Today for lunch, some of the girls from work and I gathered for our “forbidden feast” (Burger King). While we were sitting there, one of the girls, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, held up her paper cup of ketchup and said, “this is what makes America great!” We all looked at her rather puzzled and she said, “here, you can have all the ketchup you want, and you don’t have to pay extra.” We all sort of laughed, but she went on, recounting the first time she set foot in a Burger King. “I felt so relaxed” she said, she talked about how much food she got, how she could take as many napkins as she wanted, and of course, she talked some more about the ketchup. She said, “it was just like being at Grandmas.” She explained how all restaurants in America (even Burger King) make you feel special.
Well, I don’t feel quite the same way about Burger King as my friend does, but her comments did make me think. Here, she came from a place where supposedly everything was free, where everyone was supposed to get as much as they wanted, and yet she was gushing about how an evil corporation was making her feel like she was royalty.
What a testament to the free market system.