McDonald's

As much as I try not to bitch about the comparisons between France and home, which I learned quite quickly upon arrival here...Andrew's pediatrician snapped back at me quite directly, "this is not the United States", when I advised him about something they do different back there, anyway, I gotta say, the McDonald's here just blow me (and Robert) away. Ok, so it's certainly not my favourite place to frequent to begin with, but unfortunately, there just aren't a ton of things to do with kids here on rainy days, so McDonald's ends up getting our business more often than I would like to think. We've had a lot of rain here lately and as I type this, there is a rather brutal thunderstorm out my window, even I am a little scared, (fortunately the boys seems to be sleeping right through it) and on a side note, I'm thinking that if it's like this tomorrow a.m. and I am left to take Andrew to school with Ryan in tow, there's a good chance we'll be calling in sick! (it's a bit of a hike from the car to the school, not to mention a gazillions steps and I just ain't getting all three of us soaking wet for a day at nursery school!) Hopefully the rain will ease up by morning. Anyway back to my original train of thought, it rained all day Saturday, therefore no tennis lessons for Andrew and nothing to do...and we had to go out to get my new cellphone anyway, so we ended up at McDonald's for lunch and playtime. Now, McDonald's in France on a rainy day is a bit of a nightmare to begin with since every other family in the city and surrounding cities has the same idea as us...unlike in North America where you can pretty much find a fast food restaurant with a jungle gym on every other street corner, there are TWO that service about a million people in Antibes. And one of those two is 3 levels high, without an elevator, is always crowded, and I just strongly prefer to stay clear of it. So, we ordered our food and, as required, surrendered our photo identification to get a high chair! Imagine that! You have to give up your driver's license in exchange for the use of a high chair. Yes, of course you get it back, but come on...do they really think we're gonna walk out of the restaurant with the high chair (it's pretty crappy anyway, and of course doesn't contain a seat belt to fasten your child in)???? And quite honestly even if someone did steal a high chair, they must certainly be able to afford a new one as their prices are rather exorbitant, certainly in comparison to what you'd pay to feed a family of 4 in the US and although there is probably not nearly the amount of crap in the food here than there is in the US (which by the way, is the only explanation I have for the fact that I now weigh less than I did in Junior High - since I eat at least the same amount if not more food here in general, it is surely the lack of crap that is in the food that has me weighing so much less), but it tastes much worse here, (even the fries, which is surprising cuz in a country where they most definitely produce THE best French Fries in the world, those at McDonald's totally SUCK)....the place is always packed, so with the prices and the volume they sell, they must be raking it in. At least in the US, I kinda admit that I like the taste while I eat it, but don't exactly care for the way I feel AFTER I eat it. It tastes bad here AND you feel gross...and now I'm really beginning to wonder why the hell I go there?!!!!! Well back to submitting our driver's license for a chair, to make matters worse, all of the high chairs were in use. So Robert then went wandering around the restaurant in the hopes of finding a child who was almost done. There were THREE highchairs in total!!!! A "family" restaurant, that services a gazillion people, has THREE high chairs. Ok, so we put Ryan on a bench in a booth, he made one hell of a mess, but none of us really cared. We got through our meal and were heading over to the jungle gym area so the boys could have a play when Andrew advises us that he has to go pee pee. And of course this means that he has to go NOW! Robert volunteered to take him, and knowing from past experience, I said, "make sure you get the code first". He looked at me like I had 10 eyeballs. "What do you mean, the code????" Yes, that's right, the McDonald's in the heart of town, requires a code to open the bathroom door, obviously so that non-patrons off the street don't get a free use of the facilities. What actually made things even worse is that the code that Robert was given didn't work, and he had to wait even longer for an employee to open it for him. I seriously think he was ready to pack up his bags as soon as we exited that place. There are certain things we will just never get. These such are among them. But my point of comparison is that with which I am completely used to and in North America, the bathrooms are free to use to anybody who walks into the place, customer or not, and there are a ton of high chairs available for use that sit in the open lobby, waiting for the next customer in need. I know the French don't bat an eye at these such inconveniences in McDonald's...to them, it's completely normal that there are only 3 high chairs, which you can access by surrendering your passport, and that you need a code to use the bloody toilet. But like the Doctor said, "this is not the United States", so just cope Karen.