Opinion Piece By Samuel Strait – Reporter at Large – December 24, 2021 For the past month or so, I have been on the road so to speak, traveling mostly in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. One of the regular costs of time and money, are finding places to eat while traveling. Since the Pandemic reared its ugly head, that problem has only gotten worst. Restrictions, new rules, shortage of employees, shortages of food, and all manner of things most of us do not think about. While on the road, fast food restaurants on several occasions became the food stop of choice. And, what a "new world" they have become. Before I retired, lunch in Crescent City quite often became the fast cheap option of Burger King, MacDonald's, or Taco Bell that so many of us elect to use for that mid day food stop when dollars are in short supply and time is as well. It has almost become the Country's tradition to eat fast food for many of us. Then came the Pandemic and all that changed. Drive up windows became the way of the fast food industry for over a year. It is just now that West Coast fast food places are beginning to re open their dining rooms. Aside from the inconvenience of eating in the car or waiting while your food got cold to eat at home, dining in at a fast food restaurant was rapidly becoming a memory. Yet, that is not the only thing that has changed for the worst. Once fast food places were fast as the name suggests, a meal in less than ten minutes. Not so any more, forty one minutes to produce a simple hamburger during the dinner hour. Thirty seven when in between meal times. Thirty six minutes for a breakfast sandwich at 10:00 am. Fast food? Granted this industry has serious employee issues, not enough people willing to work. Crews that once were five or six and a manager at the dinner hour, now down to two and a manager. Even in regular restaurants the service was slow and the staff minimal. For hire signs on every door. Yet sit down restaurants have begun to reach parity with fast food places Aside from the slow service, prices for simple meals now rival regular restaurants minus the tip. Food quality has lessened, and presentation is hurried. Is this what we have to look forward from now on? Has fast and cheap food come and gone? Maybe so. With dwindling offerings on the menu and difficulty getting ingredients because of the failure of the supply chain, problems with offerings have become common. Slow service, lack of staff, costly food and the log jam at the drive up window. A bleak future for the fast food industry unless the Country tries to get back to normal.