there is no button for the stupid people

People, I need your help. I would like to send a message to corporate McDonald's. Yes, I have a new mission in life. I am livid for the 2nd time. I normally don't take on the big establishments, but much has changed in my life as of late. I normally don't even eat McDonald's nor do I subject my offspring to it, but since Joe has been gone for 5 months much has changed due to necessity.
Now, I will warn you, that my predicament may be a local MO thang. So be it. Than I will take on the man here in the Midwest.
I'll lay out the scenario for you.
It's a cold winters day. The schools are closed, I'm bringing the kids out to a movie to avoid cabin fever. Instead of warm home-made comfort food again, we take a vote for a 20 minute meal, and McDonald's wins (skip to the bottom if you want the short version) .
I pull up to the screen and talk to the speaker with every bit of cheeriness, cuz I'm just like that. "yeah, I'll have the 2 crispy chicken wraps (an order for those who like to fool themselves about eating healthy at a fast food restaurant)& 2 kids meals. 1 with the chicken nuggets,and fries. for a girl. (Gender specifies the toy for those of you empty nesters or offspring less folks out there) and the second I'll have a burger, plain, with fries, for a boy.
The mysterious voice through the speaker says, "what to drink with that?"
I'll just have water please."
I've been through this before, so I watch the screen dreading what I'm about to see. I promised myself since the first encounter with this exact event that I would take a stand if it were to happen again. So here it goes.
My price jumps 2 dollars. 1$ for the first cup of water and 1$ for the second cup of water.
"listen, you need to take off that 2 dollar charge for the free water."
"well there is no button for that."
I should be shocked but quite frankly, I'm not. I know we're raising a bunch of non thinkers, so it's time to school them with logic and see if the stupid people budge.
"then don't push any button and hand me an empty cup."
LONG PAUSE the price goes down 2 dollars Another LONG PAUSE.
"Ah you can pull around to the front then. Ah"
oh great I confused the button pusher. I've started a war. Now 2 ladies are standing at the register and the one I was not speaking to tells me it is 11.97, back up the 2$.
"You are charging me for the empty cups?"
"yeah, that's right/"
"For free water?"
"Yeah."
"can I speak to your manager?"
"I am the manager."
"yeah, you want to charge me 2$ for an empty cup that I will fill with water?"
"Well the meal is already discounted with the beverages."
Yeah I'm confused. If the meal is already discounted with the soda, then why did the price go up when I am taing now even less than what is being offered. I'm just wanting the empty cup, I'm not even asking them to fill the cup of water. I just may fill it with water, or maybe even air, depending how crazy I want to get. The manager will not budge, so I told her keep her food. I drove off and went to Burger King.
I ordered the same meals for the kids but asked them first, are you going to charge me extra for the ordering water with these meals?"
"Ah I don't think so, but let me check? Nope we sure don't."
I placed my order and then I was given bottled water in place of the cup which was suppose to be filled with soda. On top of all that goodness, they asked which sould I prefer, bottled water or a cup full of water. Well, everyone loves the idea of closing a bottle again, especially if you have kids. So without being charged a cent more I got bottled water with my kids meal.
I may be Math challenged, and I feel like I know the food industry well enough that there must be some sort of reasoning for 2 separate locations to now start charging 1$ for water; perhaps inventory reasoning of stocks are down...
If I were to physically walk in and order the same thing, they don't charge you a 1$ more for water, they just hand you a cup and you fill it with whatever you like. Water perhaps, how about iced tea, or even better, how about kidney killing soda!
Here are my 2 principles of my McDonald's boycott. Principle # 1- I have always ordered water before and now that times are tough on every ones' wallet they choose to charge drive through peeps extra for driving off with cup of water instead of soda, which is discounted somehow from free water. This probably is the case due to no one looking at their receipts, not really because there isn't a button for a water cup!
Principle #2- Water is better for a child's body and its free. I'm already paying for the cup via the happy meal, the water is FREE! We could argue that water isn't free and that nothing in life is free, but my only retort is, there are too many fat kids in this nation and we all could use a bit of discounted water in our happy meals.
Now, if you have any explanation to McDonald's Stupidity on charging 2 extra dollars for an empty cup or for free water to replace the soda please enlighten me and the audience so I can end my boycott and my new mission to get this system changed!
I'm going corporate on this fight and I would love some team work. Join me on getting our free water back at the drive through, or at least have a button installed on the McDonald's computers so we don't have to teach anyone to think!