United States | News & Politics

Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two.

That's the golden rule for a lot of industries, and fast food is no exception. For my entire life, it's been well known that this is not good food -- in the sense that most people realize it's unhealthy, processed, junk. So, these places basically have to deliver on the fast and cheap part.

Now, they've pretty much all given up on being cheap. Most of them are as expensive, or nearly as expensive, as a sit down restaurant with a server who comes to your table.

And based on nearly every fast food experience I've had in the past 5 or so years (which honestly isn't much), I don't even think they're really delivering on the promise of fast, compared to a typical sit down place of similar caliber food.

So, then when the working class, the bread and butter of the fast food industry, is getting economically squeezed to the brink, I suppose this isn't exactly all that surprising of an outcome. Fast food was for those nights when people were too busy working all day to prepare a meal for dinner, for a bite to each on your lunch hour when you forgot to pack something, or a quick stop while you're on a road trip. But think about how many people are out of work now (don't let the official unemployment numbers fool you). They aren't traveling, away from home during lunch, and they have way more time and much less money so dinner prep at home it is. And people who are gainfully employed with money to spare, they're going to non-fast food places because the food is better quality, about the same price, and usually just as fast or faster.

So where's that leave "fast" food? It's time to return to the core tenants (cheap & fast) or these places will likely continue to see declines.