Arch Nemesis

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my family and I did a lot of traveling across the state. On Thanksgiving Day we went to the northern border and my husband's folks - then, we headed to the eastern end of the state to spend a few days with my dad - then, home again in the state center. When you travel with kids, you need to make a few stops for food and potty breaks, and more often than not, we find ourselves at McDonald's.

Why, oh why, does McDonald's - probably the largest fast food chain in the world - have no decent vegetarian menu options? Salad minus the chicken, apple dippers, and yogurt parfaits are pretty much all from which you can choose. And when you need to eat in the car, the salad ain't gonna work. On Friday, we went through a Mickey D's drive-thru. It wasn't my first choice because I was really hungry and knew I wouldn't be able to get much, but I didn't want to force my husband to drive aimlessly through an unfamiliar town looking for another option - we wanted to make good time.

After staring at the menu board, I ordered the fruit and walnut salad and small french fries (although I'm pretty sure the fries at McDonald's aren't vegetarian). When we pulled up to the first window to pay, the shift manager told me they were all out of fruit and walnut salads. Oh, great. Now what? I asked (and not as politely as I usually would) if they had any vegetarian options; he suggested the fruit and yogurt parfait. Fine, great, I'll take it. I was really hoping that he would say they had veggie burgers stashed in the back, but just didn't have them displayed on the menu. No such luck. So I ate my parfait and fries.