Since yesterday, CBC has been rife with the news about a moratorium that the St. John’s Newfoundland city council has ordered on new drive-thru applications, due to driving safety hazards caused by lineups at some coffee shops – namely Tim Hortons (aka Timmy Ho’s).
Well, hallelujah. It’s about flippin’ time.
I’ve seen those crazy lineups where traffic turning LEFT into the Tim Hortons located at 853 The Queensway in Toronto, blocked through traffic southbound all the way back to the Queensway.
Hard to imagine that anyone could be so arrogant as to think that their morning (afternoon, evening) coffee is important enough to justify blocking the only lane of traffic when they KNOW it’s going to be at least several minutes before they can turn left into the parking lot — yet, it happens day in and day out.
I frankly find it harder to believe that so many people are too darned lazy to haul their fat butts out of their cars to walk 50 feet into the shop – especially considering it’s going to take the same amount of time to get your coffee.
And consider the benefits of going into the store.
- Walking burns calories and is good for the heart. Walking is good.
- They might actually converse with someone in the lineup. Social interaction is good.
- Turning off the engine reduces pollution. Clean air is good.
It’s all good.
And NOT driving to Tim Hortons at all is even better in terms of reducing pollution. Less CO2, less garbage that you can find littered everywhere in this country… even on paths in the country far removed from any Tim Hortons – as shown in the screenshot shown here above left. WHY are people are such pigs with their coffee cups?
Seriously. How much less garbage and pollution would there be if all those drive-thru-ers bought a pound of coffee at Timmy Ho’s, brewed a cup at home and took it to work in a non-disposable mug?
Anyway, I hope you appreciate that speaking out in any way, manner or form against the all-Canadian icon that is Tim Hortons is tantamount to treason in this country, so if I suddenly go missing, you’ll understand why. 🙂
Soooo agree. We have an Esso/Tim Hortons in Chilliwack that causes much the same traffic fiasco you describe happening at the Toronto location. A lineup of people waiting to cross a double solid line and two busy lanes of oncoming traffic….to get their artery choking…..
Always enjoy your stuff Rosalind!
Michael Rytter
Hey Michael,
Yikes, that sounds even more dangerous than the little side road that I was talking about.
Time to write your MLA? 🙂
Good luck!
Cheers,
Ros
Thanks for bringing this up, Ros. I enjoy a T.H. once in a while, but I never go through the Drive Thru. I’m in agreement with you about ‘exercise’, ‘socializing’, and ‘no trash’. When I do get ‘one-to-go’, I usually have my Thermo mug with me to put the coffee in, then dispose of the container in the trash.
This topic should get a lot of feedback, especially from the ‘Green Party’.
Ros, are you there?? Ros?? Oh, Oh!!
No worries, Vern… they haven’t rounded me up yet.
Besides, I planned this one perfectly – I’m leaving the country tomorrow. Oh shoot, now ‘they’ know. 🙂
Way to go on the Thermo mug, btw. You’re a GGG in my book (a good green guy!)
Cheers,
Ros
WOW Ros,
That sounds quite emotionally deep. How have you been by the way? Haven’t conversed with you in such a long time 🙂
Shawn
Three cheers, lots of us think these thoughts but hardly ever do I hear or see anyone saying anything. Half the time, at meal time, one can’t even park their vehicle and go into the store there is no parking spots left so it really does pay to walk, but then one can’t find a place to park their butts to eat.
Timmy Ho’s isn’t the only one, Grande Prairie, Alberta has at least two of each, A& Dub, McDonald’s, Arbies, Subway, and four Timmy’s and at any giving meal or coffee time they are swamped for at least two hours, now where to sit if you do walk, line ups to the door is also around the corners and down the street so one can’t even walk on the sidewalks and garbage absolutely everywhere!
Even out in the bush at oil rig sites…. littering parks and streets and even the mall hallways! All the roadway ditches are littered with their coffee cups, burger wrappers and take out bags for hundreds of miles and even to my ever lasting disgust, floating in Babine Lake (fav fishing spot) which is miles from any fast food outlet!
They really really need to enforce those useless littering laws that are posted in plain site everywhere. What a waste of money that is!
So, good on ya! Ros, we need more people who see stuff like this and SPEAK OUT! This is our country and we are responsible for her health and welfare!
Thank you
Hi Rosalind,
New Year Greetings and all the best to you and yours.
.
I had a similar experience a few months back at a McDonald’s here in the states. The line of waiting cars stretched around the restaurant and a half-block down the street. I parked nearby and walked into the restaurant – guess what? – only a handful of people inside and absolutely no waiting to order.
I told the manager I couldn’t believe that people would wait in line for 20 minutes just to order something they could get inside with no wait.
She told me they monitor there traffic and on average over 70 percent of their business comes from the drive through.
Sloth is universal it seems.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for sharing the stat you got from that Mickey D. manager — 70% use the drive-thru. That’s crazy.
As to sloth – well, not quite universal – you and I walked. 🙂
Cheers,
Ros
Depending on the car and outside temperature one wastes a lot of gas simply by waiting in the drive-through line. I am new to this blog but am enjoying very much. thank you
Hi Ros, since ever I became involved in sales, it’s always been a great priority NOT to sit on my butt, but to go in and meet the crowd. As far as Timmie’s goes, I’m sure I save time, meet the people, and burn calories by goin’ in.
Take Care!
John
Well, someone has to be pro Timmys, so I guess it will be me. Once in a while last year, I did sit in the drive through line rather than go into the restaurant. My reason? A sleeping grandchild in the back seat. If he’s awake, we go in, since it’s an adventure to sit inside and watch all the drive-thru cars go by (he really likes cars and now at four years old already knows the models of some).
So sometimes it isn’t just sloth that prevents us from walking in for coffee. As for making it myself, once I picked up said grandson, we were out and about for much of the day and I enjoyed taking my coffee to the park with me.
Carol
Hey Carol,
Thanks for stopping by to offer the pro drive-thru argument and absolutely… let sleeping grandchildren lie. 🙂
Cheers,
Ros
Well I’ve been living in Canada for 9 years and obviously Tim Hortons holds a special place in the heart & minds of Canadians.
The biggest irony of Tim’s is that for an institution built on coffee you would expect their coffee to taste good, when the truth is it’s very, very average ~ verging on bland.
They are proud of their ‘double – double’ ~ any self respecting coffee maker should know that excessive cream and excessive sugar are detrimental to the coffee experience.
As for Drive-Thru’s ~ sure shut them all down. Like Drive-In movies their time is up.
The cars idling bothers me, the littered cups bother me, but what bothers me most of all is that Tim’s isn’t even Canadian anymore. It was bought out by the owners of Wendy’s!!!