Songbird76
Well-Known Member
I don't know how it works there, having never been there, but I know at least over here, even the fastfood places have converted to takeout places, so if you closed all the takeout places, that would include all those Subways, McDonalds, Burger Kings....most of those are along the interstate by the exit ramps where they are easily accessible for truckers or travelers, etc. We stopped at McDonalds the other night after I got off of work because I was starving after my shift and that is the only thing open at close to midnight. But it's drivethru only right now, you can't pay with cash, and they made an extension for the debit card machine so they don't have to hold it out the window, etc. They were also having some issues with the headsets they use to take drivethru orders because they had to sit too far from the hub because they have to stay 1.5 meters from eath other in the kitchens, so there were a lot of misunderstood orders and they were confirming all of them as you drove up to the window to pay. Ours had to be corrected, but they just couldn't understand people because the headsets were crackly with the bad connection.
In the states, most truck stops have some kind of restaurant attached. Sometimes it will be a fastfood place, sometimes a buffet, but most have something. In Wyoming especially...distances are HUGE. You can drive for 100 miles before you come to another town. (Makes social distancing easier, I guess!) I used to have a 40 mile commute every day....some have more like 75 mile commutes with nothing in between. I suppose it's possible for them to keep a cooler in their trucks with some food they can snack on, but there would be no way for them to heat anything up, so they'd be relegated to things like chips or fruit. I think about my dad...he went out for pretty much every meal because he couldn't cook. He lived off of that or cookies and crackers and peanuts and yoghurt. He'd have been in bad shape without access to restaurants. His house was 20 miles away from the nearest town, which was about half way between his work and his house. There was a sort of truck stop right on the highway on his way home, so that's where he went most of the time. They certainly did a booming business with people passing through because it was the first place to stop in 35 miles (that town has a population of 7, it has a bar/gas station and a school and a church. Blink and you'll miss it) in one direction, 75 if you don't count Bill Wyoming, and 40 miles in the other direction. If you don't stop there, you're out of luck for another hour. Those really are essential businesses for the coal miners who are coming through on shift change. I can't imagine what would happen if they closed those down.
