How do you feel about DRIVE THRUS?

[It's A Happy Day]

Seriously?! These things actually exist?

In the UK we only have drive thrus for fast food places, i've never even heard of drive thrus for anything else. Seems very lazy to me. Its almost always quicker to pop inside rather than use the drive thru anyway. I can understand the need for this if you have a sick child but lets face it, the majority of people who use drive thrus are doing so because they can't be bothered to park up and *gasp* go inside. Plus children being sick isn't a new phenomenon, parents have managed to take care of their sick children adequately for years before drive thrus came along.

I am unaware of how things are in UK as far as the "middle class" family. Around here most families consist of 2 working parents and most of the time it is about the convenience. What is going to take me longer, carting the kids in & out of 3 stores, a bank, the cleaners, etc. or only having to get them out 2x vs. 5 or 6 times and zipping through the drive through at the bank, the cleaners, and the pharmacy. Most of us do not have the luxury of leaving the kids somewhere with someone else to run errands. Now I only know 1 person who lives abroad (in Ireland) and she stays home with their children - not sure if it is the norm or not - while her spouse works. It is not only about a convenience for me but that it is NOT INCONVENIENCING everyone else in that establishment with either my kids choosing that moment to act up - how often has a parent gotten "that look" because the child it whiny, wants something, is hacking up a lung, etc. Sometimes it is about avoiding the other patrons because they cannot believe I brought a sick kid out instead of leaving him/her home....alone.....with just the cat because DH is still at work and I want to get an antibiotic started at 2PM instead of 8PM.

As far as people with no children or out w/o children and still using a drive through. Around here they get priority and it is quicker. It's about time management, not about how can I spend more time on my butt instead of my feet. I think this is the case with most people, not people being lazy.

 

[RVGal]

Call me lazy...I am using Applebees Carside To Go for my lunch today. Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad is calling my name. Yummy.

Carside? As in, they bring it out to you?

Well, at least someone is walking.

 

[shortbun]

I've been through exactly two since I left home at age 18. My son wanted to see what was inside, lol, and then he wanted to do it again. I told him twice was enough. Am I mean? There's nothing I need in them.


Oh, oh oh, I lied. I use the bank drive through all the time. I can talk on my phone while I wait. I was thinking solely of the beer/pop/cigs/chips drive thrus.

 

[Lintasare]

Carside? As in, they bring it out to you?

Well, at least someone is walking.

Yep you call in your order, give them the make of your car and the color and when you drive up they bring out your food. Plus they have wireless card swipers so they don't have to go back inside to get your CC receipt. It's wonderful when you are pressed for time.

 

[momto2girls]

I'm failing to understand why drive-throughs are the devil. It wasn't too long ago that milkmen delivered milk and many grocery stores delivered groceries. Drive throughs are worse than that how?

I would LOVE a drive-through convenience store! I hope this idea spreads around the country. And as an aside, I would love, love, love (did I say love?) a grocery store that either delivers or picks your groceries for you and let's you drive up (gasp! ) and pick them up. When I lived in Charlotte, a local grocery store (Harris Teeter) had a program where you could order your groceries online and then you would go pick them up at an appointed time by pushing a button and waiting for someone to load them into your car. Unfortunately, the city I live in now (a rather large city, I might add) does not offer anything like this. I would pay a pretty penny to have this option here.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Well I might as well shock all of you now. I sometimes even have my groceries delivered. The horrors I know. If my choices are to drag 4 small children to the store in miserable weather or order from home and have it delievered- well delivery wins out. So Mrs and Mrs Smith- sometimes I can't just "cook them a meal" because we are waiting for a food delivery!

So there you have it. I am just a humungous blob with a head and 2 small hands so I can point and click.

 

[RVGal]

I'm failing to understand why drive-throughs are the devil.

I just had a SNL flash back and pictured the Church Lady... "Could it be SATAN?!?"

 

[Lintasare]

I just had a SNL flash back and pictured the Church Lady... "Could it be SATAN?!?"

Oh you crack me up RV.

 

[kangareaux]

Who knows, maybe 2 million years from now, the human race will be these flat blobs with eyes and little arms. We will have TV and a button. The button with bring us anything we desire.

Aren't those called telletubbies?

 

[LUVMYTINK]

My daughter and I couldn't agree on what we wanted for breakfast this morning, so I went through TWO drive-ins. So I'll feel twice as guilty....

Don't feel too bad I've had to go, acouple of times, to 3 drive thru cause not everyone in the house wanted the same thing. I'm soooo ashamed

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Let's put the sick babies aside for just a moment. The whole defense for drive-thrus seems to be that it's too hard for parents to take their sick babies inside or that people have disablities with mobility issues. Ok. I get it. But what about the majority of people who use drive-thrus who aren't in either of these camps? They can use the drive-thrus all they want - I'm not purposing we stop them - but what's their excuse? I'm able to go inside without wasting oodles of "precious time" but they aren't? I don't buy it. I think that quite simply they go through the drive through: 1. because they are being lazy that day; or 2. they are in the habit of doing so. To tell me that I'm being judgmental for calling a spade a spade is ridiculous.

Have you ever shopped at Wal-Mart? Or Target? Even the grocery store?

Wal-mart is a bad example because I refuse to shop there but I understand the point you are trying to make. I'm not trying to say that convience is a bad thing. I'm saying that our dependence on convience is a bad thing. There are some things that make life easier. A shower is a good example. In this case, the benefits of the item outweigh the costs. That's how we have to evaluate things. The benefits of using a shower definitely outweigh the costs. In some cases, the benefits of shopping at a grocery store outweigh the costs. In a few limited cases, the benefits of going through the drive-thru outweigh the costs (i.e. sick kids and disabilities). But the grand majority of the time, people make use of these convience items out of laziness or habit. I'm not saying that I'm not guilty here but I'm able to see when I'm making decisions because I'm being lazy or not.

Oh and just because a person looks healthy and able bodied in their car...it is not always the case. So stop being so judgemental of those in their cars at drive thrus. You never know, they could be disabled and you wouldn't know by looking at them.

Your kidding right? I'm well aware of invisible disability but that's a red herring to this entire conversation. Unless a large percentage of people who use drive-thrus do so because they are disabled than your point is moot.

...if you ask someone who works at a place that has a drive thru, you may be surprised to see that those in the drive thru are more likely to be served 1st.

But really...who cares? It's not like the wait inside is 100 times longer than the wait at the drive-thru. You're talking a matter of minutes here.

The exercise one gets from parking the car and walking in and out of the store is so minimal that it doesn't deserve a second thought.

The best thing we can do to reduce laziness is build walkable societies. Plant our convenience stores closer to the neighborhoods and put sidewalks in place. How about bike paths? I would quickly visit the convenience store on foot or by bike if it didn't mean navigating major highways without the protection of my car.

At this point, drive through or no drive through doesn't make a difference.

If you strapped on a pedometre for a day, you'd be surprised how quickly little trips from the car to a building or from your desk to a photocopier, add up. Supposing it took you 100 steps to get from your car, across the parking lot, into the building, over to the counter, and back to your car again, that's 100 more than you would have gotten sitting your car.

I love your idea of walkable socities. Unfortunately, with people choosing to live in the suburbs and shop at big box stores, it seems like the trend is going the wrong way.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I just order everything from Peapod. I don't even have to get out of my chair

 

[momto2girls]

I just cannot for the life of me imagine why someone cares so passionately about people who use drive-throughs. Don't use them if you don't like them. Seems simple to me. But I think that you'd be hard pressed to get a bunch of people to join your bandwagon and ban them or limit their use. I expect that they will become even more prevalent.

 

[Heidict]

They can use the drive-thrus all they want - I'm not purposing we stop them - but what's their excuse?

Why do they need to have an excuse? Regardless of what they say you will just go on believing your assumption that they are lazy. If is means that much to you, you could always swing on down to your local drive-thru and conduct a survey as people pull out of the drive-thru.

 

[momto2girls]

I just order everything from Peapod. I don't even have to get out of my chair

I am SO jealous. Why don't I have this option where I live? I live in a decent sized city. Believe me, I've looked and I can't find any option for grocery delivery or internet ordering and drive-through/pickup anywhere.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Let's put the sick babies aside for just a moment. The whole defense for drive-thrus seems to be that it's too hard for parents to take their sick babies inside or that people have disablities with mobility issues. Ok. I get it. But what about the majority of people who use drive-thrus who aren't in either of these camps? They can use the drive-thrus all they want - I'm not purposing we stop them - but what's their excuse? I'm able to go inside without wasting oodles of "precious time" but they aren't? I don't buy it. I think that quite simply they go through the drive through: 1. because they are being lazy that day; or 2. they are in the habit of doing so. To tell me that I'm being judgmental for calling a spade a spade is ridiculous.

****

But really...who cares? It's not like the wait inside is 100 times longer than the wait at the drive-thru. You're talking a matter of minutes here.

I am going to restate what I said previously....

As far as people with or w/o children using a drive through. Around here they get priority and it is quicker. It's about time management, not about how can I spend more time on my butt instead of my feet. I think this is the case with most people, not people being lazy.

But really...who cares? It's not like the wait inside is 100 times longer than the wait at the drive-thru. You're talking a matter of minutes here.

ETA: It may be "a matter of minutes" we are talking about, but add them up and it is astonishing how much time one person spends in line. For arguments sake, back to the people with children, if they are rushing to pick up children from daycare and have to pick up a child at 5:30 (or whatever time), it is fairly normal for daycare places/people to charge extra by THE MINUTE or 5 MINUTE increments for late parents. This is done to encourage them to be on time. So the extra minutes could become costly to many people as well. What is that old phrase.....time = money

 

[java]

So if your children are sick, stay home and cook them a meal.

Exactly why you need a drive thru. If a child unexpectedly becomes sick and you need some milk or OJ for fluids a drive thru is a good thing.
AGAIN I think you don't get it and don't have children. It is easy to finger point about things when you don't walk in those shoes.
This falls under the "Well I would NEVER" and then surprise when you are in the situation you would.

When I don't have to wake a sleeping child or two and can drive thru to pick up some items then I do it gladly.

I see how you are trying to make a direct link to laziness for the drive thru use and that may have been how you used it but it is not how I use it.

 

[mickeyboat]

But what about the majority of people who use drive-thrus who aren't in either of these camps? They can use the drive-thrus all they want - I'm not purposing we stop them - but what's their excuse?

In a few limited cases, the benefits of going through the drive-thru outweigh the costs (i.e. sick kids and disabilities).

But really...who cares?

I don't need an excuse to use a drive thru. I like the convenience, I use it. Simple as that. I don't see the use of a drive thru as a bad habit that I need an excuse to continue or need to give up.

I use a cost/benefit analysis for decisions I make every single day. The costs and benefits of a particular choice may be different for me than they are for you. That does not make me lazy.

And yes, who cares? Why do you care that I use the drive thru at the bank?

Denae

 

[Lintasare]

Again I don't see why you are so worked up about it. It's a persons personal choice to use a drive thru or not. It in no way affects you so I don't know why you are being so adamant about this. Personally I think you are arguing just to argue. If you didn't have so many posts I would be tempted to call you troll for stirring people up like this.

Again you are entitled to your opinion. I just think it is rude and condecending to call other people lazy for saying they use drive ups. Again using a drive up does not mean a person is lazy or that they will get obese. It takes alot of factors to make someone obese.

And really no matter what you say you are not going to dissuade someone. So I think it's time you get off your high horse. Because we could care less about your opinion right now.

 

[Briarmom]

Do most cities have a drive through grocery? I lived in the US for almost 30 years in 4 different states and never saw one.

I know that I would have loved one when the kids were sick then. As it is I am in trouble if anything happens here because the Commisary is 45 minutes away and never open during those middle of the night sicknesses.

In Phoenix we would just go to any number of nearby grocery stores. Convienence. None of them were drive thrus though.