McDonald’s came to our rescue

Kamal Baruah

(kamal.baruah@yahoo.com)

Soon the door was pushed inside, a sign saying “washroom” was visible, and we tiptoed upstairs. Wow, the digital menu board takes the restaurant world by storm. I ran into glitches for a while, but our daughter quickly came over while sliding orders one after another. Amid ordering beverages, burgers, and fries, what might catch our attention was the presence of a numbered table, and we found a seat and awaited our food’s arrival.

When it comes to waiting for food, customers feel disrespectful, so we had another day at McDonald’s Guwahati recently, and I asked a smiling waitress if I was supposed to place the order at the counter. And the reply was, “McDonald’s food is on its way.” And at a glance, I saw through McDonald’s iconic ‘M’, over the bill, quoting Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited, New Delhi. My memory goes back to early 2K, when McDonald entered the Indian market in 1996, opening its first restaurant in the capital.

The departure for Ahmedabad Rajdhani was in the evening, so we checked out from Rail Yatri Nivas, Paharganj, at noon and walked on an outing to the Connaught Circus for a day of shopping or simply being out about in the city. Connaught Place is famous for having rows of restaurants, shops, and hotels. While we were buying a Kodaq camera at the Canon Flagship Store, our little daughter wanted to poop in the toilet. We felt so helpless.

 Finding a lavatory in a public place was inadequate on those days. Even spending a penny is what it would have cost to use a public facility in London not so very long ago. Meanwhile, the Sardarjee directed us to visit the only restaurant, “McDonald,” that has washroom infrastructure. I can still remember that there was a Nirula’s restaurant at the corner of Basant Lok, which made way for the new American eatery.

McDonald’s, one of the world’s largest fast-food chains, strives to serve customers, while purchasing food or beverages is often associated with gaining access to clean and well-maintained restrooms and upholding high standards of hygiene and cleanliness in the lavatory. We had no interest in grabbing some hamburgers, as our prime intention was to use the lavatory. Our daughter was hardly two years old, and I lifted and carried her to the washroom. The shopkeeper at Canon India was right. The washroom was perfectly clean. I cleaned her butt with dry toilet paper and warm water and returned it fresh to our table. We had the last laugh when a burger came to our rescue, and some fries and Coke too.

Today, when I look back, after two decades, surprisingly, the menu remains the same, but there is a craze for youngsters, and things go digital now. People go to McDonald’s because they are in a rush. The sauce and bun on the Big Mac are McDonald’s most famous burgers that suit any appetite, and of course, you can customise them based on your taste preferences. The primary expectation when visiting fast food restaurants is quick service. 

After a delay of around half an hour in-order store timing, a large order of three trays finally delivered happiness to our table. Our cart was full of baskets of fries, burgers, crispy sandwiches, nuggets, fried chicken, cold tea, ice cream, Coke, and what’s more. We ate so quickly, like we were starving at lunch. We had another Sunday of crunchy, juicy, and spicy food at McDay Guwahati, remembering its rescue at Connaught Place, New Delhi.