I finally had a senior coffee at McDonald's
This story occurred almost twenty-five years ago. My daughters were then eight and six years old. They were on spring break from elementary school. We decided to have breakfast at the local McDonald's.
The three of us are at the counter placing our order when we hear a car screeching to a halt in the parking lot. I turned to take a peek and see the car stopped near the door to the restaurant, nowhere near a normal parking space. Running into the building is the mother of one of my daughter's classmates. She sees us at the counter and rushes up to us. This is what she said:
"Do you mind if I go ahead of you? I left Michele home alone, I'm double parked and I really need some coffee."
I started laughing and told her to go ahead. Then she said,
"They let me get the senior coffee here. I won't be fifty for a few more months."
There was more laughter. After she left, I did the math. At that time, coffee cost fifty cents. With the senior discount, it went down to thirty-five cents. She left her young daughter alone and risked a parking ticket to save FIFTEEN CENTS!!
I always think of that story whenever I have breakfast at McDonald's. That doesn't happen often, maybe a couple of times a year. And it's never occurred to me to ask for the discounted senior coffee.
In fact, I almost never use the senior discounts anywhere, except for at movie theaters. I know there are plenty of places that have this benefit; it never crosses my mind until it's too late.
But that brings us to last Monday. I was out running errands and wanted some coffee. Hey look, there's McDonald's. I wonder if they still have the senior discount. Oh yeah, they sure did. You get a medium cup of coffee for one dollar. When I asked what the normal price was they said it was two dollars.
WOW!! I saved an entire buck. Okay, the total may not be that much, but the fifty percent savings is quite generous.
It's almost a week later. I was curious to see if the discount was the same at a different McDonald's. The price was $1.35. Hmmm...thirty-five cents more. I again asked what the normal price was. I was told they didn't have senior coffee. Everyone pays the same price regardless of their age.
Hmmm...I guess if you're over fifty, you're better off getting your MickyD's coffee fix in Deerfield. If you're under fifty, try their location in the Lakeview neighborhood in Chicago. Although, I don't recommend driving out of your way to save a few dimes.
Back to the original story...if you're concerned about how Michelle fared after being left alone by her mom, don't be. She survived. Some Facebook snooping tells me that she's alive and well. She's now married with a young child of her own. Phew.
Here's some advice for Michelle's mother; when you're babysitting your grandchild, please don't leave her alone to get that senior coffee discount. The discount, while nice, isn't worth it. And to Michelle, you're still more than fifteen years before you can try that trick your mom did more than two decades ago. Don't rush it. It'll be here soon enough.
Hmmm....I wonder what McDonald's coffee will cost then?
Related Post: After twenty years, I've finally joined AARP
Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.