Notes on modern America

I'm sitting in a room with a bunch of guys my age , about eight of us, and we're all talking about restaurants we have gone to in the past month , and how we feel about the experiences. It's called a "focus group", and it's America at it's finest. America , largest distributor in the fuckin' world. America , land of the spree and home of the knave. America , where the shit you spew at a focus group , they may use in their commercials , no matter how fuckin' stupid and inane it may be, (and the more inane , the better.) Now , we weren't talking about your old time , mom and pop restaurant , but your national restaurant chains , your sub shops , your kfcs , your mikey ds , your more upscale "fast food " places , like something called "cosi" , which is fairly new , but which I really don't get , or don't want to get. It appears to be a starbucks with food , the big "cosi" overstuffed chairs , a fake fireplace next to the counter, which is supposed to make you feel all warm and , need I say it, "cosi". Apparently you can stay there for hours on end while you drink your "cosi" coffee, (freshly brewed). There was a youngish mix of customers there, chatting over their trendy food , all served with a sort of flat bread , which was the most positive experience of the cosi visit. I had gone there to get an idea of what I was supposed to be talking about when I went to my focus group, a sort of research project. When these research places call you for these focus groups , they ask you a series of questions about the said subject , it may be anything from credit cards to fast food , to cigarettes, and if you need a quick buck , it's a couple of hours of mostly bs for anywhere between fifty to a hundred bucks , usually in cash. It's easy money , but you have to know the tricks in how to answer the questions in order to qualify. Say "yes " a lot . Don't say you haven't tried a particular product , even if you haven't . It seems about half or more of market research is pure bs , but if they're payin' , I'm lyin'. Well , not entirely, but It's creative license.
So anyway , the focus group met in a place in Lincolnwood , a suburb of Chicago. About eight guys my age , some married with kids, some like me , not married , no kids. Whats the deal with people not cooking anymore. I swear , every guy in there said that they go out to eat at least once a day , some said they go out for every lunch and dinner. No wonder this country has gotten so fat and lazy. Well , it's a gradual thing. Are people so busy that they can't sit down with their families at the dinner table and talk ? When did people forget how to cook? Are we so lazy that we don't even know or remember what real food is supposed to taste like? Are we so brainwashed into thinking that restaurant food is as good as a home cooked meal? It's not , and will never be. Especially these so called "home cooked" type places, that do market research studies to find out ways they can charge you even more for "home cooked goodness" that really doesn't amount to much. It reminds me of the what George Carlin says. "when they say something has "home cooked goodness " it usually means they're going to charge you more."
Focus groups , market research. America has no more new ideas. These market research companies don't really value your opinions , they just want you to think they do. It's all a game. Advertising, making you want something that you didn't even know you wanted , but because you've seen countless ads on tv , on billboards, in magazines, somehow something you would normally not even consider buying , you have to have , no matter how good or inferior a product it is. I stopped going to mickey ds and burger king and wendys a while ago , something to do with a food poisoning incident at wendys a few years back , it was not pretty , but it was probably not too unusual , considering that we don't even know what we're eating when we go for fast food. I mostly cook at home these days , it takes a little while , sometimes I get in a rut with the same kind of food for weeks on end, ( I'm in my forth week in a row on beans , but winter is coming to an end , so I'll do something else) . It's amazing how much money you can spend on going out to dinner and lunch every day , and how much money you can actually save by cooking. (A bag of dried beans costs about fifty cents. You can go through a bag of beans in about a week. You do the math.) Get a crock pot , put some beans and meat up in the morning , and when you come home , you've got dinner. Great invention , the crock pot. I don't always like what I cook , but I feel like I have some control of what I'm putting into my body.
Market research , focus groups , it's the only thing America produces anymore.
B.S for BUCKS !!

P.S , after the focus group , I was so disgusted , I went to have a few chicken and bean burritos at taco bell. Well , nobodys perfect!!!