What ever happened to people knowing the roads?

[vdeane]

Only if you're being self-conscious. If it really does bother you, a good way to hedge is to go into a sit-down restaurant and sit at the bar.

Yeah, I'm pretty self-conscious.  I also wonder what you do while waiting for your food.  Take out my kindle?

[hbelkins]

Yeah, I'm pretty self-conscious.  I also wonder what you do while waiting for your food.  Take out my kindle?

I've seen quite a few solo diners (and even some dining with others) with tablets at the table. Lots of restaurants offer free wi-fi, so it's not like the practice is discouraged. I usually take my phone in with me and will check email, read a few news sites, etc.

[ZLoth]

I favor fast food chains on roadtrips for one simple reason: I usually travel alone and being by yourself at a sit-down restaurant is just plain awkward.

When you are older, you appreciate being able to pull off the road at a sit-down restaurant, relaxing for an hour, and enjoying a prepared meal. Of course, there is the 21st century when you are whipping out your electronic device to check the map/Facebook/email/whatever.

[US81]

Only if you're being self-conscious. If it really does bother you, a good way to hedge is to go into a sit-down restaurant and sit at the bar.

Yeah, I'm pretty self-conscious.  I also wonder what you do while waiting for your food.  Take out my kindle?

Or an analog - a book.

[Pete from Boston]

Actually sitting at the bar in places like the Outback and Olive Garden are not bad.  You still can order a meal there plus if you sit there you do not have to worry about leaving so soon if you are bored.  When you sit at a table you tend to feel guilty if the place is turning over customers, as if you have nothing to do, as many of us traveling during the short day winter months have to check into a room early to avoid traveling at night, like to stay beyond our meal.  At the bar not so much as usually there are always plenty of empty stools around, so if you hang out long beyond your meal you are not preventing a floor server from getting other potential customers.

However, with that said, I was reading the guide to proper tipping and it says that you should tip double if you plan to stay beyond the normal eating experience time when on the dining room floor because you indeed are preventing that particular server from making more sales by taking up space that would be for the next customer.  At the bar they claim that you should tip one dollar for every drink the bartender brings you including water or free refill soft drinks to cover yourself for all the extra back and forth the bartender does for each non sale visit they make over to you.

Standard at bars in the US is $1-$2 per drink or 15-20%, whichever is more. If you get food at the bar just tip 15-20% of the bill like you would with a server. The per drink tip comes into play more often when paying cash for drinks as you go.

A buck a drink seems to still be standard, which is not all that fair considering how long it has stood relative to inflation.  If I get two drinks I make it $3, and if the experience is really good I'll do $2 on a single.  Percentage is not often considered on drinks alone, in my experience. 

Mostly, my guideline is this: round up whenever it's not a bad experience.  Don't be a cheapskate when taking care of people who take care of you. You probably can afford $2 if you can afford $1, and you will not go broke from tipping well.

Only if you're being self-conscious. If it really does bother you, a good way to hedge is to go into a sit-down restaurant and sit at the bar.

Yeah, I'm pretty self-conscious.  I also wonder what you do while waiting for your food.  Take out my kindle?

Or an analog - a book.

I dig picking up the local paper in a strange place, if one's available, and learning something about where I am.

Of course, if it's a bar, bartenders know a lot of their job is chitchat with customers, so within reason they're an option to talk to a bit.  My favorite bars and bartenders also engender conversation between whatever people happen to be at the bar.

[bugo]

I favor fast food chains on roadtrips for one simple reason: I usually travel alone and being by yourself at a sit-down restaurant is just plain awkward.

When you are older, you appreciate being able to pull off the road at a sit-down restaurant, relaxing for an hour, and enjoying a prepared meal. Of course, there is the 21st century when you are whipping out your electronic device to check the map/Facebook/email/whatever.

I'm not much younger than you are but I still prefer to go through the drive through and get my orders to go.

[Pete from Boston]

I have no idea how old anyone is, and I avoid drive-throughs because they offer almost no meal I can eat with one hand that has a calorie level consistent with not acquiring a double chin.

[vdeane]

I don't bother with the drive through option.  I don't like the idea of eating while driving; seems like a large potential to make a mess, plus I drive a stick shift anyways.

[jakeroot]

I favor fast food chains on roadtrips for one simple reason: I usually travel alone and being by yourself at a sit-down restaurant is just plain awkward.

When you are older, you appreciate being able to pull off the road at a sit-down restaurant, relaxing for an hour, and enjoying a prepared meal. Of course, there is the 21st century when you are whipping out your electronic device to check the map/Facebook/email/whatever.

I'm not much younger than you are but I still prefer to go through the drive through and get my orders to go.

Drive-thrus always put too much ice in pops so I usually go inside. That way, I don't have to expect water in three hours.

[The Nature Boy]

I've tried going through the drive thru but I find that eating and driving impairs my ability to do the driving part of what I am trying to do.

[Big John]

I favor fast food chains on roadtrips for one simple reason: I usually travel alone and being by yourself at a sit-down restaurant is just plain awkward.

When you are older, you appreciate being able to pull off the road at a sit-down restaurant, relaxing for an hour, and enjoying a prepared meal. Of course, there is the 21st century when you are whipping out your electronic device to check the map/Facebook/email/whatever.

I'm not much younger than you are but I still prefer to go through the drive through and get my orders to go.

Drive-thrus always put too much ice in pops so I usually go inside. That way, I don't have to expect water in three hours.

Yep, why I go inside and hope the pop dispenser is self-serve.  As I want the drink right now without all that ice getting in the way.

[The Nature Boy]

I favor fast food chains on roadtrips for one simple reason: I usually travel alone and being by yourself at a sit-down restaurant is just plain awkward.

When you are older, you appreciate being able to pull off the road at a sit-down restaurant, relaxing for an hour, and enjoying a prepared meal. Of course, there is the 21st century when you are whipping out your electronic device to check the map/Facebook/email/whatever.

I'm not much younger than you are but I still prefer to go through the drive through and get my orders to go.

Drive-thrus always put too much ice in pops so I usually go inside. That way, I don't have to expect water in three hours.

Yep, why I go inside and hope the pop dispenser is self-serve.  As I want the drink right now without all that ice getting in the way.

My ex used to always say "light ice" and 9 times out of 10, they'd oblige.

[bugo]

"Pop" LOL.  I live in Oklahoma where everyone says "pop" and I am still not used to it.  I also had a girlfriend in Missouri who said "soda" which still doesn't sound right to me.  Where I come from in Arkansas, everything is a "coke".

[1995hoo]

Soda comes from a Coke machine (regardless of whose logo is on said machine).

[bugo]

My ex used to always say "light ice" and 9 times out of 10, they'd oblige.

Once I was at Queen Wilhelmina State Park and asked for a Pepsi with a half cup of ice.  The old geezer refused to give it to me, so I got angry and got a Coke out of the Coke machine.  What a dick, he refused to sell me what would have been maybe 15 cents more Coke.

[The Nature Boy]

"Pop" LOL.  I live in Oklahoma where everyone says "pop" and I am still not used to it.  I also had a girlfriend in Missouri who said "soda" which still doesn't sound right to me.  Where I come from in Arkansas, everything is a "coke".

In my part of North Carolina, some people say "drink" for all carbonated beverages. I imagine it gets confusing if an outsider asks for a drink and gets a soda instead though.

I grew up in eastern NC where we mostly say "soda" so hearing anything else is weird for me. Here's a map of the divide, it's interesting:

[Duke87]

Guess on my part, that fee is what the bank charges the mortgage company for such a service.  The mortgage company, in turn, passes that charge (or part of it) onto their customers.

the question remains.  why is the bank charging for EFT, but not for a check whose last step in processing is the identical EFT?

The point of a "convenience fee" is simply that - they are charging you extra to do it the way that is more convenient for you, because they can. They know that a lot of people will willingly pay extra for the "convenience", so to them it's free money.

For another ridiculous example of this, recently I purchased tickets to a baseball game. I had the option of picking my tickets up at the will call window at the stadium, for which there would be no extra charge. But that requires showing up early and waiting in line. Alternatively, I could download a PDF and print the tickets at home using my own paper and ink... for which I had to pay a $2.50 fee.

It doesn't cost them more to allow you to print your own tickets. But they know people would rather do so. And of course the existence of this fee to do so is not revealed until you've already gone through the process of picking out your seats and completed 90% of the transaction. At this point most people will begrudgingly fork over an extra $2.50.

I'm not much younger than you are but I still prefer to go through the drive through and get my orders to go.

Drive-thrus always put too much ice in pops so I usually go inside. That way, I don't have to expect water in three hours.

I avoid drive-thrus for two reasons:
1) as mentioned, it's easier to make sure they get your order right if you go inside
2) you can't pee using the drive-thru, although if an establishment figures out a way to offer this, I may have to try it.

I do often prefer to eat while driving on long trips, though, simply because it saves time. Yeah, it may make a mess, but meh, whatever. I just throw trash in the back seat and clean it out when I get a good opportunity. It's especially fun when you unload trash in places where it clearly could not have been locally sourced, I've deposited quite a few empty Sheetz containers in NYC trash cans.

[jeffandnicole]

I favor fast food chains on roadtrips for one simple reason: I usually travel alone and being by yourself at a sit-down restaurant is just plain awkward.

When you are older, you appreciate being able to pull off the road at a sit-down restaurant, relaxing for an hour, and enjoying a prepared meal. Of course, there is the 21st century when you are whipping out your electronic device to check the map/Facebook/email/whatever.

I'm not much younger than you are but I still prefer to go through the drive through and get my orders to go.

Drive-thrus always put too much ice in pops so I usually go inside. That way, I don't have to expect water in three hours.

The McDonalds 2 Cheeseburger Meal was always great for eating on the road - not much filling to spill on my lap and easy to eat.  Today I will usually get 1 or 2 items from the dollar menu which serves the same purpose (although I try to avoid the fries when doing that...gotta cut back somewhere!).

My wife prefers less ice as well, and usually doesn't have a problem.  For a while I preferred more ice, and you can tell the restaurant people rarely heard that one.

[PHLBOS]

I avoid drive-thrus for two reasons:
1) as mentioned, it's easier to make sure they get your order right if you go inside

^^This.  Even when I'm not on a long trip; I avoided the drive-thru after getting jipped too many times.

2) you can't pee using the drive-thru, although if an establishment figures out a way to offer this, I may have to try it.

Personally, I would've worded such differently so it doesn't reek of TMI. 

Another reason I avoid drive-thrus is due to the current cost of gas.  One's burning more gas idling at the drive-thru line than one who parks their car, turns off their engine and goes inside.  Plus, in many instances, the line inside tends to be shorter than those at the drive-thru.

[1995hoo]

I don't use the drive-thru unless all I want is a drink. I don't care to have the car smelling of fast food, and I don't eat in the car anyway (especially driving a manual shift....I did eat while driving some 20 years ago and it was never a good idea).

Plus, as "PHLBOS" notes, the line inside is usually substantially shorter. It amuses the heck out of me when I pass the KFC/Taco Bell near our neighborhood and I see 12 or 15 cars waiting on line at the drive thru and no line inside. The same people will later be complaining about how much money they spend on gas. I note the same phenomenon when I use a walk-up ATM to avoid the line at the drive-up–I'm usually done with my transaction and on my way long before the people waiting at the drive-thru (and I've never understood why some people are so slow at the ATM).

[Roadrunner75]

Eating Taco Bell while driving is definitely not recommended.  I believe it is even codified in NJ law:  NJAC 39:4-97.4: A driver found guilty of consuming a meal provided by a Taco Bell restaurant while operating a motor vehicle on public roads within the state shall be awarded the following motor vehicle points: 2 points if operating a vehicle with an automatic transmission; 3 points if operating a vehicle with a manual transmission; 4 points if consuming a Taco Bell "Mexican Pizza" with either transmission.

[Big John]

A factor to consider is i was told that drive-thru customers get priority over inside customers in service.  If you are the only one inside where there are 15 cars waiting for drive-thru you will still get your food faster, but on more even distribution, the drive-thru wait time will be shorter.

[PHLBOS]

A factor to consider is i was told that drive-thru customers get priority over inside customers in service.  If you are the only one inside where there are 15 cars waiting for drive-thru you will still get your food faster, but on more even distribution, the drive-thru wait time will be shorter.

If such were indeed put in writing and could be proven; that would be a discrimination suit (against non-driver customers) just waiting to happen.

[corco]

That is a stated policy at many places and driving vs not driving is not a protected class like race or religion, so no, it's not. Besides that, indoor customers have access to tables and restrooms that drivers don't- there's no discrimination there.

There is a logical reason for this too. I was always taught that it was terribly rude to order food for more than one or two people or anything with a special request at the drive thru because it holds up the line, though most people don't seem to care about this anymore. Newcomers like Culvers probably do it right, making you park and wait for good to be brought out.

If somebody orders for ten people at the drive thru, they typically clog up the line behind them, which is why the drive thru has to take priority. If somebody orders for ten inside, the restaurant can get simpler orders out quicker while working on the ten top, maximizing throughput. The restaurant cares about being as efficient as possible, and that often requires giving priority to the drive thru. If people would go back to using the drive thru for its intended purpose as an express lane and not for all to go orders, such a policy would be less necessary, but that doesn't seem to be happening as people get more and more selfish and restaurants don't want to alienate people.

[agentsteel53]

If somebody orders for ten inside, the restaurant can get simpler orders out quicker while working on the ten top, maximizing throughput.

yeah, and people always drive in the right lane except when passing.