our east side McD just went through that drive through rebuilding thing . . and THIS was exactly my very first thought about side by side lanes merging.
( their old set up was two order stations front and back of each other )
How can they keep track of who’s order is who’s if people can’t merge . . in order ?
What is the legal right of way in this non-roadway situation ?
I have not gone to this new drive up since the rebuild . . I just go inside.
Apologies, good lady.
These threads sometimes get so long I lose track of where they’ve been. 
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We’re all good, @the_same_mountainbik!
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I have never in my life (I’m in my 70s) used a drive through restaurant (or bank or whatever). And I don’t understand why anyone would, with the possible exception of a car full of kids.
Faster, easier, just park your car and walk inside.
Bad Dallas joke: “Did you hear about that family that was found nearly starved to death? The driver’s electric window broke!”
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Bill, I understand your point, but according to the census bureau, 20% of families have kids under 18. It used to be 50%. And, with the aging of the population, too many of us are now walking disabled. For us, drive-thrus are a godsend. My memory also drifts back to times long past when I was stopping for a bite to eat with a gorgeous blond in the passenger seat. And then there’s heavy rains and snowstorms… but perhaps where you live these aren’t and issue?
There’s lots of perfectly good reasons for driveups. Those who have lived a life never needing one are fortunate indeed.
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I use the drive-up ATMs. They’re very convenient. I rarely go to any fast food place. And when I do I always walk in.
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I don’t always use the drivethru at McDs but when I do, I never completely stop. Stay hungry (and impatient) my friends…
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Very fair statement. I used to think drive ups were mostly for lazy people, then I got older and had a kid. It is a lot easier using the drive thru than dealing with the car seat and watching for traffic in the parking lot which is a scary situation. Plus when its snowing or pouring rain that adds another element.
I am not afraid of the pouring rain, I work out in it, and i only have one child as of yet, but if you have a family truckster full of kids I could see why people would only chose a driveup.
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If your jeans are dirty and ripped or its raining or 20 below out, it’s nice to use the drive up. Gee, I’ve been using them for 50 years and my biggest problem is understanding someone with a heavy accent.
My biggest problem is understanding how and why it became a fashion statement to wear jeans that look like they had been attacked by several people wielding hedge trimmers.
I am constantly dumbfounded by the sight of people buying new–expensive–jeans that are essentially already ripped to shreds.
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I used to use drive up ATMs, but with my current car I can’t reach the drawers… and to get close enough to even try I risk the granite curbs gnawing at my rims.
Most of our banks here only offer drive up atms at this point. Though there is one bank that does not have any drive up atms. Go figure.
I like drive up atms because the offer a slight margin in safety over walk up atms IMHO.
My newest daughter , now 16 and licensed, is from this ‘‘instant gratification generation’’ and somehow has it emblazoned in her head that the drive through MUST be faster. ‘‘isn’t that why it’s there ?’’ she says.
So . . I insist on a test.
telling her about my feeling, when pulling up, that a certain number of cars already in the drive up lane just feels to me that it will take longer than walking in . ( different places have different feelings dependent on the general amount of wait for that place )
Now in this case it’s McD’s and there are four cars not yet up to the order stations and two already there.
so I park.
’’ notice which car is last in line right now.’'
And we walk in.
order , to go.
walk out , get in our car ( truck ? that’s another thread ) and leave by going around to see the cars in line.
-
- you already know the results of this test ! - -
that was all it took to get her to school on time when riding with friends.
She would simply state , ‘‘park here and I’ll run in . . and we’ll beat Trenton to school.’’
As much as I don’t like drive through, I have used it at times. When working/living in an unsafe neighborhood, the fast food places would close the shop at 9 or 10 PM and only the drive through was open (with thick fences). Same for the bank, the outside ATM was too unsafe to use. My total visits to these have been less than 5 times though.
The OP had a small child with them and it is understandable that the drive through might be more convenient. The other driver in this situation is just part of the aggravations of daily life.
When we went to McDonalds when the kids were small…we HAD to go inside…because that’s where the play area was.
Nowadays, the play area is inside Mom’s oversized SUV, where each child MUST have his/her own I-pad.
Surely you wouldn’t expect those children to walk when they could simply vegetate while playing with their own electronic devices.
The fatter driver gets priority.
I thought this was pretty obvious.
I’m retired 7 years now mid 60s and I do the same thing. I even did it when I was not retired as everyone was using the drive throughs and I could go inside faster. I had a 30 minute lunch break and went to an Arctic Circle drive through. (Do they even still exist?) There were 3 vehicles ahead of me and it took 20 minutes. Huge fail.
It is in NJ, where the new state slogan is…
Don’t try to get in front of Chris Christie at the drive-through, especially if it is his favorite Krispy Kreme.
The only good news is that he has only spent–on average–10 days per month in the state over the past 9 months, so there is a little less competition at the local drive-throughs.
Sad, but true.
