Obviously lots of talk about losing jobs, saving money, cutting costs, everywhere. Another longtime local restaurant closed its doors last week and no doubt, there will be more to come. Women are finding ways to make the family money stretch farther. Food is a big concern. DH and I have worked in the food processing industry all our lives - for him it is going on 43 years.
We call him the french fry guy. He takes care of all the cooking oil they use to make french fries, tator tots, etc. The main customer has is and has always been McDonalds. It is a relationship that goes back over 50 years ago between Ray Kroc and JR Simplot. There is nothing and I mean nothing, that compares to a fresh McDonald's french fry, cooked right off the line in perfect conditions. I know, I work QA for 10 years and it was my favorite line to work. Every 20 minutes, you would fry up a two pound batch after checking length, temp, defect control and color. Lightly salted, there is not a better food. I can still remember the taste and for a poor 17 year old forty years ago, this was my main meal of the day.
Back to the economy, DH and I were discussing how this whole mess was going to trickle down to french fries and in turn, us. Not much, he tells me, In times of financial crunch, those who normally eat at McDonalds - stop and start eating at home. You lose that market for a while. They eat at home and stop eating out but there is a whole new demographic that comes in to take their place. All those people who have been eating $10 hamburgers at Red Robin and Applebee's start dining down to McDonald's. That led me to think that McDonalds should play up to this new group of diners but if you know anything about McDonalds, their business is based on being the same, all the time and everywhere.
39 days to go until the election and our president says it will not be an easy fix for our country. Today's paper said you might be hard pressed to buy a stove, car or house right now - no matter how good your credit is. Christmas may look a bit different this year but that is not a bad thing. Creativity can flourish during times like these and you may even like the results well enough to make them new traditions. It is time to see these days are a chance to learn Something new - hope you can enjoy the Journey...
