he said, "I'll have a McDLT". Only stares, then "what's that?" from one of the teenage cashiers. "It's a sandwich you don't make any more," I said, which inspired the drunk to renew his study of the menu, I continued for the benefit of the youn'uns, like I'm at a camp fire talking about a buffalo hunt from twenty years ago, "It was a hot-side-hot, cold-side-cold thing, and actually, I thought it was the best burger you ever made." They listened politely, and just so they could place it all in the context of their [parents'] lifespans, I added "This was in the 80s." Yes, the hot-side-hot, cold-side-cold technology was lost, just like all that stuff the ancient astronauts brought us.

That reminds me of another funny MickeyD's story. I was in Amsterdam, ordering my then favorite, 6piece/Filet o'Fish/Strawberry shake dinner, reading the items as I found them on the menu. "You're American?" the cashier said. "Ja," I said. "But you speak Dutch?" "Nee," I said. "But you said 'erdbeer'?" Yes, my powers of deduction had told me that was strawberry, given the other choices, chocolade and vanille. "Not my first McDonald's," I explained.