DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?
No matter what the fitness gurus say about fast food outlets, they're here to stay because as a society, we've become lazy as well as wanting everything instantly.
Why bother to peel spuds and cook meat for a family dinner when you can have it done for you in the shape of a quarter pound burger with cheese and bacon, French fries and an ice cream to follow?
In any case, the family meal as my generation knows it is all but dead and buried due to changes in lifestyle. Even kids with both parents in work and living at home - or what I would call a conventional lifestyle - often have diverse mealtimes because mum and dad work different hours.
You also have to allow for the fact that many kids simply don't want to be dragged from their computer screens or X-boxes for the length of time it would take to have a sit-down meal, and parents pander to their wishes. The old saying; 'the family that eats together, stays together' doesn't have any relevance for a huge number of people because the family has already split. That's not a criticism, just an observation.
Against such a background, you can hardly blame McDonalds for wanting to supply what is obviously a huge demand. If the fast-food chain is willing to invest a great deal of money in opening yet another drive-through in Gloucester, its management must be sure the move is going to pay off.
On the plus side, at least the proposed new outlet is away from residential housing and will provide jobs for those who want them. With other fast food outlets at, or near, the proposed site on St Oswald's Road, I don't see how the city council can justify refusing permission.
A new branch of McDonalds won't make me fat because I choose not to go there. But a large number of people will happily pass through the Golden Arches. As I said, fast food outlets are supplying a demand, not creating it.
NOT BOXING CLEVER
Yet again, a phone box on Stroud Road, in Gloucester, has been given cosmetic surgery by some passing pillock with nothing better to do.
It's is not the first time I've photographed this particular kiosk in a state of demolition and I'm sure that, if I want to, I'll be able to take many more until BT finally decides it's just not worth it and pull the plug.
I've never been able to understand vandalism because I can't see how anybody gains from it – not even the perpetrator. What I mean is; if somebody offered you fifty quid to smash a window, you might be tempted. But to go to all that effort with absolutely nothing to gain from it, seems beyond stupidity.
I'm no psychologist but I'd be interested to know what goes through the mind of someone who does this sort of thing for fun. Does it make them feel more 'macho'? Or do they do it because their mates egg them on and they'd look a wimp if they said no? Whatever reason vandals have, the sad truth is - it's just sad.
ROUND AND ABOUT
Apparently, gentlemen in Gloucester are to be offered advice on being 'the perfect man'. Gloucester Round Table will be offering tips on 'essential man skills' such as carrying out competent DIY jobs or knowing how to compliment a woman.
What I find amusing is that the Round Table's website says its events are; "a combination of fun, chit chat, banter and wit, mixed with some business and the occasional few pints. We throw in the odd educational and informative trip to places such as airfields, car plants, power stations and breweries", along with adrenaline-fuelled insanity like go-karting or abseiling. Each year we do something a bit wild and white knuckle orientated. Other events include caving and laser combat - an excellent excuse to get covered in camo paint and run around the woods acting like Rambo'.
Just what every woman wants in a man!
