The Troubles with Ronald McDonald

Every since I was a young girl I have been friends with Mr. Ronald McDonald and his business McDonald’s. Being one of the most popular fast food restaurants, McDonald’s is depicted as the king of American hamburgers and French fries in more countries than expected. However, even the king can be quite mean and cause some problems. McDonald’s sells food that has been drenched in calories, sodium, and fat. There are now large problems arising from kids whom have been exposed to McDonald’s for many years. The younger that kids are when they start eating the food, the harder that it is to stop eating it in the future.

Now I am not going to lie by dissing on the quality of their food, but I would say that it is not necessarily the healthiest place to eat every single day. Actually this was proved through the movie Supersize Me, as Morgan Spurlock gained weight and built up a high blood pressure from only eating McDonald’s meals. The French fries are drenched in oil and the hamburgers are grilled to a crisp, almost an open invitation to heart disease. And this is exactly what foods like this can do to your body. From the time that that first McDonald’s was opened in 1940, it has created more and more varieties of the same unhealthy sandwiches and desserts.

It is just amazing to me that people continue to shop at these stories that are proven to kill them slowly. The entire process is a disgrace to the American society and the idea to which our culture has grown to accept it. Maybe it has to do with the advertising that the company displays across millions of televisions, billboards, and magazines. But, even so, families should realize that such foods can be a real health problem to their young developing children. Some people are actually responding to this astonishing discovery by not eating the fattening foods that can be found on the menu. This is then providing some terrible problems for the McDonald’s companies, by making them lose money.

There is so much more that can be assessed about the effects of McDonald’s on its customers and the impact will be felt for many years to come. In the future I would enjoy spending more time researching this topic but I feel like I have discussed some very interesting facts. Since I was a young child my exposure to McDonald’s has been felt in my family. I don not want to have to loose a close friend or family member to such a disgraceful sin of eating fat fried food. In the future McDonald’s will continue to suffer from their deadly measures and the food that they continue to cook for hungry customers.

Growing Up Online

It is the teenage generation today that has traveled in the footsteps of a rapidly changing technology branch. As babies we were automatically introduced to the color television and as we grew through our childhood years we were exposed to the good life, full of high tech products. It is our generation that has never had to live a day without a refrigerator, shower, or car. I guess that you could just say that we have been pretty lucky and that the generations to come should get off even easier.

One of the main technology inventions that have really changed our lives was the computer. Not only the computer, but the laptop, internet, high-speed Wifi, and the webcam have also really impacted our lives. No longer are we limited to the phone for communicating with friends. All we have to do is jump on the computer and head to Facebook, where we can talk to hundreds of people all at once.

We are digitally connected to millions of people through the use of computers; and we often fail to realize that this is a huge change for the generations ahead of us. Parents often find themselves confused with the concepts of searching the web and being able to find personal information of almost anyone. However, they too are learning how to run these computers and their products and are, in the same way, becoming addicted to their uses. Along with the amazing wonders of being able to connect to multiple sites within seconds, there are many dangers that face teenagers while online.

As our generation has grown up online we have been exposed to various dangers that were not at all present before the use of the computer. Children get kidnapped, raped, and abused through the use of the internet by mistakenly letting out a little bit too much information to the wrong person. Teenagers often become friends with older strangers and find themselves regretting their actions after loosing their virginity to them. Others are encouraged by unknown people to hurt themselves in order to relieve their pain. All of these instances have hurt kids and it is all to thank from us growing up online.

We have grown to not know what the truth is and what is slightly twisted to sound more appealing or interesting. The internet really follows this idea, completely distorting the line between fake and real. While searching the web we will find facts, stories, and pictures that are inappropriate and often unreal. This is another consequence that we have to live up to because of our exposure to computers. In the future more and more developments will be made among computers and their products, but in order to save our young generations we must find a way to protect them first, before it is too late.

Spring Break Fever

Again it was Monday and students had to return to the cold state of Iowa so that they could again attend classes at 8 in the morning. Spring break brought these students relief by allowing them to leave the Midwest and fly down to the hot beaches of Florida and Cancun. I agree that we need a break like this to help us relax and catch up on our lost sleep, but really spring break on these beaches consists of the exact opposite. Influences surrounding teenagers today commonly encourage spring break as a time period of partying, sex, and huge regrets.

One interesting idea, teenagers cannot stay here in Iowa for the planned parties during break, but instead travel thousands of miles to a foreign destination. It is here where the real party begins, as you can see from the popular MTV Spring Break shows. The beaches, clubs, and hotels are where the kids get wild, waking up in the morning to regret many of their past decisions. The problem with all of this is that spring break would probably occur a bit differently if shows like MTV hadn’t had such an important stamp on the teenage generations. I think that there would be less trouble without the constant pressures of drinking and sex that are felt by various Hollywood events.

Now that I am back at school, I have been hearing about a fair number of incidents that took place outside the ‘safe’ Iowa boarders, and I would really have to disregard some friendships. I don’t understand how people can be so stupid, partying 9 nights in a row and getting a little bit too close with the natives. One main obstacle that these teenagers are able to overcome is the fear of getting in trouble for underage drinking. Why else would they spend the thousands of dollars to fly down into a country of poverty? This, however, will only be the first of many dumb decisions that they make over the next week.

I feel proud to know that I didn’t take place in these questionable acts. As a teenager being influenced by these same ideas of sex, drugs, and alcohol, I am very aware that it is hard to always stay ‘safe’. However, I know that there are many people who question the real purposes of spending thousands on a spring break trip with friends. I think that there is so much more to a break from classes, besides the partying and regrets that come along with it.

Good girls go a little too far and get arrested for indecent exposure, two guys get a little bit too drunk and rape a girl, and high school sweethearts quickly end their lives after deciding to get behind the wheel while under the influence. All of these scenarios happen every year, during the same time period, and in the hot beach cities in the South. My hope is that in the future these problems decrease and improve to a more satisfactory concept of spending spring break with the ones you love, in a healthy and safe environment.