jitterbug
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Post by jitterbug on Aug 20, 2014 11:48:07 GMT -5
I'm sitting in the McDonalds drive thru at lunch today, waiting while people peruse the menu at the speaker....WHY do drive-thrus not put a menu board a couple of cars back so people can take their time looking it over? Even at McDonalds...they always have something new and sometimes I want to see what it is before ordering. Instead I get to the speaker and just order what I usually do.
Two....every time I'm at a hotel, unwrapping a bar of soap for the shower and a bar for the sink...I'm curious as to why hotel rooms don't put up liquid soap dispensers? And maybe offer a disposable scrubbie versus a wash cloth? I never use bar soap at home anymore...and I would think it would be cheaper than all those individual soaps.
What are your great ideas that nobody's doing?
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Aug 20, 2014 11:54:43 GMT -5
Some fast food restaurants are doing that in my area. One Mcdonalds recently went to two drive through lanes that merge to one. So you can be perusing the menu, but not slowing the whole line down.
Hotels- yes it would be cheaper but probably less sanitary. Who knows what someone may have put in that bottle. I'd much prefer to open a bar of soap. But I'm allergic to most cheap soaps, so I just tend to carry my own.
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greeniis10
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Post by greeniis10 on Aug 20, 2014 12:00:43 GMT -5
I agree with agilemom that some fast food places ARE starting to put the menus farther back in the line, but still, 9 times out of 10 if you're going to a fast food place you probably already have a good idea what you want, right?!
I haven't been inside a fast food place for YEARS (since my kids were little) but it never failed - there we were, 4 or 5 people deep in the line, waiting our turn and inevitably the person in front of us when asked what they would like would respond, "Ummmm...." It took everything I had not to slap them in the back of the head. Thankfully, greasy hair grosses me out so most people were spared simply because of that.
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wyouser
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Post by wyouser on Aug 20, 2014 12:04:16 GMT -5
Some fast food restaurants are doing that in my area. One Mcdonalds recently went to two drive through lanes that merge to one. So you can be perusing the menu, but not slowing the whole line down. Hotels- yes it would be cheaper but probably less sanitary. Who knows what someone may have put in that bottle. I'd much prefer to open a bar of soap. But I'm allergic to most cheap soaps, so I just tend to carry my own. Remember the flick "Dennis The Menace"? Now ask what someone may have put in the bottle? Would one dispenser bottle be enough for one use of the tub with a Dennis?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Aug 20, 2014 12:05:12 GMT -5
yup, places around here (MA) are starting to bump the menu board earlier in the line as well.
as far as the liquid dispensers - those are in use on cruise ships. I'm allergic to everything under the sun, so I bring my own stuff anyway....but the guys love it b/c that means they can get away with packing a huge backpack to carryon the plane w/o toiletries. must be nice haha....
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Aug 20, 2014 12:06:10 GMT -5
It probably wouldn't help them to do this. Most fast food places can't keep up if someone new was ordering at the drivethru every 30 seconds. This buys them a little time. We've got some here that put in a 2nd ordering lane to reduce the size of the line, but it seems primarily about not having the line block the parking lot. You don't get through any faster, just at the speed they can get the food out.
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aprilleigh
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Post by aprilleigh on Aug 20, 2014 12:32:40 GMT -5
What are your great ideas that nobody's doing? Instead of placebo pills in birth control packs: Midol.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Aug 20, 2014 13:05:47 GMT -5
It is likely that hotels don't use liquid soap dispensers for many reasons. A few that come to mind:
1. People are stupid. Many of the "guests" are likely to think it would be fun to drain the soap dispenser onto the counter or floor or into the tub or wherever it is located, just because. Messy and expensive. 2. Even without the intervention of stupid people, those things always leak or drip and make a mess. 3. As wyouser pointed out, too easy to adulterate the contents. 4. If hotels bought good quality soap dispensers that would survive the abuse they would be bound to receive, people would steal them or break them trying to steal them if they were fastened down. If they bought cheap soap dispensers, they would always be broken just from normal use. Expensive to replace. 5. If the bags of soap are not loaded just so into the soap dispensers, they don't work properly and would require additional maintenance calls--another expense. 6. The little wrapped bars of soap are relatively cheap and easy to dispose of when left behind. They are a cheap form of advertisement when people take the unused ones with them when they leave.
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ZaireinHD
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Post by ZaireinHD on Aug 20, 2014 13:49:01 GMT -5
I think I'm missunderstanding the fast food drive through situation why does it matter if the menu is more up front? if a customer is looking over the menu taking up time and not moving - then the line is not moving
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lynnerself
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Post by lynnerself on Aug 20, 2014 13:53:23 GMT -5
Two....every time I'm at a hotel, unwrapping a bar of soap for the shower and a bar for the sink...I'm curious as to why hotel rooms don't put up liquid soap dispensers? And maybe offer a disposable scrubbie versus a wash cloth? I never use bar soap at home anymore...and I would think it would be cheaper than all those individual soaps. I have been to several hotels, especially the ones that advertise that they are "green', that do have dispensers in the shower for body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Usually they have bars of soap still at the skink.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Aug 20, 2014 14:01:28 GMT -5
I have ALWAYS wondered why a "convenience" store doesn't have a drive thru but a bank does! But, I see some are doing that now.
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jitterbug
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Post by jitterbug on Aug 20, 2014 14:07:01 GMT -5
What are your great ideas that nobody's doing? Instead of placebo pills in birth control packs: Midol. BRILLIANT!!! I guess the drive thru just irritated me today, as TWO people ahead of me did the "uhhhh....." when it was their turn to order. And by putting the sign a couple of cars out, people could look while waiting their turn. I understand all your arguments about the liquid soap in a hotel - but that could easily happen at any McDonalds, too. And yet that's what they use.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Aug 20, 2014 14:09:28 GMT -5
Well, WHY oh WHY doesn't ketchup come in the size of the salad dressing packs! Do you know how many of those tiny packs you have to open to make a tablespoon or two? Sheesh!
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Aug 20, 2014 14:18:04 GMT -5
I think I'm missunderstanding the fast food drive through situation why does it matter if the menu is more up front? if a customer is looking over the menu taking up time and not moving - then the line is not moving They're looking at the menu and taking up time while someone else is ordering, which means they're doing it NOW instead of waiting until they are at the mic to start looking over the menu.
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ZaireinHD
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Post by ZaireinHD on Aug 20, 2014 14:18:24 GMT -5
OH - ok I get it now
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Aug 20, 2014 15:24:16 GMT -5
True, but a McDonald's has only a few rest rooms, usually no more than 3. A hotel has dozens, maybe hundreds of rooms. Hundreds of drained, damaged, or stolen soap dispensers would be a significant expense to maintain or replace. Throwing out the soap wrappers and small pieces of used soap and putting out a couple of bars of new soap only takes a few seconds for each room.
Also, a messy soap dispenser in a McDonald's restaurant isn't going to have the same adverse effect on its image as the same messy soap dispenser would have in a nice hotel.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Aug 20, 2014 15:32:37 GMT -5
Our soap dispensers at work are steel boxes bolted to the wall that are motion-activated to squirt out the foamy soap (not liquid). I suppose you could make a mess if you really tried, but it would take a lot of deliberate effort.
The only time I've made a mess with it is when I stupidly stuck my (open) purse on the counter right under the soap dispenser. This set off the motion detector and I ended up with a purse full of foam.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Aug 20, 2014 15:35:43 GMT -5
I suppose you could make a mess if you really tried, but it would take a lot of deliberate effort. Oh just wait until Baby Mid is tall enough to trigger those things. You haven't seen anything. Kids are fascinated with automatic soap/towel dispensers and it's amazing how fast they can be triggered to keep releasing a nearly endless supply of soap/paper.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Aug 20, 2014 15:41:02 GMT -5
Our soap dispensers at work are steel boxes bolted to the wall that are motion-activated to squirt out the foamy soap (not liquid). I suppose you could make a mess if you really tried, but it would take a lot of deliberate effort. The only time I've made a mess with it is when I stupidly stuck my (open) purse on the counter right under the soap dispenser. This set off the motion detector and I ended up with a purse full of foam. That happened to me once with the same kind of dispenser! I was taking a class in my agency's training facility and didn't realize the (already cramped) restrooms had recently been retrofitted with automatic everything--water faucets, soap dispensers, toilets, and paper towel dispensers. The only place to put my purse down on the counter was under the soap dispenser, which began dispensing soap into it. I grabbed the purse and moved it away from the soap dispenser and held it over the sink, right under the water faucet, which was mounted rather high on the wall. This activated the water, so now I had soap and water in my purse. I instinctively backed up to get the purse away from the sink, which meant I backed into an open stall because the restroom was so small. That activated the toilet. I felt like I was in a Candid Camera sketch.
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Aug 20, 2014 16:04:12 GMT -5
Most of the McD's or other drive-thru's here, have the menu boards posted quite far back in the drive-thru lanes so you can peruse the menu and have a good idea what you want BEFORE you get to the speaker to order - If there's a few cars ahead of you, your order's been given in advance through the speaker to someone wearing headphones. By the time you get to the window to pay, it's usually ready for you.
But there's always those people who don't bother looking at the posted menu while waiting in the line, then when they get to the speaker, they hem and haw and ask a bunch of questions before placing their order, because nobody in the car's decided what they actually want to eat.
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Aug 20, 2014 18:20:10 GMT -5
I felt like I was in a Candid Camera sketch
That is hilarious ...... thanks for the laugh.
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achelois
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Post by achelois on Aug 20, 2014 21:34:54 GMT -5
I agree with agilemom that some fast food places ARE starting to put the menus farther back in the line, but still, 9 times out of 10 if you're going to a fast food place you probably already have a good idea what you want, right?! I haven't been inside a fast food place for YEARS (since my kids were little) but it never failed - there we were, 4 or 5 people deep in the line, waiting our turn and inevitably the person in front of us when asked what they would like would respond, "Ummmm...." It took everything I had not to slap them in the back of the head. Thankfully, greasy hair grosses me out so most people were spared simply because of that. Yes. Some people will go through their whole lives never knowing how narrow an escape they have had.
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ZaireinHD
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Post by ZaireinHD on Aug 21, 2014 23:01:10 GMT -5
for some reason I am stuck on product loyalty? there are LOTS of fast food places I have not been too. and new ones are popping up in my area. but I know I should NOT go through the drive through not knowing what's on the menu. also not stand in line and would step back so I can read the menu. as for the places I normally go to - yes - true - there are times new items are listed. BUT I know of the new item(s) from commercials, and once I get there I already know I want to try it. but if I find it on the menu and see the PRICE!! whoops! deal breaker! and to the dollar menu!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2014 6:48:45 GMT -5
Two....every time I'm at a hotel, unwrapping a bar of soap for the shower and a bar for the sink...I'm curious as to why hotel rooms don't put up liquid soap dispensers? And maybe offer a disposable scrubbie versus a wash cloth? I never use bar soap at home anymore...and I would think it would be cheaper than all those individual soaps. I stayed at a hotel in Zurich that had a single dispenser in the shower for what they claimed was body wash AND shampoo. Not sure how the same substance could be good for both, but it was certainly "green". DH and I tend to have a lot of one-night stays in hotels on our road trips, and I try to take the little bottles of opened shampoo and the used soap bar with me when we leave. The shampoo is good for the gym or subsequent trips and I use the soap at home. Typically, I use only one bar of the hotel soap, usually the one by the sink since it's smaller. I'm not so picky that I need a different soap for my face or hands than for the rest of me.
The disposable scrubbie vs. wash cloth: it's always a toss-up which is better for the environment. I think they might be better off reusing and washing a cloth instead of throwing a few hundred disposables away every day. Recycling the disposables, if possible, has a "feel-good" factor, but I'm not sure how much more energy and resources are used to collect them, process them and make them into something else.
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 22, 2014 8:31:01 GMT -5
The disposable scrubbie vs. wash cloth: it's always a toss-up which is better for the environment.
Good example of how regional differences come into play.
Examples of extremes - in Phoenix, water is scarce but there are miles and miles and miles of unused desert that could be pressed into service for waste disposal if needed. In England, they've got plenty of water but are running out of available land to use for waste area.
Being "Green" can and should vary depending on the location.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Aug 22, 2014 13:37:25 GMT -5
Two....every time I'm at a hotel, unwrapping a bar of soap for the shower and a bar for the sink...I'm curious as to why hotel rooms don't put up liquid soap dispensers? And maybe offer a disposable scrubbie versus a wash cloth? I never use bar soap at home anymore...and I would think it would be cheaper than all those individual soaps. I stayed at a hotel in Zurich that had a single dispenser in the shower for what they claimed was body wash AND shampoo. Not sure how the same substance could be good for both, but it was certainly "green". DH and I tend to have a lot of one-night stays in hotels on our road trips, and I try to take the little bottles of opened shampoo and the used soap bar with me when we leave. The shampoo is good for the gym or subsequent trips and I use the soap at home. Typically, I use only one bar of the hotel soap, usually the one by the sink since it's smaller. I'm not so picky that I need a different soap for my face or hands than for the rest of me.
The disposable scrubbie vs. wash cloth: it's always a toss-up which is better for the environment. I think they might be better off reusing and washing a cloth instead of throwing a few hundred disposables away every day. Recycling the disposables, if possible, has a "feel-good" factor, but I'm not sure how much more energy and resources are used to collect them, process them and make them into something else.
In my extreme couponing days I ended up with 200+ bottles of shampoo. I use it for body wash and even refill my handsoap dispensers with it, and the "clarifying" shampoo works really well to clean the shower with (gets off all the soap scum with little effort). So I usually keep one bottle of the clarifying under the sink and one bottle of shampoo in the shower Soap is soap.
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Plain Old Petunia
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Post by Plain Old Petunia on Aug 22, 2014 13:55:56 GMT -5
I understand all your arguments about the liquid soap in a hotel - but that could easily happen at any McDonalds, too. And yet that's what they use.
People stay overnight and have privacy in their hotel rooms. They have plenty of time to do whatever they want to the soap dispenser.
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Plain Old Petunia
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Post by Plain Old Petunia on Aug 22, 2014 13:57:59 GMT -5
Our soap dispensers at work are steel boxes bolted to the wall that are motion-activated to squirt out the foamy soap (not liquid). I suppose you could make a mess if you really tried, but it would take a lot of deliberate effort. The only time I've made a mess with it is when I stupidly stuck my (open) purse on the counter right under the soap dispenser. This set off the motion detector and I ended up with a purse full of foam. That happened to me once with the same kind of dispenser! I was taking a class in my agency's training facility and didn't realize the (already cramped) restrooms had recently been retrofitted with automatic everything--water faucets, soap dispensers, toilets, and paper towel dispensers. The only place to put my purse down on the counter was under the soap dispenser, which began dispensing soap into it. I grabbed the purse and moved it away from the soap dispenser and held it over the sink, right under the water faucet, which was mounted rather high on the wall. This activated the water, so now I had soap and water in my purse. I instinctively backed up to get the purse away from the sink, which meant I backed into an open stall because the restroom was so small. That activated the toilet. I felt like I was in a Candid Camera sketch. Hysterical! Thanks for sharing.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Aug 22, 2014 14:07:16 GMT -5
I can't believe that this many ym'ers are admitting to sitting in drive thru lanes for fast food.
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Sunnyday
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Post by Sunnyday on Aug 22, 2014 14:12:36 GMT -5
I understand all your arguments about the liquid soap in a hotel - but that could easily happen at any McDonalds, too. And yet that's what they use.
People stay overnight and have privacy in their hotel rooms. They have plenty of time to do whatever they want to the soap dispenser. But are they going to do it? If they were also the type of person who would adulterate the soap or empty it out for the fun (assuming that they are not 10 years old), they would probably be the type to pee on the couch or rub their boogers on the curtains or a number of other gross things along with the other vandalism type things. If I was hotel management, I prefer them emptying all the soap out for the fun instead of messing with the curtains. And no one would expect the hotel to buy new curtains for each guest. I've stayed in hotels that use dispensers. Most of them were abroad. Made sense to me! and the dispensers were always easier to use for me. Most hotel shampoos, conditioners are in these hard plastic bottles. You can squeeze the stuff out; you have to wait for gravity to do it's work to get the product out! Unless they have awesome products. I recently stayed in a hotel that had Hermes soap. heavenly smell. we didn't take any extra bottles, but we definately took the open ones!
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