Wednesday, February 18, 2009

McDonalds - an economic cockroach?

Before I start, let me say that I am well aware that Mythbusters (what a great show!) has proven that it will be fruitflies, not cockroaches that survive a nuclear holocaust, but the idiom persists.

On the way to the mall today, my sons and I noticed that the premises of the erstwhile knick-knack shop had been taken over by a modestly priced dress exchange-type place (although they had confusingly not changed the signage). Everywhere we go in town, we see boarded up shops and pubs.

Later, as we were sitting on the mezzanine floor of our local shopping centre, eating junk food (see today's pic of the day), I noticed that one of the stores below us was empty. It had been the premises of the last bastion of the B income group in our little mall - everything else is distinctly aimed at the C and D income bands.

My elder son made a remark that will stay with me for a while. He joked that, when the economic crisis was over, McDonalds would be the only survivor - a bit like Taco Bell in the movie Demolition Man (don't diss - I like that movie!). He decided (and he also saw that episode of Mythbusters) that they would prove to be the economic equivalent of the cockroach.

It doesn't bear thinking about!

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