An open letter to my Southern Friends…

First of all, this post is directed to a set group of my friends.  So if you are from Yankee country… PISS OFF!  That goes especially for Indiana Rebel-Wannabes from Porter County… and for Marylanders that like to pretend they are Rebels but never had the guts to defy Martial Law to do anything about it.  You were not included in the Confederate flags for a reason, Maryland, even though Kentucky and Missouri were, OK?  The fact that you are the only Yankee state that includes a Confederate license plate is hilarious, especially considering how “progressive” you claim to be.

OK, now that Amateurs are out of here…

To my Georgia friends (those who still remain in the Southern U.S. and those whose hearts have never left):

I finally have to face the day I never wanted to.  A day that saddens me, but it has to be said.

It is time for me to let go…

I take no pleasure in saying this.  My Southern roots are complicated.  My family may have come from the Midwest, but my Mother’s ancestors are Georgia royalty.  She is a Walton.  Her ancestors fought for both sides in the Civil War, according to family history passed down by word of mouth.  I was born and raised in the shadow of Stone Mountain.  Whether it was Decatur or Snellville, I always considered myself a Southerner.  But I must acknowledge the complexity.  Lutherans aren’t exactly Deep South kind of people.

I remember the Georgia of my youth… the one portrayed in “The Dukes of Hazzard”.  I was there when Sorrell Brooke was Grand Marshall and going to Briscoe Park and hearing him as Boss Hogg.  What a great day!  I remember Six Flags over Georgia the way it used to be. Do you remember the Glass Salt/Pepper Shakers you could get which had the Six Flags that flew over Georgia?  I do.  I remember Stone Mountain as it was.  It oozed South.  I remember Dixieland music.  I remember the South Gwinnett Fight Song being a Rendition of “Are you from Dixie?”  I remember it all.  You remember it too.  The fact that you could get around town by foot or bicycle if you wanted to.  It was Mayberry, wasn’t it?  Nobody really got into serious trouble.  Never meant any harm on our pranks, did we?  And we had dirt back roads.  We could shoot bibi guns in our back yards and not have to worry about neighbors behind us… because they didn’t exist.

Yes, there were always ugly undertones which may not have shown up on the surface of Snellville or Gwinnett County, but they were there in the shadows.  Never spoken of, but those ghosts were there.  I never knew anyone directly associated with them, but I’ll bet the house Snellville had a few white sheets.  They may not have burned any crosses, but they were willing to jump over into Forsyth County and harass Hosea Williams back in 1987, right?  And the Stainless Banner was always there… publicly.

But times have changed.  The towns we knew are gone.  They have been replaced by crowded suburbs.  It’s multicultural.  You see, Atlanta became a hot destination thanks to A/C making Southern life bearable, and the vision many of its leaders had to show the city off to the world and bring the world to Atlanta.  And the World came, and the world liked what it saw.  They also came to other cities around Atlanta… To Athens, Rome, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, and other cities.  But the world has different attitudes than the natives.  They want to bring their culture, while at the same time having trouble with parts of the Southern culture, like some of the symbols.  At the same time, many native Georgians have ventured out into the world and have either returned with different perspectives or have never returned.  In the end, life has changed.  You want the true return to your roots, you almost have to go out to “Deliverance Country”… where you will have you head on a swivel every time you hear a banjo.

Now you are watching the symbols of the South being stripped from public and you think “That’s not what those symbols mean.  I know what they mean, because I was there.  It doesn’t mean hatred.  It means Pride.  Why am I being accused of being racist?  I treat everyone kindly!” Of course, we all like to think we are saints.  But can we take a hard look at ourselves and say we treat everyone kindly?  Can we say that about ourselves when we are around friends and co-workers who are non-Caucasian? Can we say we can treat everyone equally?  Or do we have even a tinge of bias that we can erase just by removing certain symbols to make people feel better?

I think the world of my childhood friends.  I have never met more kind, more loving, and more genteel souls than my Southern acquaintances.  I mean that.  So I say this as a friend… Consider making peace with the controversial symbols of the South.  And whether you keep them out or put them in that box in the corner of your attic or get rid of them altogether, know that I still consider you my friends.

As for me, I will always love my Southern roots.  I am better off remembering the good things about my early life… When I have the chance.  But now that I live in Maryland, I realize the world is a bigger place.  The best thing I can do to show the goodness of my Southern roots is be the best person I can be to all.  And I can do that without Flags or decals or pins of symbols from a more volatile era of our nation’s history.

The Post-McDonalds era of restaurants…

When I was younger and my parents would drive on trips to Cincinnati and to Valparaiso, McDonalds would always figure in where we stopped.  Whether it was the one just north of Knoxville, TN or the one in Elizabethtown, KY, or the dozen or so Mickey Ds we stopped at during our long 2 week trip in 1981 across the Eastern US and Ontario, CN, we always used the Golden Arches as a rest and recharging stop.  Partly because my sisters worked briefly at the Snellville location, but also because we knew we could rely on the quality of the food there, even though it was cheap.  You always knew you could find something to eat there.

As I went off to college and moved on to adulthood, my stops to the familiar McD logo got rarer.  Sure I worked at McDs main burger rival, Burger King, during HS and College days, but I also discovered that there was more to stops than just grabbing Chicken McNuggets, Fries, and a Sprite while driving the Interstate routes.  When I started dating my wife, I always wanted to try new places to see what I liked and what I didn’t.  McDs never figured into our date nights until after my kids were born.  After my kids were born, McDs visits started up again, but was largely in rotation with BK, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Chick-Fil-A, and other “cheap restaurants”.

This year, however, McDs visits have gotten fewer and fewer… even though there are tons of Golden Arches around.  And I am not the only one that has stopped going to the familiar logo.  McDonalds is going through a major slump in the US.  The chain that we all grew up with as kids has hit a wall.  People still go there, but not in the numbers or frequency they once did.  There are a number of reasons, but the upshot is this:  For the first time since at least stats were tracked on McDonalds growth starting in 1970, the Golden Arches will close more stores than it will open in 2015…  A shocking reality for one of the biggest property owners in the US.

So let’s look at some of the reasons for the decline of the Golden Arches:

(1) MCDONALDS ONCE TRIED TO BE A JACK OF ALL TRADES… AND WASN’T GREAT AT ANYTHING.  In their attempts to get more people into McDonalds, they have tried to have all sorts of options to compete with burger rivals, chicken rivals, fresh food rivals… and they forgot the basics, which is what they were good at.  They tried to be hip to adults at the expense of losing families who just wanted to get a Happy Meal for their kids or play on a playground.  And they forgot about quality of food, fast service, clean stores, and cheap prices.  A Big Mac meal now costs about $6 in many places, and has less quality than 20-30 years ago. 

(2) COMPETITION IS FIRECE NOW.  McDonalds is facing a myriad of new and old rivals chipping away at their dominance. Taco Bell and Subway is challenging with Breakfast offerings.  Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks are also trying to get Breakfast Numbers away from McDonalds.  Chick-Fil-A has superior service in most locations, and has a stranglehold on Chicken Sandwich offerings.  Chipotle is making inroads with a new generation of customers that believe in fresh food.  Five Guys and other fancier burger places are even challenging the Golden Arches’ Burger Supremacy.  Burger King and Wendy’s are inputting Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines in an effort to get customers in their store.  Popeye’s is winning over people with their Fried Chicken.  And that doesn’t even account for Sit-Down Places that offer new food that McDonalds can’t even compete with.  For me, McDonalds is sort of at the bottom of the list of places I want to go to.  I’d rather go to places like Nando’s or Mission BBQ or the soon to be arriving in Maryland Steak and Shake before I would go to McDonalds.  Sorry.

(3) MCDONALDS ATTEMPTS TO REINVENT THEMSELVES HAVE BEEN DISASTEROUS.  In recent months, McDonalds has gotten rid of half their menu items.  Gone were mid-priced Chicken Sandwiches, variations of their Quarter Pounder with Cheese Burgers, and other sandwiches that underperformed.  McDonalds tried to offer a new way of ordering Value Meals that left many people confused (although I loved the idea of picking and choosing what things I wanted to have with my value meal).  That lasted three months before they changed back to what they used to do for value meals.  They got rid of the Dollar Menu, then brought it back.  They have been schizophrenic and it has angered customers more.

(4) THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY MCDONALDS AROUND IN SOME AREAS… NOT ENOUGH IN OTHERS.  Within 15 minutes of my house, there are about 10-12 McDonalds… far more than any other restaurant chain in the area.  They could probably dump half of those restaurants and still turn a corporate profit.  Do you really need Golden Arches of either side of Ritchie Hwy in Severna Park? Do you need 3 McDs within 5 miles along Mountain Road?  Meanwhile, McDonalds are fewer in other parts of the country. 

(5) MCDONALDS IS LIKE SEARS AND RADIO SHACK… IN A BAD WAY.  McDonalds in the 1980s was like Radio Shack and Sears… Dominant.  They were the top dogs and they acted like arrogant top dogs.  They oversaturated (especially Radio Shack).  Look at them now.  The Radio Shacks that are left are turning into Sprint outlets.  Sears may be dead in another decade.  McDonalds?  They probably won’t die out… yet. But more and more, McDonalds’ reputation is sinking lower and lower in the eyes of many people.  McDonalds needs to change course and fast.  Otherwise, maybe even the Golden Arches is not be immune to Chapter 11.

The next decade will see a reshuffling of restaurants as they try to vie for the title of most recognized US restaurant.  McDonalds could figure out what they need to do to remain at/return to the top, or they could slowly descend into irrelevance while other restaurants battle for the crown.  At this point, who knows.  One thing is certain, however:  The era of McDonalds dominance is over… and unlikely to go back to the way it once was.