I tried to resist it. Really, I did. But the urge was uncontrollable, as if I was being drawn in by an huge delicious magnet, composed of two all-beef patties and a tangy special sauce.
I passed under the glow of the Golden Arches like someone in a trance, with my eyes glued to the uniformed employees who stood between myself and pure burger bliss. Before the girl behind the counter could even say "Sa-wat dee ka", I had blurted out the order that had drawn me in like a moth to a flame:
A Big Mac Set and a Coke Zero. Stat.
The employee smiled and tapped on her keyboard, opening the gates to fast-food heaven with just a few swift key strokes. A skilled team of employees moved behind her, filling a plastic cup to the brim with fizzling coke, and taking a freshly wrapped burger from the kitchen window. All that was left were the fries, which soon came hot and bubbling from the glorious domain of the deep fryer. I thanked the employees with an almost-creepy level of sincerity, and asked for extra ketchup. Then I slowly took my tray to a table in the middle of the restaurant, sat down, and ripped opened up the cardboard container that housed my Big Mac.
This is one of those recurring moments from living abroad that I still don't really understand. I can count on one hand (maybe even half a hand) the amount of times I have actually had the urge to eat at McDonald's. And strangely enough, every single one of those times has occured while living in a foreign country. I can say with complete honesty that I have never once had the desire to patronize the Golden Arches while driving down the 405 in L.A. or while strolling through the Public Garden in Boston. But for whatever reason, I have had the uncontrollable urge to visit McDonald's in many of the world's most exotic cities. I remember one late night in Barcelona, when I sat eating Chicken McNuggets while facing Gaudi's great "Sagrada Familia" cathedral. I can recall trips to the McDondald's down the street from my student residence in Buenos Aires, driven by irresistable cravings for a "Pechuga Crispy" (Crispy Chicken Sandwich). And now I can add a Big Mac in Bangkok to that list of McDonald's meals enjoyed in foreign cities.
What is it that makes an expatriate McDonald's experience so damn satisfying? Maybe it's the feeling of pride that an American institution has been able to thrive so successfully throughout the international community. Maybe it's the idea that I can close my eyes for a minute and feel as though I'm sitting in my neighborhood Mickey-D's, being served by America's finest minimum-wage workers. Or maybe it's just the combination of two all-beef patties and a special sauce. Whatever it is, my trip to the Golden Arches today brought out more pride in my country than I've felt in a long time.
God Bless America, and God Bless Big Macs.
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And I am more than a little relieved that we are back to food and away from politics as a blog topic. I myself, temporarily ensconced on Cape Cod (for another hour) am pursuing the "lobster for every meal" theory, which I think makes me a vegetarian for now. Lobsters are the Ritz Carlton of creatures with exoskeletons, and the evolutionary lack of distance between a cock roach and my favorite crustacean gets to me once in a while, but not enough to avoid spending $38 a pound for lobster salad. I know that is a week's wages where you come from, so don't tell anyone. The picture of your students is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteweird how you never crave burger king or kfc, right? it had been over 15 years since i'd eaten at mc donald's and as soon as i got to hong kong that was like the only thing i wanted! miss you char!
ReplyDeleteOh how right you are. I just found my kid's meal Hello Kitty toy from the McDonald's I went to in Japan. I can't remember the last time I went to a McDonald's in the US but every time I leave this country, it's one of the few indulgences from home I do crave. So odd...
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