Another crazy driver in Cloverdale

Late this afternoon we had to drive over to the London Drugs in the Cloverdale Crossing Mall. On 64th Avenue there is a left hand turn lane that enters the mall inbetween Tim Hortons and a building that houses Telus, Great Clips, and a sushi restaurant. There is a median separating the entrance and exit traffic in and out of the mall.

I'm waiting in the left hand turn lane. There is a lot of oncoming traffic travelling west on 64th so I have to wait a bit. I get a couple of cars in line behind me also wanting to turn into the mall.

And then I notice a car trying to turn into the mall using the exit lane. That didn't go too good because there was already a car there, correctly attempting to exit out of the mall onto 64th Avenue. You'd think the driver would just straighten out the car and continue up a hundred feet to to the next entrance into the mall inbetween Tim Hortons and McDonald's. But I guess that would be too easy. Instead the female driver, an Asian woman about 40 years old, decides the appropriate thing is to back up onto 64th Avenue and make another try to get into the mall using that particular entrance. 3 times she backed up and went forward, effectively bringing to a stop all westbound traffic on 64th. By the time she finally got inside the mall I had 6 cars in line behind me trying to left turn.

And here's the funny thing. I get into the mall, park about halfway down the aisle from London Drugs and we spot her car. She is aimlessly driving around the mall.

Backing up onto a busy road is definitely a bad idea. Making several attempts is even worse. Its much better to continue on a few more feet and choose another entrance into the mall. But I guess she had her little heart set on driving in this particular driveway.

McDonald's restaurants around town

When I was growing up we didn't have McDonald's restaurants on practically every street corner. There was only one in Surrey and none in Langley, so I really didn't grow up with the fast food joint.

Of course, we saw the McDonald's commercials on TV and wanted milkshakes, fries, and burgers. The closest McDonald's was in Whalley on the King George Highway and about 102nd Avenue. It still stands there today. Occasionally we'd get a meal from McDonald's, usually in Vancouver or some other town we were visiting. Maybe once at the Whalley McDonald's.

By the mid-70's a few more McDonald's had popped up around town. There was one at the Scottsdale Mall, Scott Road and 70th Avenue that I used to go to from time to time when visiting the mall. Back then I got a hamburger, large fries, and a large coke for one dollar.

That was around the time McDonald's was running the commercials about how you always get change for a dollar. Those days are long since past. Maybe change from a ten or twenty now depending on if you're eating alone or with someone else.

The first McDonald's in Langley opened around 1978, the one on the corner of the Fraser Highway and the Langley Bypass, so now we finally had a McDonald's that was somewhat closer to home. Though I think the one across the street from the Guildford Mall opened around the same time, perhaps a year or two earlier.

The McDonald's in Cloverdale opened around 1980 with a decidedly Western theme. Stools shaped like Western saddles adorned the counter tables. The Ronald McDonald statue wore a cowboy hat. Little things keeping with Cloverdale's country western town, and possibly a tribute to the Cloverdale Rodeo which was the second largest in Canada at the time.

I'm a vegetarian so I rarely go into McDonald's. I still like their fries and McFlurry's so I visit about 2 or 3 times a year for a snack. I was last in the Cloverdale McDonald's a little over a year ago and the stools shaped like Western saddles are gone, as is most of the other decor I remembered from after it opened.

But if you go through the drive-thru at McDonald's, you'll be on the east side of the wall at Stampede Tack and the mural is full of McDonald's characters in Western attire.

And why the sudden interest in McDonald's? Darned if my father didn't phone last night and is bringing his car into the mechanic around the corner on Wednesday morning and he wants to take us out to breakfast at McDonald's.

Hmm. I'm hoping I can persuade him to go to another fine dining establishment in town....

McDonald's commercial

Is anyone getting annoyed at the latest McDonald's commercial about enjoying summertime and celebrating summer by getting any size of soft drink for $1? Its not the content of the commercial - its the jingle. Deck The Halls.

I love Christmas carols during the month of December, but not during the summer. Can't get that ditty out of your head. Who wants to be humming Christmas carols this time of year.

Why not bring back some of those retro commercials. Remember "Grab a bucket and mop. Scrub the bottom and top. There is nothing so clean as my burger machine." Or something along those lines about "at McDonald's its clean."

"You deserve a break today so get up and get away to McDonald's."

Yes, much better than changing the words to Deck the Halls.

Remember the classic commercial where the customer pays for his order with a dollar bill and turns to walk away only to have the cashier call him back and say "you always get change at McDonald's."

Those days are long gone.