Do you remember when there used to be two prices up on display when you went into somewhere like Maccy D’s? As they had an eat in and a takeaway price, something to do with the fact VAT was only charged on eat in then. Then the VAT rules changed, and it became the same price for in or out. Well, it seems to be going the other way now. The menu screens in Maccy D’s now talk about a surcharge per takeaway order.
At the moment it is just in Scotland and as I understand it, it is to do with littering. I’ve not seen it mentioned in other fast-food places (which are national chains), and I’ve not been north of the border in over twenty-five years, but to me, on the surface at least, it sounds like a good idea.
The take away surcharge is paid to the council(s) who have the misfortune to have to pick up all the rubbish lazy bastards leave behind, because as a nation we have become morons who think it is acceptable to just dump litter anywhere, even where there is a bin in sight. And it does seem as if there is a lot of it which is Maccy D’s take away paper bags and wrappers. There is something about that (not so cheap or fast anymore) brand which attracts the king of halfwit who can’t use dustbins.
I think this kind of charge should be implemented in the rest of the UK, and I would go further. Have the orders print out name and contact details onto the takeaway wrappers and bags so it is possible to identify and prosecute the littering bastards.
It’s the lazy sense of entitlement that drives me around the bend. I was sat in the window having Maccy D’s breakfast as I usually do before going to writing. There were two other people sat on the same side of the doors to me, and as they finished, they both wandered off and left their trays and empty wrappers on the bench in front of the window for someone else to clean up.
This is despite the fact that when they got up to leave, they have to walk past the bin to get out of the door. They are literally and physically walking past the fucking bin. They managed to carry their food to the bench to eat, but it’s too much fucking trouble to throw it away at the end.
Aaarrgh!
And I knew full well it would be the same or worse at the football in the afternoon. Thousands of people too lazy and too stupid to put their litter in the binds they have to walk past to get out of the stands. It looks like a fucking bombsite at the end of every game. And you know full well if someone randomly dumped empty wrappers in their garden or yard, they would be up in arms about it.
But there is no cost to them, no deterrent, and as a society, on the whole we don’t do anything about it. It is always someone else’s problem to deal with. No one ever takes responsibility for their own actions.
And that is rubbish.