Opinion : Sound Bites: McDonald's Updated the Rules

Unfortunately, the folks at McDonald's and I have become best buddies. So much so that they now send me email. Like this one informing me that they have updated the "Terms and Conditions" I think it said. 

Apparently, they have been spying on me. 

"Obey the rules of the road," It said in part. As my kids would do, I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes, Mother."  They continued. "Whenever you use the online services, you must obey the rules of the road and all applicable rules and regulations. You must not use the online services while driving or while behind the wheel or controls of a vehicle that is moving or not in “park”. In the interest of safety at all times, you should only use the online services when it is lawful and safe to do so.' Yada, yada, yada. 

In all honestly, I'm not that coordinated anymore. I actually pulled into their drive last night, along side the parking spaces thinking I could zap an order in before I got to the window, but you know old people. I finally pulled into the parking space and completed my order. 

Mom continued nagging me. "You are responsible for your devices and accounts." Get over it already mom, I only lost my phone ONCE and you won't let it go!

Like all the other "Terms and Conditions" that are updated and you have to "read" and "agree to" no one reads the fine print. We scroll past the line that says, "You agree to name your firstborn after our owner," and click "Agree." Or in our minds it's "Agree, already, come on I have stuff I need to do!" 

So we scroll and hit, "Agree," having no idea whatsoever it is that we agreed to. 

But then, that started with our first big agreement for a credit card, or our mortgage, even at the doctor's office. We just assume that whatever the people tell us that the paper says is true. 

Unfortunately, that's how we consume our news now. And we don't dig and double-check what we hear. 

Here's a soundbite for ya. An update to the country's terms and conditions, we are now still in the trillions, so far. We are at 33 TRILLION dollars in debt. After a trillion comes a quadrillion. At the rate that we are spending, I don't doubt that we'll get to see that, and yet we still have no plan to stop the bleeding. 

We don't balance the national checkbook, we aren't paying it down, and we're going in the hole even faster. I know, the yahoos in Washington D.C. are rolling their eyes and saying, "oh Mom..." 

So, yeah, I'm all for shutting down the government. Pay our elderly and the military. As for everyone else, get a real job out here in the private sector and see what it's like to live under your own rules for a change. 

But that's me just getting hangry. Time to go to McDonald's for some lunch...