Stigma Associated with Fast Food

A co-worker called me just now to ask me if I wanted to do lunch. I told her I'd just grabbed something from McDonald's. And then she started musing out loud about what she wanted to eat. I guess she was in an indecisive mood. And then she said something that startled me. "Sometimes I'm just embarrassed to bring a hamburger from McDonald's into the office, you know what I mean?" Umm, yes. But then I just tell myself to get over it.

I guess there's a stigma associated with McD's. It's okay to buy your lunch from a healthy, chi chi place like Spa Cafe. Not so cool to buy something from McD's. As if it's a reflection of my socio-economic status. I guess it's the same thing as bringing a frozen entree to work and heating it up in the communal microwave. When I worked in the law firm, only the support staff brought their lunches to work. I always bought my lunch because it was a good excuse actually get out of the office during the middle of the day. But practically speaking, it would've saved me a lot of time and money if I had just packed a lunch. The lunchtime crowds can make even the fastest of fast food places seem slow.