The ubiquitous Tim Hortons drive-thru, a daily pit stop for many Canadians on their way to work, has brewed a controversy in Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital city.
Municipal politicians in St. John’s have passed a motion that prohibits the establishment of new drive-thru operations unless businesses can prove to the city’s traffic department that vehicles won’t spill out onto public streets.
Mayor Dennis O’Keefe said while there wasn’t much public pressure calling for the legislation, it came about because of safety concerns arising from traffic lining up along drive-thrus and spilling out onto roads. From Yahoo.ca
I am not a coffee drinker, I openly admit this. However, I do, from time to time stop at a Tim Horton’s to pick up a hot chocolate or a cherry cheese danish (which I love). Each time I do so, I park my truck, walk 20ft across the parking lot into the store, order at the counter, turn around, walk 20ft back to my truck, and then go about my business of the day.
After observing the Drive-Thru lane during this practice of mine I noticed something… while the rest of the world is sitting in the parking lot idling their vehicles, contributing to global warming (a bit dramatic I know) and watching time pass by that they’ll never recover, I can get it, order, and get out… and I can do it faster!
Is this what society has come to? Obesity epidemics, heart disease running wild, and people, sitting in their vehicles waiting for somebody to hand them a coffee out the window because they can’t be bothered to take a short walk across the parking lot?
Think about it. There is one person working the drive thru window. There is usually 2 or 3 working the counter in the store. Sine the vast majority of customers can’t be bothered to get take the walk, I can get served twice as fast and be on my way again while you’re still sitting in the Drive Thru!
Some people quoted in this article are outraged and accusing the municipal government of fighting against Tim Horton’s. But, leave it to a local radio announcer to say it best…
“Go in, have your coffee, by all means,” said Bill Rowe, host of a popular radio call-in show broadcast provincewide.
“But get off your big duff and go in, walk in, and get it rather than hold off in your car waiting for 20 minutes, beefing and stewing and complaining.”
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