McDonald’s: Low Living & High Living

I looked at my older son this morning and asked, “Do you think I can also write a blog post today?”

This was right after my wife had asked me what I had on the docket today.

My son: “Yeah!”

Me: “Yeah, me, too!”

It’s 2:15pm as I write this line. I need to leave the McDonald’s that I’m sitting at around 2:45pm to get to a swim practice that I’m coaching.

Here’s a favorite quote of mine from Steve Hardison: “The failure to commit is the high-cost of low living.”

I better get typing.

I’ve been distracted for the past five minutes by a group of five individuals who have been standing at the kiosk trying to order food.

A lot of swaying.

A lot of giggling.

And then some angry outbursts at one another.

Trying to pay was an ordeal.

Without a doubt, all five of them are on some drug.

It’s sad to watch, and I feel even more compassion for the woman behind the register trying to help them.

I can’t help but wonder if any of them foresaw this as part of their future at an earlier time in life.

Keep writing, Reed: “The failure to commit is the high-cost of low living.”

Things in this McDonald’s continue to get stranger.

The door was locked when I first walked in — I didn’t think much of it.

Then I realized someone has been standing at the door letting people in the entire time that I’ve been in here.

There is a group of workers sitting right behind me.

People keep coming over to them.

A man walked in and checked in on them.

The manager of the McDonald’s came over and said that she would follow them home in her car.

Now I know what is going on.

The people behind me are hiding — there are active raids in the area.

Keep writing, Reed: “The failure to commit is the high-cost of low living.”

I came into McDonald’s simply to write and live out a commitment to myself — and my son.

Why?

Well, as Steve Hardison explains, avoiding, delaying, or failing to dedicate oneself to goals results in a lower quality of life, marked by regret and mediocrity.

The quote, “the failure to commit is the high-cost of low living” emphasizes that comfortable inaction requires a higher, long-term price in happiness, health, and success than the effort required for commitment. 

So, I guess, on the one hand, that part feels good.

But I’m left, as the clock ticks to 2:45pm with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

As I observed the world for the past 30 minutes — the pain people are experiencing — I wonder if any of this stuff matters.

Maybe where we are all better served — where high living really exists — is genuine love for our neighbor.

A reach across the aisle.

Onward.