PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz
FOREIGN FOOD
Eat healthy they say. You’ll live longer.
Nah…. It just seems like it.
Back in the Dark Ages – pre-Golden Arches – he’d had to satisfy his fat and carb cravings at Canadian-born Harvey’s, and A & W. Finally, Burger King, Wendy’s and Taco Bell oozed north.
Eventually, do-gooder gastro-snobs ruined fast food. Eat Light, add a salad. Salad is a promise that real food will appear later.
Then he drove to Florida, and discovered Checkers. Ah, burger bliss! No sit-down, long before COVID – just two drive-thru cholesterol lanes. Free heart attack with every meal – but what a tasty way to go!! 😎
***
Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story.
The human pleasure of food does not have to be served in high cost restaurants, the plain simple burger on the go is always a great comfort. i prefer home cooking myself.
LikeLiked by 3 people
….As do I, but I like to occasionally treat myself. McDonalds is hardly Posh, but places like Checkers are just business-like with their food – no frills, good food at decent prices. I recently tried a Five Guys outlet – like Checkers, plain and simple low-cost food. If/when we get back to the USA, I’d like to sample Sonic. 🙂 🌯
LikeLiked by 2 people
I remember A&W drive ins in the Jersey shore as a child. Those big glass mugs were heavy I could hardly lift them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I took the wife to a town which had a shop selling candle-making supplies. While she and the daughter perused the heavily-scented emporium, I took a walk in the cold, clean air – and found a pristine A&W mug, lodged in a snowbank, 50 miles from the nearest A&W restaurant.
I like to quote the line, often found in the newspaper – Police suspect that alcohol may have been involved. 🙄 🌯
LikeLiked by 2 people
Motivated by boredom during the pandemic I have been experimenting with cooking. The wife has always pampered me with certain favorite dishes but I like some others that she doesn’t. Pasta for instance. The chemistry is interesting and our iron frying pan is getting a workout.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope that you enjoy yourself, and creating dishes that you might not normally get, is a bonus. 😀
The wife has been OCD about cooking for years. We take her to a new restaurant, and 2 weeks later, she’s making their signature dish, often better. As she ages (she’s now 71) she becomes weaker and more apathetic about food. I now do 70% of the cooking. 😳
LikeLiked by 1 person
Canadians take french fries to the next level with gravy on top of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
….And then the French-Canadians taught us to put cheese curds or grated mozzarella on it and call it ‘poutine‘ – English translation – heart attack in a bowl. 😳
LikeLiked by 2 people
A whole bunch of names I’ve not heard of there, but I’m with him – eat drink and be merry!
Here’s mine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can click on several of them to research why Americans and Canadians are becoming so obese. I just saw my doctor about a navel hernia. She says that it’s because I carry too much weight around the middle. I’ve had to give up many of these meals and treats, but in a month, I’ve lost 10 pounds – about what your character lost, paying the tab. 😉 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well done!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
He sounds like quite the gourmet!
LikeLiked by 1 person
More of a gourmand – but he knows what he likes – seconds. 😳
LikeLiked by 2 people
LOL. “Salad is a promise that real food will arrive later.” We don’t have Checkers near where I live, but I remember life in the Midwest very well – so many fast food places so little time (and only one circulatory system, alas.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have to credit the late, great comedian, John Pinette for that line. One of the healthy benefits of surviving on a paltry Government pension is that I can’t afford to each much fast food anymore. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, the search for a good burger! Happy writing.
Ronda
LikeLiked by 1 person
Blog-writing, and the online community that goes with it, have been a rewarding retirement project. 🙂
I had to release your comment from spam-prison, but then, you knew that. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
My sentiments exactly! I eat healthy MOST of the time, as a nod to my Type II diabetes. But every now and then, I really NEED a fast food fix!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think sometimes that it’s not the fast food we need, but to prove to ourselves that we deserve a little special treat. 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love the title of your story. Lots of funny things in here, especially the opening quote. I have a love-hate relationship with food. I love to eat it but immediately hate myself after doing it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Foreign Food’ has a different meaning, up here in the snowy north. I believe that Harvey’s is the only Canadian burger chain. We have Canadian pizza chains also, but Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s and Little Caesar’s are endemic.
I’ll tell you about the old couple who died about the same time. St. Peter gave them the orientation tour of Heaven together. He showed them a huge buffet, and explained that they did not need to eat in Heaven, but humans enjoyed it, so food was provided.
He was all for digging in, but she stopped him with warnings about calories and cholesterol. St. Peter explained that this was magic food. It would not make them fat or sick. They could eat as much as they wanted.
The old guy spun and popped his wife in the mouth. When she could speak again, she demanded to know what for.
“Silly old woman! You and your kale smoothies, and your ‘healthy living.’ We could have been here 20 years ago.” 😳 😆
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh boy, if only they’d known!
LikeLike
[…] a recent Flash Fiction post about fast food, a reader commented, ‘Canadians take French fries to the next level with gravy on top of […]
LikeLike