Taking control...

One of the first exciting adventures on my list as I explored Chicagoland was- hold your breath!- the site of the first McDonald's! (It was actually the 9th McDonald's restaurant, but the first franchise, so basically the beginning of what now occupies as many storefronts throughout the world as Starbucks.... or WalMart... or Walgreens... or... oh, nevermind.) It was opened on April 15th, 1955. The setup was pretty fun, but my favorite part was the parking lot. It was filled with classic cars of the era- bright shiny Ford Fairlanes and other such beauties. I so wanted to take one of them home. It was also cool to check out the menu board- hamburgers at just 15 cents, a root beer for 10. You know what's crazy; I never noticed this until I just wrote that sentence, but there is not even a cent sign on my computer keyboard. That is definitely a sign that things are way more expensive these days.

Standing in front of this place, I felt I was witness to the site of a historical shift, not to sound too overdramatic. But, in mentally digging- past the death of "mom and pop", past the death of the artery, I started to think of it as the death of what I consider one of the most important factors that separate us from the apes- self-control. I read an article recently that I plan to use as fodder in my future book on bringing imagination back. It discussed the effects that modernized toys have had on what's called "executive function" in children. The fact that children can pick up a toy pot that really makes bubbling sounds, and then a fishing pole that really catches plastic fish (with a magnet of course), has stripped them not only of the imagination to turn a leaf into a pot or a stick into a pole, but has also, according to research, taken from them their ability to self regulate. This means they are less able to control themselves- mind or body- for the same period of time as their identically-aged counterparts from the mid-20th century. Hence, possibly, the recent rise in attention deficit problems.

I feel similarly about McDonald's, among other businesses. For whatever reason, as places like this have popped up, people seem to have lost their ability to make choices for themselves. I'm pretty sure that Ray Croc had no evil intentions when he opened his first restaurant, so by no means am I damning all McDonald's. But, somehow, we have lost the thought pattern to look at something and take it in small doses. Just as a child today might have problems controlling his body from running around the grocery store screaming, we as adults cannot control ourselves to intake a reasonable amount of cholesterol. We cannot control ourselves to spend a reasonable amount of time in front of the tv or computer. With the advancements of the past century, we have so much more available to us. None of it is harmful- in moderation. But, it's like Ian Malcolm said, (and, yes, I am seriously quoting Jurassic Park- it's a great movie!), people are so worried with if they can do things, they don't stop to think if they should. There's so much more we can do today compared to 50 years ago, but maybe we should take a lesson from the pre-McDonald's generation and start wondering if we should live in more moderation. (Or maybe I should just wonder why I am almost to Japan with all this digging over a simple fast food restaurant!!)



The one on the left- it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.