I Don't Want To...

Some time between 2007 and 2010, stopping at McDonald's every Sunday morning became a ritual. That was the era when I started to get up early on Sundays. Working at a church means there's lots to do. I've never been a morning person, including the fact that I can't eat until I've been up for at least an hour and preferably more. All those things mean that I started hitting the drive-thru for my $2.16 morning breakfast each and every Sunday.

At first, I got a sausage biscuit and a large Diet Coke. Over time, it has morphed into a lower calorie sausage McMuffin with no cheese and a large Diet Coke. Many weeks, that's the only incredibly unhealthy food choice I make. Given the insanity of Sunday mornings, I finally gave myself that free pass once a week.

For a long time, I've ignored the problems with McDonald's and fast food in general. I try not to think too hard about the environmental impact even as I deal with the resulting trash--a mountain of trash in comparison to the amount of food. I mustered all my patience, even when I was living in the town with a McDonald's that made "fast food" an ironic claim, knowing that the workers weren't being paid well for their work.

Though my other shopping habits have changed, this one remains. Even as I became more conscious about choosing locally owned places, and shopping at major chains that pay a living wage and offer health benefits to even part-time employees, this habit remains.

Like clockwork, some time between 5:45 and 6:45 a.m., I'm in a McDonald's drive thru on Sunday morning.

And with the recent news about McDonald's and the suggestion of workers taking a second job in order to just live, I realize I've got to change.

But I don't want to. There. I said it. I really don't want to give up my convenience. I really don't want to part with more money for food by going elsewhere. I don't want to attempt to add one more thing to my Sunday morning. I'm also appalled by the marriage of living out my call to systemic exploitation that can so easily be revealed in a single ritual.

I know, too, that if I give up this, other things will have to follow. My $4.86 meal at Subway, for example.

I'm not so naive that I believe radically altering my life with alter the systems of exploitation. Dealing with corporate sin is a whole different ballgame than dealing with individual sin.

Still, Jesus calls me to love my neighbor as myself. I think that means less participation in a system where the guy serving me food earns far less than half the amount I do in a year. Even if I don't want to.