A drive through, a la Saudi

Ok, so last weekend, my hubby and I were being driven home from a late night out by our friends when we all collectively decided that it was the appropriate time to get ice cream from McDonald's. I know, high class all the way - that's how we roll.

When we pulled up to McDonald's at around 12:30am, it was packed! There were cars *everywhere* as we rolled up to the menu board. As we were waiting in line, an employee came up to the driver's window and greeted him personally, saying it had been a while since his last visit. Apparently, our friend is a regular at this location. They continued to chat for a little while and the man waved goodbye. Weird, I thought... but then it got weirder.

As we passed the menu board, we came upon another McDonald's employee standing on the curb. Meanwhile, I was thinking, "who's this? another VIP greeter?!" Nope, I was wrong. This is apparently how ordering is done here in Riyadh at midnight. No talking into the machine, no crackling voice coming out of half broken speakers, an actual person stands beside the board to take our orders! Our friend, the driver, began to break down how to construct a quadruple decker hamburger while I laughed hysterically in the back at the whole situation. After the orders were taken by the employee, we rolled on to pay at one window and then pick up at another, as per usual. We then capped it all off with another exceptionally happy looking McDonald's employee stationed at the end of the line to direct traffic in and out of the parking lot.

In our discussion of the five star McDonald's drivethru service, I found out that they do this in the UK as well. Well well well. It seems the whole man vs. machine debate has been not been unequivocally settled as far as drivethrus go!...