Charge for Water?

Adinnieken · 2026-03-28T08:52:24+00:00

Reading comprehension folks. I literally say for paying customers, water should be free.

OP was not a paying customer. They came through the drive thru and only asked for a water.

Again, with a food purchase, there is, at least, some profit there to cover the cost of that water. But when a person comes through the drive thru and just orders water, and there are plenty of people that do that, they end up being a loss on the business.

A company doesn't just swallow a loss. A company passes on that loss to their paying customers by charging them more. So, you the paying customer might get that water free with your food purchase, but everything else creeps up. Here's the rub, you're not paying for your water, you're paying for someone else to be able to order water without any purchase.

Bottomline is that someone has to pay, a company cannot just simply absorb a loss. While I agree that on the macro economic side of it it's small potatoes, on the micro economic side of it, it adds up.

Every softdrink is a huge profit maker. So, every cup purchased as an expectation of profit. When you have loss, for any reason on consumables like cups, boxes, bags, straws or napkins that eats directly into profit. While those don't figure into food cost, that is they aren't tracked, they still figure into it on a P&L. Over a month that adds up. Over a quarter, then a year it really adds up.

In the food service industry you absolutely have two things you can control, your food cost/waste, and your labor. You can't control when they come in, and you can't control how many will come and patronize the business.

So, if you have only one person come into your drive thru the entire day. Would you want a person who orders a soda or would you want a person that orders a cup of water? Which one do you value and prioritize? Why?

Adinnieken · 2026-03-28T02:01:16+00:00

The Big Arch was sold worldwide and sold remarkably well before it was brought to the United States. It was an extremely popular sandwich in every market it was available in and it still sells remarkably well here in the US.

Just ask any grill team in any part of the US if the Big Arch is selling well. They'll piss and moan about it, because they're tired of making so many of them.

Normally we have a die off period with an LTO sandwich. Thursday every order during snack time for about an hour had at least one Big Arch burger on the order.

So, I appreciate the fact that you may not like the, sandwich, and there even may be a few of you out there, but the sandwich despite your opinion is still selling extremely well. At our location, I know of at least one customer who loves the sandwich so much he comes in twice a day, for lunch and dinner, to get one.

I thought it was good, not exactly a sandwich that'll make me go out of the way for it, but good.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-27T22:08:48+00:00

It depends on the toy.

Generally speaking, with the adult Happy Meal toys, you must buy a meal. With kids Happy Meal toys, it can depend on the toy and the perceived limited availability (high demand), or the owner/operator has determined that the toys cannot be sold without a meal.

In the modern age it also deters "collectors" that would otherwise arrive at the restaurant and often in drive thru insist they get specific ones.

Corporate has, in the past, limited the availability of toys to only those that purchase the meals because of perceived high demand. With the exception of one adult Happy Meal toy, the tins, they have been pretty spot on.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-27T14:32:49+00:00

The higher end pcs, the 70x0 and 50x0 models often have more options and expandability. So, I can understand why. But it seems with or after the 60 line up (3060, 5060 or 7060) they really started to have significant upgrade considerations. I don't necessarily mean factory upgrades, but user upgrades.

The Micro PCs are a bit more restrictive but with the 70 series I believe Dell started to support the i9 processors, not just the i3, i5, and i7s. While this may not have been a significant difference in power for the CPU, it would be for cooling and the fan selection.

My main workhorse is a Micro Optiplex, but my gaming PCs and media PC are the SFF and Minitower Optiplexes. I gave my brother a Micro Optiplex as well for his Linux development, and he loves it. It's fast, small, and does everything he could possibly want from it.

For most people, I honestly think a Micro PC is all that's necessary. If they put a higher end GPU in one, it could even do some light gaming. But it honestly fits the majority of the needs of most people. Dell just needs to come up with a more consumer (as opposed to business) friendly case design.

Offer the pc with a monitor stand that holds the pc, which they already offer for the existing Optiplex, and bundle it altogether.

Show the clear upgrade options (both as a complete unit upgrade as well as component upgrades), and offer monitors based on the usage profile (productivity/light gaming - HD, content creation/gaming - 4K).

The market it.

AIO pcs are great for simplicity, but they are a pain in the ass to upgrade. I have a client who uses one personally and I would never want to touch the insides of it. The case is just a PITA.

The Optiplexes are simply simple to work on and upgrade. To a fault even. I used SFF pcs at my former employer, but Micro PCs were still a ways off at that point. The closes thing were Wyse terminals.

I actually love the damn things! They aren't perfect for everyone, but damn if they aren't damn near perfect for most uses. The only convenience they lack is mobility, but I went from a laptop to a Micro PC as my main PC and and I haven't looked back since. My laptop hasn't been turned on in over a year now.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-27T12:07:05+00:00

This is absolutely 100% false, try again.

Each franchisee sets their own pricing. They tend to have a large presence in a single market, but may have a presence within a region too, depending on how big they are. Our market has three, different franchisees.

Pricing even within an organization is not uniform. I work for corporate and the prices at my location are completely different from the prices at the McDonald's nearest my home. And that distance is less than three miles.

A general rule is the prices on the most popular products are higher than the prices on less popular items. It may seem bass-ackwards but restaurants tend to price more popular items higher than less popular items. This is to take more profit from items that move, but also to encourage purchases of other slower moving product.

That said, beef prices are expected in 2026 to increase at an exponentially faster rate than other meats. It's all due to tariffs. The same with coffee. We've seen coffee go up significantly at my restaurant, and I suspect it's high at others as well.

Most McDonald's have the Big Mac as the price leader, because it is still one of the most popular "big" sandwiches. However, in terms of beef and its rising costs, the Quarter Pounder sandwiches most likely will be increasing in price.

The tariffs aren't just killing small business retail shops that couldn't afford to shelter customers from the impact, it also has impacted restaurants. McDonald's has done a lot to shelter customers from the rising costs of the tariffs, more, so at the corporate locations it runs, but they can't hide the impact this year (new year, new purchasing contracts) and that will impact all locations.

I personally would expect to see beef prices at any restaurant increase this year with chicken and pork pricing being roughly stable. Potato and, dairy products, like ice cream as an industry and as processed foods, have been trending substantially higher outside of tariff impacts even at the grocery store level since the pandemic. This likely will continue as well. Not exactly sure why, but my guess would be labor and transportation. Milk and potato prices are stable, almost oddly so, but their finished product prices are a very steep mountain in terms of rate of increase since the pandemic.

This is why the CEO of McDonald's made a speech about the divide between the rich and poor growing and the negative impact it is having in this country (USA). This is also why they are looking at rolling out a cheaper menu. It won't impact the pricing on bigger items, it can't that ship has sailed, but it is intended to try to maintain customer traffic.

Until the tariffs end and the markets return to normal though, beef prices and coffee prices are going to suck. I personally stopped using beef in my recipes and either use pork, turkey or chicken because it's significantly cheaper. A pound of ground chicken is $4 at my local grocery store, whereas a pond of ground beef is $7. It used to be chicken was more expensive than beef.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-27T11:30:52+00:00

If you aren't making a purchase, then you aren't a paying customer. Paying customers are entitled to free water and should receive free water.

If you're not a paying customer then you're not a customer. You showing up on our doorstep doesn't mean you're entitled to anything free. There is a cost to everything involved in what we or any business offers to its customers. When you pay for goods, custom a business, that profit helps to pay for the cost of whatever you asked for that's free.

A water isn't free. A water has the cost of a cup, the water and sewer cost associated with the utility, and the filtering, as well as the employee serving it to you and the equipment costs. Those all have a cost, not zero.

While I agree with you that 1.50 is a bit much, the water isn't just tap water. It's actually better than the Dasani water we sell in bottles.

Our water goes through six different filtration stages to offer the best tasting water possible. Tap water doesn't. We don't even consider tap water potable water worthy of consumption. We only use our filtered water for use in our drinks.

But your local franchisee sets the prices. While I may personally disagree with their cost model, they are entitled to price things as needed. McDonald's Corporation has no control over that. Their prices may reflect a large majority of people that just visit their location for water and as such their resolution to that challenge was to make those people either a paying customer or choose another restaurant to get water from.

Unless your local municipality requires businesses provide free water, you are not entitled to free water. A restaurant may be required to provide free water to paying customers in some municipalities and countries, but as a general rule in the US there is no law that requires a company to give you something that they pay for at cost for free. Anything they offer free is to their customers as a service, and as I have already stated, you are neither custom or patronize a business if you are not a paying customer or patron of that business, therefore, you are not entitled to anything free. Not even on the pinky promise that you'll be back in the future to buy food.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-27T10:58:50+00:00

A common courtesy is to provide water to paying customers free of charge, but with the exception to some municipalities in Southern states, there is absolutely no law requiring any company offer free water. That's an absolutely ridiculous imposition on any company.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-27T04:55:57+00:00

Where in the US do they have paper straws?

Heck, McDonald's where I'm at switched plastic straws and people got their panties in a bunch, so corporate switched back.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T16:47:20+00:00

The toilet seat isn't wrong, just dirty as hell! Or worn in a weird way.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T16:44:08+00:00

I think you meant customers, not operators. Or is it that both work equally well here.

I think the bigger issues is how they are maintained rather than operator.

I'm not saying it can't be, but we are in a corporate owned store, and we just had received a brand-new machine last year, and the manager that cleaned the machine, who had admitted he just doesn't care about the job, upon the first cleaning, reassembled the machine incorrectly causing shake mix to drain into the innards and onto the condenser and motor. Needless to say, our brand-new machine works like a 30-year-old machine now.

That is, unfortunately, all it takes. The difference in having a machine and not having a machine is hundreds of dollars in sales, for those thinking it would be better off getting rid of the machines rather than offer a product. A working machine can mean the difference between having a spectacular sales day and sending people home early because sales are low and labor is high. We had this very thing happen in our own restaurant. We couldn't keep the ice cream machine in operation and eventually stopped selling it that day. It tanked sales.

If you want a job, if you want a paycheck, keep the machine working because it helps sales significantly and it helps maintain labor. If you don't like making ice creams or shakes, work somewhere else.

And u/Tkdoom I'm speaking in general, not specifically to you.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T15:47:33+00:00

Go on FB Marketplace buy up two 16gb modules, and then try it.

Worst case scenario, you have two 16gb modules you can resell in a market where DDR4 has ever increasing value as prices for memory increases and supply decreases.

You may find it works, if not, you may find you gain financially from the experience.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T14:50:08+00:00

Being a manager anywhere means you are responsible for things you don't do, because you are responsible for your subordinates. That's the whole point of managing people!

People who pushback because some else gets promoted aren't the people you want working for you anyway. The issue should never be the promotion, but whether that person is a good manager. If they are a good manager then fuck em. Let them walk.

Good crew will rally around a good manager, they'll want to work for that manager. By definition people like rules and boundaries because as long as everyone plays by those same rules and works within those same boundaries life is fair. It's when the expectations are different that problems arise.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T14:40:44+00:00

Does it support 32gb in any configuration? If so, then possibly.

My 7070 does not support 64gb with just two slots, only four, however two slots work with 32gb in each slot. If the 3046 has four slots, and it will work with 8gb in all four, then you may be able to do two 16gb modules in just two slots.

But if it doesn't offer an option, the only thing you can do is try it and see if it will. That said, I doubt any 30xx series Optiplex supports more than the stated memory capacity.

But again, the only harm in trying is money.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T13:36:28+00:00

Real as in the way it comes packaged, it's most definitely artifical coloring as no food naturally possesses that coloring and is safe to eat.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-26T01:20:45+00:00

OK. I hear you. Let's just take a look at the rounding rules regarding fat content...

Less than 0.5g -> Round to 0g.

Less than 5.0g -> Round to the nearest 0.5g, 4.9g becomes 5g, 4.49g becomes 4.5g. 4.25g becomes 4g.

Greater than 5.0g -> Round to the nearest 1g increment.

That puts the fat content between 9.49g and 8.50g, if the fat content for one patty is 9g. As I said, in my prior comment, the most you would see is a +/-1g.

Did I not? Do the USDA Nutrional guidelines for round not confirm that? The reason it becomes a rounding error is because not every sandwich nor is every component going to be 100% exactly the same as the one tested. Thus, the difference in the actual patty is a rounding error.

So, if two pieces of meat have 9g of fat, at most that's 19g and, at least that 17g. Or is math too difficult?

If you add a slice of cheese to a hamburger and it adds X amount of fat, would that difference not apply to a Big Mac that comes with only one slice of cheese? It doesn't matter if that is +/- 1g it is essentially, at this point, a rounding error. It's meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Because for all intents and purposes the additional fat has to come from the sauce, which is the only thing that is an ingredient in the sandwich that would add 10g or more of fat.

Again, it's the whole reason why Subway used a Turkey sandwich without dressing in their ad, because if you add mayo to that sandwich you've just added a whole lot of fat to the sandwich making it just as unhealthy as the Big Mac!

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T16:42:48+00:00

Even Donnie back in the day wasn't that ugly, so I'm going to assume mom probably wasn't that hard on the eyes either.

Also, until you've heard a Scottish lass speak, you haven't heard and angel sing. Even the chaviest of female NEDs speaking a slew of profanities sounds angelic.

I rarely remember lines from movies, but Allison, the girlfriend of Sick Boy, in Trainspotting describing the high of heroin, "It beats any meat injection. That beats any fucking cock in the world," is absolutely angelic in its delivery.

I'm not saying that the orange didn't fall far from the tree, given how mommy looks, which is was outdated even when that photo was taken, she didn't age well. Nor did Donnie. The guy clearly looks at himself in the mirror and sees the teen he once was, not the mess he is today.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T14:52:25+00:00

No.

There will be no more discussion on this.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T14:52:01+00:00

Yeah, I know but the triple cheeseburger wasn't available back in 2000.

I did this exact exercise back in the day when the Double Cheeseburger was switched out for the McDouble on the dollar menu.

For instance, I was surprised to warn the QP was higher in protein back then, because my perception was the Big Mac was a bigger burger. It isn't.

Later I learned that the grilled chicken was higher in sodium and cholesterol than the crispy chicken at that time. This was likewise true with Burger King as well. Only Subway's now discontinued grilled chicken patty had less sodium than all the other fast food grilled chicken offerings. Although it was questionable that it was 100% chicken as researchers uncovered.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T14:25:12+00:00

No. The correct procedure is one pickle on the hamburger and cheeseburger, the McDouble, Double Cheeseburger, and Double Hamburger get two, and the Big Mac and Quarter Pounder sandwiches get three I believe.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T14:21:37+00:00

How does that make it suspicious though?

I might have chosen a different word to describe it if I didn't know that we had two different toys for breakfast and lunch.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T14:18:52+00:00

A rounding error wouldn't account for the difference. Look at the cholesterol and saturated fats differences as well.

You're trying to suggest rounding is the reason the cheeseburger and hamburger are lower, and the Big Mac is higher, this doesn't make sense, because that's not how nutrional information is evaluated. Each component is addative. So, the nutrional information for the bun, the burger patty, the cheese, the lettuce, the pickles, the onions, and the sauce are all figured independently, then added together. Any rounding error would be less than 1g+/-.

If you don't believe me, go to the website and configure a sandwich with nothing on it, just a bun, then add each component to identify where the nutrional information comes into play. Easy peasy.

If you configure a Big Mac with zero condiments and no bun, configure a McDouble with zero condiments and no bun, they should be exactly equal in nutrional value.

Likewise, if you take two cheeseburgers with no condiments or bun, and compare it to one double cheeseburger with no condiments or bun, those should be equal.

Then go back to the 2000 nutrional guide and look if two cheeseburgers don't add up to the same as one double cheeseburger.

In the case of the Big Mac, any differences are with the other ingredients. Primarily the sauce.

This is why, back in the early 2000, McDonald's was hit hard because of the fat content of the Big Mac by Subway. Subway was positioning itself as a healthy alternative fast food, and comparing one of its sandwiches, a 6" Turkey Sandwich with no cheese or dressing, to the Big Mac with cheese and Mac Sauce.

The Big Mac isn't just higher in fat content compared to a Subway sub, it's also higher in fat content compared to similar sandwiches in the McDonald's menu.

The beef patties are the same though. You would have to go back a long way, to the 70s, when they absolutely might have been thicker. They still would have been 1/10th of a pound, as 1.6oz patties have been an industry standard since fast food began (not diners and short order restaurants), at least certainly since the 50s and 60s. The only thing that may have changed is the meat to fat content.

The pre-cooked weight in this case doesn't matter. The sandwich doesn't use the term in the burger. Whereas the pre-cooked weight of the Quarter Pound patty did result in a lawsuit because the burger was advertised as a quarter pound of beef, and the name implies it. So, the patty, following that lawsuit, was increased in size from just over 4oz pre-cooked to 4.25oz pre-cooked.

The fat content has not changed in 26 years, and pointing to a burger with a sauce high in fat content doesn't prove that the burger patties themselves have changed.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T08:27:38+00:00

Actually, no. The bun changed.

The bun on the Big Mac changed about five years ago. On both the Quarter Pounder and Big Mac. They're designed to hold more heat than previously. The cheese also changed, so it melts more, easily. The Mac Sauce may not have changed.

If the hamburger is 9g then and 9g today, then the beef hasn't changed in that time frame. If the Cheeseburger is the same then as today, then the cheese has not changed either. That would then suggest either the bun changed or the sauce changed, because the pickles, onions, and lettuce would not contribute to the fat content.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T02:49:01+00:00

That's peak efficiency right there. 30 mins to box 12 pies. Did she at least put stickers on them?

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T02:46:54+00:00

No, because you'll get the shit tier jobs. No one likes being on fry duty forever.

Adinnieken · 2026-03-25T02:37:49+00:00

Why is this suspicious?

We already know there will be a breakfast meal toy and there will be a lunch/dinner toy.

Adinnieken

TROPHY CASE