Here’s a memory, an appropriate one after my recent comments on McDonalds. Before Mickey D’s took over the world, there were places like this … the Hot Grill. The food was hearty, but it definitely wasn’t any better for you.

To be honest, I never ate at the Hot Grill. For junk food, my family always went to another place up the road called Rutts Hutt. But I did once apply for a job at the Hot Grill. I was 18 and looking for a summer job, and I saw an ad in the paper. So I drove over there, went into the kitchen, found the manager, and told him I was interested in the position. He took one look at me and said “sorry, not hiring”. Oh well, that was the first of many unsuccessful job interviews to come in my life. At least that one was mercifully short. And hey, a few weeks later I got a job on the railroad, a job with better working conditions (that kitchen, like all fast food kitchens, was noisy, hot and crowded) and much better pay.

Still, it’s nice to see that the Grill is still there, slinging out dogs and fries and chili … especially if you own stock in the pharmaceutical companies that make Lipitor and the other cholesterol drugs.