McThoughts

I work at McDonalds a lot. Well, to be clear, they don’t pay me. I mostly get coffee and use their WIFI. I have to say that, because I’d feel a little gross if I thought people envisioned me eating a steady diet of fries and Big Macs. But sometimes I wonder if it’s all a dream.

You know how in movies, they will have a recurring element that clues you in to the fact the subject is dreaming? Just something off enough to let you know it’s not real. Well, that’s how I often feel at McDonalds.

I guess what I’m saying is, McDonalds makes me question reality. Some things make me question my choices. McDonalds makes me question my very existence.

So, my favorite McDonalds is always clean, the manager is sweet, they offer me coffee refills, and they call me “darlin’.” I’m a sucker for southern sweetness, even in the rare occasions it’s found in the Midwest. The manager is like eighty and I think I’ve claimed her as my surrogate grandmother.

But here’s the thing, and forgive the bathroom references, the urinals are always filled with ice cubes. Ice cubes! Always! Every single time I stop by, no matter the day, no matter the time, ice cubes are in the urinal. That’s weird. Am I dreaming?

Well, chalk this up as one of my less professional posts — but hey, this is a blog and not the New York Times — the ice cubes do provide kind of a clever game to see how many you can melt. Don’t act like you don’t go to the bathroom too, you judgy, judgy reader. I digress.

So, here’s my super-sized McThought. I think there are often clues in life that we too quickly ignore. Pay attention to those details from others where they are quietly signaling a need, or offering veiled encouragement, or calling for help. As we move into the busy season of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, be sensitive to the needs of those around you. Laugh with those laugh and grieve with those who grieve.

Gotta run. Here comes my McGrandmother with another coffee refill. That also means I’ll be heading back to the ice cubes again very soon. A man’s work is never done. Ba da ba ba ba.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).