#is this because I had a bacon cheeseburger from Wendy’s? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vegetalass · 4 years ago

Text

RDR2 Boys Cooking + Eating Habits

Arthur

Somebody else on here wrote some headcanons about Arthur not being able to cook and just eating microwave food all the time and I just have to say…. That’s canon

Lowkey though he’s trying his best to get better at cooking

Probably the only thing he knows how to make is pasta

He adds a bunch of random frozen veggies to water as the noodles are cooking

And then smothers the whole thing in butter and calls it a meal

Or he puts marinara sauce on it straight from the jar

And yes, that means it’s cold

He’s also getting better at friend rice, too

But he’s really bad at actually making rice

If he doesn’t add too much water… He burns the bottom

Charles makes a mental note to buy him a rice cooker for his birthday

Makes his own popsicles out of random fruit juices and eats them 24/7

Thinks this qualifies him as a chef

Eats pickles and olives straight out of the jar with a fork

And sauerkraut too probably

Just goes over to john’s house on his pizza nights

Puts ketchup on eggs

John

Pizza dad

Probably orders pizza, salad, and a 64oz soda twice a week

Everything else is just Dino chicken nuggets, Eggos, hot dogs, quesadillas, and frozen peas and corn

Food you feed to little kids, basically

Mostly because he does have a little kid

But also because it’s easy and takes minimal effort and he doesn’t mind eating it, too

Abigail would be mad but she has no room to talk

The most you’ll see him actually make is buttered pasta (like Arthur) or sometimes beans and rice

Abigail bought them a rice cooker a while ago so that’s one thing he doesn’t have to worry about

Probably always has some type of dessert laying around

Doesn’t mean it’s good, but it’s there

Abigail buys a bunch of those gross, low calorie ice creams and John ends up having to finishing them

Family lunches consist of a bologna sandwich on wheat bread with American cheese and mayo, a piece of fruit, a bag of chips or crackers, a go-gurt, and some gummies

And yes he makes them for himself and Abigail too

They’re all eating good at the Marston household

(Not really)

Charles

Everything he cooks are things that can’t be made in single batches

Lots of healthy soups, chilis, stew, etc…

Most of the time, he makes too much of whatever it is so he always has leftovers

Everyone is jealous when he brings them for lunch

Probably finds all of his recipes in the newspaper or random magazines he reads while at the grocery store checkout line

Everyone is like, “Charles… Why are you reading Women’s Fitness?”

And he’s like, “Check out this salad recipe, though”

Puts hot sauce on everything

Salad, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers... You name it

And he’s the king of snacking

All of his snacks are healthy, though

Raw veggies and fruit and quinoa chips from Whole Foods or something like that

Nobody likes this

He’s one of those people who brings hard boiled eggs everywhere as a “snack,” too

And yea, he puts hot sauce on those, also

He really likes those weird protein bars that are hard to bite into and taste like chalk

The flavors are either normal stuff like white chocolate macadamia or Protein Power Punch with whey, chia and seaweed

There’s no in between

He’s also a charcuterie board legend

Hosea is jealous of this talent

Micah

Spends all his money on take out

He’s totally one of those weird people who’s entire trash can is just filled with take out boxes and cans of coke or beer

Constantly eating fast food

You ask him what he bought at the supermarket and he’s like “Pub mix and bud light”

SIR

Everything that he does manage to cook only involve one step of preparation

Unseasoned, fried meats and boiled veggies

Sometimes scrambled eggs and bacon

If he’s feeling fancy, he will make plain sandwiches

This is very rare, though

Can and will complain about anyone’s cooking

Even if it’s good and he he likes it

There are certain people he can’t do this to, though, or they won’t let him eat

The only person’s cooking he doesn’t complain about is Dutch’s

Constantly snacking from an entire party sized bag of chips

And yes, he eats straight out of the bag and wipes his fingers on his jeans

His oven is dirty

Hosea

A meal for him is probably a handful of almonds and an applesauce or yogurt cup

He is constantly making a bunch of those Tik Tok recipes where you just put a bunch of random stuff into your crock pot and add ranch seasoning and cream cheese

*insert all of those memes about mom pulling out the crock pot*

If you complain, he says “Well, you’re always welcome to cook, too”

Wears an apron when he cooks

Constantly eating plain toast with butter

And bananas

And cheese sticks

Thinks that this makes him “healthy”

Definitely likes to snack on those cocktail fruit cups and canned mandarin oranges

His entire freezer is just full of ice cream

It’s all weird flavors like Cherry Garcia, chocolate banana, and pistachio though

Everyone hates him for this

Raisins are his late night treat

Has a secret stash of candy no one can find

That’s okay though because it’s mostly Werthers Originals

And Chiclets gum

He picks out all the orange ones, though

Dutch

Tries to re-plate takeout so he can call it his own

Everybody sees through this but they stopped commenting on it like four Thanksgivings ago

Buys a bunch of those meals from Costco that all you need to do is heat up in the oven

He does like fast food but only from the less popular places

Carl’s Jr., Wendy’s, BK, Arby’s, etc.

A&W, too, because he’s old and weird

He can totally cook, he just never does

It’s just normal stuff like spaghetti and meatballs or chicken and rice, though

Tuna fish casserole

He over-seasons everything, though

Mostly because he’s trying to prove that he’s a good cook

Eats dessert twice, every night

Once right after dinner, and then later when he’s feeling like a treat

Will eat in bed

Uses a little bib and tray and everything

Likes pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Would eat hot wings with gloves on

He’s the one who taught Arthur to put ketchup on eggs

Kieran

The second I realized that Kieran would probably be white trash, my life changed

Hamburger Helper meals for LIFE

That one cheeseburger pasta? Kieran probably eats that three times a week

He 100% makes the ketchup-butter sketti from Honey Boo Boo

“It’s been a while since I done had roadkill in my belly”

His favorite dessert is ambrosia salad or that weird yogurt/Cool Whip covered jello that was popular in the 2000s

Probably has a TV dinner every once in a while, too

Instant mashed potatoes and minute rice type of guy

Also gives me big microwave cheddar broccoli vibes

I’ve said this before, but his house is probably stocked with all kinds of on-brand goodies

Probably always has some kind of chip and cookie around

Eats dinner in front of the TV

Dips french fries in mayonnaise

All of this said though, he isn’t a picky eater and will eat whatever is put on his plate

That’s why he’s great to take to restaurants, because he never complains

Honestly it’s just so sweet to think of him making big crockpot meals to share with ppl even if his cooking is a lil.... strange

Javier

Thinks that the hot dog combo from Costco is a suitable dinner

Also gets hot food from the grocery store for dinner a lot

Literally will just heat up a can of something and eat it plain

Beans, chili, soup…

Doesn’t doctor it up or change it at all

He’s happy to share but no one wants any

Chips and dip, 24/7

And it’s just Tostitos Hint of Lime chips and hummus

Probably puts hummus on everything, too

Corn chips, tortilla chips, tortillas, vegetables, sandwiches, etc.

Will put anything in a tortilla and call it a sandwich

Eats leftovers cold

The rest of the gang thinks this is a sin

Makes stir fry with whatever is laying around the house

It’s a little gross because he will try to add leftover beans

Refuses to eat fast food

The only exception he’ll make is for french fries and ice cream

Walks around and eats at the same time

Isn’t above asking the other boys to share with him

Despite the fact that this only happens if what they’re eating is good

Which is almost never

Sean

Sean can’t cook. That’s the end of it

The most he can make is that weird microwave Mac and cheese where the pasta is boiled in the mug??

He never does it tho and just sticks with the normal, frozen Mac and Cheese you can microwave instead

Uses his microwaving ability to make mug cakes

And microwave scrambled eggs

Burns his popcorn every single time

He’s probably set of the smoke detector or fire alarm multiple times

He’s Irish though so of course he’s addicted to potatoes and cabbage

And since he’s from the UK, he likes stuff like beans on toast and marmite

He’s a little nasty too so catch him eating bologna sandwiches on wonder bread

Not even the Marstons are that bad

When he does get takeout, he overspends trying to use a delivery app

He’s like, “And do I need the extra side of special sauce for $5…? Yes.”

Cooks like this

#rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption 2 headcanons #rdr2 headcanons #arthur morgan #i finally wrote the cooking one LOL #hope you enjoy!!#excited to work on some requests now!

88 notes · View notes

chaletnz · 3 years ago

Text

Tokyo: A Day in Daiba

My morning began with a walk around the temples and gates of Yokohama’s Chinatown follow a delicious breakfast in the café attached to my hostel. The receptionist doubled as a barista and chef who lovingly prepared a latte and some French toast for me as we chatted. I was worried about the state of the coffee when I heard the milk screeching as he steamed it but actually it turned out fine! During my time working in hotels and having access to free stays on most trips I had forgotten how much better the vibe is when staying in a hostel – I definitely prefer it, the conversations are far deeper and you can meet some very interesting people. Generally, the staff in hostels can speak English better than the staff in hotels, probably because they also like to travel and have learned the “universal language”. After breakfast I made my way to Tokyo’s small island area of Daiba to meet my ex-colleague Sayane who would accompany me for the day. It was only 10am but sweltering already. Luckily I had arrived about 30 minutes earlier than necessary so I was able to store my heavy bag in a locker and sit down in a shady spot to wait for Sayane to arrive from her journey from Karuizawa. She arrived with our tickets to teamLAB Borderless which is a “light museum” I suppose... it’s a large space with no guidebook or map, you simply wander around the space to experience the light displays. We were almost the first in the queue so were instructed to scan our tickets, check away our bags and watch a quick video before we entered through the black curtains. Inside there were darkened hallways leading to rooms with different displays and unique atmospheres in each one. The art changes throughout the day so you can visit the same room or space a few times and it will be different. Characters like bunnies and tigers are projected onto the walls, flowers and leaves float around on the floor, some rooms had hanging lamps and strips of LED lights that changed colour with the music. One room had interactive figures that danced or made noise as it detected your presence nearby and another was a circular room with waves on the cyclorama and some couches in the middle to sit on. It is hard to describe the experience in detail, but the photos certainly came out nice! At ¥3200 per ticket it definitely wasn’t cheap but I guess their electricity bill is quite high... After about an hour and a half we felt that we had seen it all, including visits to the same place a few times to see how the art had changed, and decided to have lunch at a very convenient Wendy’s located directly opposite. The bacon cheeseburger was a welcome treat of fast food and for whatever strange reason, this Wendy’s was having a promotion of Dutch poffertjes so of course I had to try them! They were buttery, delicious, and dare I say authentic? Although the powdered sugar was lacking I think any Dutch expat would be satisfied. Next we visited the Venus Fort mall to check out the architecture, the entire mall was very well done – the roof was closed and designed to look like a sunny sky, the shops all had facades similar to a European town, and there were tiles, a fountain, church, and streetlamps to make it feel like you’re really walking in an old village somewhere across the world. Sayane and I sat down for a Starbucks coffee and a chat somewhere among this grand plaza and decided what our afternoon would involve. Not wanting to spend too much money we settled on walking to a nearby observatory but discovered it was closed due to the lockdown when we arrived. Instead we took the train to the Liberty Flame and a viewpoint for the Rainbow Bridge which was very impressive with the Olympic rings in the bay nearby. There was another mall with a huge Gundam statue outside (I think it’s something from an anime...) so we took some photos and watched all the cosplayers trying to get the best poses with it. It was still so hot so we wanted air conditioning and decided to have a look in this mall too. This one was a bit more within our budget so we both got carried away in the shops and I ended buying a few more T-shirts from Hollister that I didn’t need – but they were on sale! After our shopping escapades we finished up with the luxurious Cremia ice cream, they were unfortunately sold out of caramel but we had a chocolate vanilla swirl each. It started dripping through the cone immediately so I was forced to devour it before it melted. Outside it was now the perfect temperature so we finished our ice creams there and then cleaned up our sticky faces and hands with a wet wipe that Sayane conveniently had. We walked back to the train station together, via a hydrangea path, and then went our separate ways. I had to walk a bit further up to my train station so I took a sunset walk around and got a few more photos before riding back to Shimbashi Station to check into my hotel. As I walked there I passed the Park Hotel Tokyo and had to do a double take as a realised I would be staying just down the road from where I had stayed in 2015 with Bryce! Of course I had to take a photo and send it to him for old time’s sake. I was assigned a room on the 11th floor which had a great view over Tokyo. After ditching my heavy bag again I headed back out to check my route in preparation for tomorrow and found a bakery with discounts on everything and picked up some pastries for breakfast and some pizza for tonight to heat up in my microwave.

#Japan #Tokyo

3 notes · View notes

chaedillo · 3 years ago

Text

1.Executive Summary

Burger King Corporation was founded by James McLamore and David Edgerton in Miami, Florida (USA) in 1954. Just like any other businesses, it only started with a few chains until it expanded and continued to cater its consumers up until today. As time goes by, it has expanded their menu but still managed to maintain their low costs but the quality menu. For as low as PHP 64.00 you can already get to taste Buger King’s flame-Grilled burger and with PhP 59.00, you can already enjoy having their rice meal. Up until this day, Burger King is one of the most popular, top-grossing, and flavorful fast-food chains not just locally but also internationally.

We all know that the fast-food chain industry is one of the reasons why the hospitality industry continues to arise and operational due to its high demand. People love it because it offers convenience, affordability and time-saving. Fast-food chains such as KFC, McDonald's, Jack in the Box, Wendy's and Popeyes are the top 5 competitors of Burger King. Its wide variety, effective strategy, strong franchising model, delicious taste, and etc. is what makes it keep up in competing its rivalries. Whopper, Chicken Sandwiches, Cheeseburgers are some of its product offerings and that is why Burger King is dubbed as "Home of the Whopper". In year 2018, Burger King has a total revenue of 388.74 crore in which it was the least revenue they got between the year 2018-2021. In 2019, they got 644.13 crore while in 2020, they have accumulated the highest revenue they have so far that has a total of 846.83 crore amidst the global pandemic that is happening. Today, year 2021, during the first quarter of the year, they have earned a total of 151.65 crore revenue.

This paper discussed Burger King's internal assessment wherein it states the company's corporate profile, mission and vision, product line, and its internal factor evaluation matrix. Next, external assessment has porter's model analysis, external factor evaluation matrix, competitive profile matrix and the key external factor. Moreover, it also discussed the strategy formulation wherein it has BCG matrix, SPACE matrix, GS matrix, IE matrix, and the SWOT analysis. Additionally, the researchers also provided the strategy recommendation, action plan, as well as its financial projection.

It analyzed how Burger King Corporation operates on how it managed to make it to the top and how it maintained the quality of their products. Each part of this paper is a helpful tool and contributes to the success of this paper itself. Also, it is where we will recognise how significant each role is to discuss the outcome of the paper. With that, this paper aims to elaborate, explain, and discuss the story behind the fast-food chain named Burger King.

2. Internal Assessment

2.1. Corporate Profile

5505 Blue Lagoon Drive

Miami, Florida 33126

U.S.A

According to Trefis Team (2019), Burger King is the second largest fast-food chain in the United States and Routley (2019) also states that Burger King was ranked fourth as one of the biggest fast-food chains in America. It has over 10,400 business franchised restaurant. 50 states and 56 countries, Burger King has 1000 chains of stores that totaled for more than 11,455. The company has served almost 16 million customers a day and 2.4 billion Burger King’s hamburgers are sold annually across the world.

In 1954, Burger King Corporation was founded by the two entrepreneurs James McLamore and David Edgerton. It is originally owned by Keith Kramers and his wife’s uncle Mathew Burns. Burger King was inspired by McDonald’s and formerly named as Insta-Burger King during 1953. Even with the rapid success of the Insta-Burger it experienced financial trouble that led James McLamore and David Edgerton to buy the entire company from Keith Krammers and Mathew Burns. McLamore and Edgerton decided to widen their menu in 1957 with Whopper, a burger for big appetites, but still a lower price and they took the power of the popular medium which is television. The first T.V commercial of Burger King was aired in 1958 on Miami’s V.H.F Station and after 5 years by 1959, Burger King was able to expand their outlets outside Florida by establishing its franchise system. The system worked allowing Burger King to increase quickly. Burger King Company was also pursuing to reach out children and establish Kids Club but then by 2015 Burger King had no longer focused on this area.

Despite having trouble times, Burger King still became a well-known fast-food hamburger chain. Through the years, Burger King grew as they use different strategies and form a different and unique characteristics from their competitors.

2.2. Company Vision and Mission

Vision

Burger King’s vision statement is “to be the most profitable QSR business, through a strong franchise system and great people, serving the best burgers in the world.”

Mission

Burger King’s mission statement is to “offer reasonably priced quality food, served quickly, in attractive, clean surroundings.”

2.3. Corporate Officers

Daniel S. Schwartz

Chief Executive Officer

JOSHUA KOBZA

Chief Financial Officer

AZEL SCHWAN

Global Chief Marketing Officer

HEITOR GONCALVES

Chief Information Performance & People Officer

ALEXANDRE MACEDO

President of Burger King North America

JOSE E CIL

President of Burger King Europe

JOSE DIAS

President of Burger King Latin America & Global Development VP

ELIAS DIAZ SESE

President of Burger King Asia Pacific

RODRIGO MUSIELLO

Global Operations

JILL GRANAT

Secretary & General Counsel

JACQUELINE FRIESNER

Chief Accounting Officer & Controller

2.4. Product Line

Burger King operates as a quick service restaurant business focusing on burgers as its main product.

•Burgers

•Salad & veggies

•Chicken & fish

•Sides

•Sweet/desserts

•Beverages

BURGERS

Burger King is a family of different kinds of hamburgers consisting of patties, bacon, king sauce and their american cheese. Their burgers have lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and it is the main product of their store because of its taste, quality, as well as affordability.

SALAD AND VEGGIES

Burger King salad is totally vegetarian and comes with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and croutons. They have different types of salad so that the customers can pick which one is their preferred salad for their side dish. The vegetable used in Burger King salads are always served fresh.

SIDES

Burger king offers frings which is the combination of onion rings and their french fries.

CHICKEN & FISH

Burger King’s chicken & fish sandwiches are pure white alaskan pollock and it also comes with lettuce.

SWEETS/ DESSERTS

BEVERAGES

Burger King’s fruit smoothies are freshly made with low fat yogurt, real fruits and juices were blended to create tropical mango, raspberry, and strawberry banana. The coffee frappes are also made with real arabica bean coffee and blended until it’s smooth and creamy.

2.5. Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix

As you can see from the table, the strong point of Burger King is the strong brand image that they have which is equivalent to 15% in weight, 4 in rating and has a total of .60 in the weighted score; while their weak point is the market concentration which is at 5% in weight and 1 in rating that got a total of .5 in weighted score. In conclusion, Burger King’s weighted score is at 3.02 shows that Burger King internally performs well.

3.External Assessment

3.1. Porter’s Model Analysis

In the rivalry among competing firms, you can see that Burger King competes with major firms like McDonald’s, Wendys, and Taco Bell. In the potential development of substitute products, Burger King’s customers can transfer to another dining because they will have the choice to go to fine dining or prefer to just cook at home. Next, the factors such as the high number of supplies, high overall supply and low forward integration are what makes the bargaining power of supplies. Additionally, the potential of new competitors and new entrants are what Burger King should look after because that’s where they should perform low costs since they should be competing in the market. Lastly, in the bargaining power of customers, it is where high substitute availability, moderate presence of consumer organization, and etc. takes place.

3.2 External Factor Evaluation Matrix

External Analysis

As we can see in the opportunities, market share has the highest weight compare to the others and the lowest for the weighted is New supplier and Increased demand for products. The rating of Internal Expansion, Developing Health-conscious & Market share got the highest rating, “while Increased demand for products got the lowest rating." The average of opportunities only indicate the total weighted score of opportunities.

In the table of threats, we can see that New Competitors have the highest threat in Burger King while the lowest threats are Expiring of contract. As for the rating of the threats, Predicted natural disaster and Legislation for unhealthy fast food got the lowest rate while the highest are New Competitors, New Law & Expiring contract. Total threats only indicate the average of weighted score of threats.

According to the EFE Matrix of Burger King, the total weighted score of the opportunities and threats is 2.92, which indicates the organization is responding in an above-average way to existing opportunities and threats in the industry.

3.3 Competitive Profile Matrix

Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)

Competitor’s Analysis

As seen in the CPM analysis, McDonald's is the most competitive in the industry with a total score of 3.07, leading in the critical factors market share, market penetration, innovation, financial profit, brand name, and advertising. Burger King, having a total of 2.75, has a relative strength in store location, Research & Development (R&D), product quality, and price competitiveness, tied with Wendy's. With the equal score of 0.12, all food chains in the matrix need to value their employees more as their employee's dedication is low in rating. Burger King should maximize their strengths and improve in market share, market penetration, innovation, and advertising because these are the factors where Burger King has the lowest rating. Financial profit has the greatest value of weight as it can really drive the business to followed by product quality and customer service, both are crucial in the fast-food chain industry.

3.4. Key External Factor

According to the chart above, External Factors are divided into six (6) forces that influence and affect Burger King externally. Both opportunities and threats are equally dividing, which shows that Burger King has balanced forces externally which means they could still be able to control and identify what forces are in need of improvements, solutions or changes in a way that would not have a bad effect to the company or negative forces that they might face in the future but still be able to strategize a plan. This PESTEL ANALYSIS would help Burger King to have a good global performance that would have long-term effectiveness to the business for future decision making.

4. Strategy Formulation

4.1. Boston Consulting Group Matrix

Boston Consulting Group Matrix of Burger king

Figure 2. BCG Matrix of Burger King

● Star: Whopper Products, franchise owned outlet business

● Cash Cows: Supplier Management Service, International food strategic business unit

● Question Mark: Local Foods, confectionery market

● Dog: Ineffective market, Plastic bags, Synthetic fiber products, artificially flavored products strategic business units

In this figure, a strategic management tool will be used by Burger King to analyze the position of their strategic business unit and its market potential to offer their target markets. This BCG matrix would be helpful in a way that it will have a significant presence on deciding whether what kind of strategies can be implemented for Burger King to grow more, invest to their strengths and most especially is to consider the things that hinder their growth and success in the market.

● Star (High Growth, High Market Share)

In this aspect, it has a relatively high growth rate and high market share. The Burger King products, especially their Original Whopper Burgers have rapid growth and dominant market share. It also has 13,000 franchise-owned outlet businesses around the world and its presence in every country makes it a strong brand that is why it earned a lot of significant revenue from that strategy. However, to support their high growth and high market share, careful consideration should be given especially to their product development strategy to develop innovation in this intensive competition of the fast-food restaurants and tap the untapped areas to increase the sales or else, it will become a cash cow.

● Cash Cows: (Low Growth, High Market Share)

In this aspect, it has a relatively high market share but low growth. It is said to be high in market share, but the growth rate is declining and their competitive advantage because they manage their supplier with their own rather than outsourcing it. For them not to go beyond the decline stage, it must be taken into careful consideration of the innovation of their products, investing in research and development to be able to turn this cash cow into a star again. It will surely benefit the sales of the Burger King. In addition to this, the international food strategic business unit is a cash cow of Burger King. Within its category, it has a high market share of 30%. However, the target markets are now shifting their taste and now inclined less to the foods internationally that is why it affected the growth rate of Burger King. They must invest thoroughly to stabilize it, and if it no longer works, this strategy will now be divesting.

● Question Mark: (High Growth, Low Market Share)

In this aspect, it is relatively high growth but low in market share. Some products of Burger King are immensely consumed. However with the strong competition in the market, some customers are like the other restaurants that sells burgers as well. In this way, it is difficult to know if some of the Burger King will prosper and become a star of the brand. And most likely, it requires a significant amount of investment, especially in marketing and maintaining its market share. In line with this, the local foods strategic business unit of Burger King is considered a question mark because consumers are now inclined toward local foods. And burger king is having a low market share in this aspect. In this case, Burger King is most likely to consider and invest in this strategy in order to bring a high market share. Another thing is that Burger King is poor in reaching some areas, the confectionery market is growing for some years now. With that, Burger King needs to penetrate the market because not everybody is being targeted by their current strategy. If they include the confectionery market, surely, it will increase their sales and make it into a cash cow.

● Dog: (Low Growth, Low Market Share)

In this aspect, it has relatively low growth rate and market share. Many of their products have gone through their declining stage due to their marketing strategies and its rivals. Over the years, Burger King incurred losses and one of the reasons is the use of plastic bags. In this era where environmental concerns are being considered. They should divest this and move into an eco-friendly way. Another thing that made them in the dog category is their synthetic fiber products. It resulted from low market share and with that, it must be divested to not incur more losses. And last but not the least, is their use of artificial flavors in their products. Having to innovate products with artificial flavorings does not grow as expected because people nowadays are more health-conscious and as a result, their growth rate and market share dropped. With this, it must call back this product and free it from artificial flavorings.

4.2. Strategic Position and Action Evaluation Matrix

4.3. Grand Strategy Matrix

Burger King is internationally known and because of that, it is acknowledged as the 2nd largest Food chain in the industry, and that is how Burger Kind gained their competitive position. Burger King's strategy shows us how they gain their competitive advantage and the growth of its organization by producing and developing their products and resources. It indicates that Burger King is placed in quadrant I and reveals the Strong Competitive Position in the industry and their Rapid Market Growth. Burger King will grow and aim to continue growing their market environment and developing their products and markets to the industry and applying the integration strategies to have a great opportunity and to make the organization more successful in the industry.

4.4. Internal - External Matrix

The score of Burger King’s Internal Factor Evaluation has a total weighted score of 3.02 and placed in a cell I which reveals that Burger King’s internal environment has a strong IFE outcome of strength and weakness that represents the internal firm. While External Factor Evaluation has a total weighted score of 2.92 that place in cell IV which reveals that the external environment of Burger King identified as a medium outcome score in EFE when it comes to the external opportunities and threats.

The results of IFE and EFE weighted scores are placed under cell I and cell IV, which is the Grow and Build strategies. This segment has a division of Market penetration, Product Development, and Related Diversifications and from the other point of view, backward integration, forward integration, and horizontal integration are also strategies that can be considered and reasonable on this division.

4.5. Strength - Weaknesses- Opportunities - Threats Analysis

Strengths

1. Strong brand image

Burger King takes advantage of its well-known brand. Since 1969, the logo has hardly changed. The famous terms "Burger King," squashed between two drawn hamburger buns, can still be recognized.

2. Moderate market penetration

Market penetration is Burger King's primary expansion strategy. The objective of this comprehensive approach is to increase sales from current customers or markets in which the company already operates.

3. Moderate differentiation of products

Burger King was among the most well-known brands in the business. The company would be able to open new restaurants and introduce new products more easily. Because of the large number of Burger King restaurants around the world, higher market penetration is a strength. Burger King's mild differentiation is also an asset, allowing the company to ensure that some of its products are unique.

4. Greater franchise mix

With over 18 thousand franchised restaurants, the business has almost exclusively become a franchised chain in recent years. Just 52 units are still owned by the company. Even though Burger King has decreased the number of company-owned franchises, the total number of locations has increased every year over the last decade.

5. Strong market position

Market positioning is the method of presenting a brand to potential customers in such a way that they can easily see how it compares to competing products. Burger King targeted the young adult market, especially young males, and positioned itself as a provider of high-quality, great-tasting, and affordable food.

6. Robust financial performance

Burger King's income statement has been strong in recent years, increasing year after year, making them very competitive in their industry as compared to other fast-food restaurants.

Weakness

1. Easily imitable business

Some fast-food restaurants that also has Burger on their menu can easily imitate the Burger King’s best-seller which is the “grilled burger”. They can produce similar products and lower their price because they are the one of the most saleable products in the market when it comes to burgers.

2. Limited product mix

Burger King maintains a limited approach which is shown in its limited product portfolio. Nonetheless, by economies of scale from large-scale sales of a limited range of product lines, this product mix helps Burger King's generic strategy.

3. Low control on franchise model

Acquiring a franchise entails entering a legally binding arrangement with the franchisor. Since franchise agreements determine how you run your company, you will have a little control over the franchise model, leaving little space for innovation. There are usually limitations on where you can operate, what items you can sell, and who you can work with. You would also have a lack of privacy in addition to these issues.

4. Market concentration

This can be a flaw because high concentration means that the top companies have a lot of influence over the market's products and services. It will result in higher prices and lower consumer security because just like Burger King, which is owned by Jollibee. The top firm Jollibee can set price rules and set certain services that can affect small firms.

5. Negative earnings

Full-service restaurants dominate the Philippines fast food industry, with a 31.8 percent market share in 2017. The 100 percent home service delivery sub-segment is the fastest-growing segment, followed by street stalls/kiosks, during the forecast period.

6. Scattered marketing campaign

The scattered marketing used by Burger King can affect current and potential customers. This could result in a low return on marketing campaign investment

and the loss of existing consumers, who would turn to brands with clear and insightful messaging.

Opportunities

1. Internal expansion developing

Burger King's intensive approach has a strategic goal of targeting new consumers in new markets by offering low prices. This intensive strategy entails entering new markets or targeting new consumer segments to support business growth.

2. Health conscious

Consumers are increasingly turning away from unhealthy foods high in fat and calories, therefore introducing healthy options is a smart strategic move. Burger King Worldwide believes that by combining culinary creativity with improved operations, guest satisfaction will be enhanced, as well as the company's profitability.

3. Market shares

Full-service restaurants dominate the Philippines fast food industry, with a 31.8 percent market share in 2017. The 100 percent home service delivery sub-

segment is the fastest-growing segment, followed by street stalls/kiosks, during the forecast period.

4. New supplier

Because of expansion they will seek new supplier with lesser delivery price and product cause

5. Increased demand for products

When the price of meat and vegetables decreases, the price of the meal tends to fall as well, which increases the demand for burgers. A satisfied customer is higher, which is a major factor in the rise in demand.

6. Service quality improvement

Burger King's service quality, the use of quality dimensions such as tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy is used to effectively and assess the quality service of the restaurant.

Threats

1. Expiring contract

If there was a contract it is short term only for the employees, it not a lifetime work because it is a contractual basis.

2. Predicted natural disaster

Climate and its effects around the globe can impact negatively on companies' bottom lines in several ways. Extreme weather, both in the Philippines abroad, can damage factories, supply chain operations, and other infrastructure, as well as disrupt transportation.

3. New Competitors

A company's competitive advantage is compromised when new companies enter an industry offering the same services or goods. As a result, the threat of new entrants applies to a company's ability to enter a market.

4. New Law

Implementation of tax increase because Tax cuts can boost business demand by increasing firms' after-tax cash flow, which can be used to pay dividends and expand activity, and by making hiring and investing more attractive.

5. Legislation for unhealthy fast food

If there is regulation restricting the production of unhealthy foods, the cost of food will increase so there will be an increase in nutritional value, leading to increased cost to the company.

6. Imitation

Product imitation has a significant impact on the financial results, lagged asset return, and having a good marketing campaign will significantly influence market share for the sins that people can prioritize imitation with nearly the same quality as the original product with glass market value does the aim for the great return of us it slow.

Two strategies were formulated from the TOWS Matrix: Market penetration and Production Development. Burger King needs to advertise or promote their business to stay competitive with other companies, they must improve their production and adapt to new trends in the industry.

4.6 Quantitative Strategy Planning (QSP) Matrix

The findings revealed that production development is preferable over market penetration. The two methods have similar ratings, indicating that they can both be applied by the company.

5. Strategy Recommendation

New strategy recommendations are vital for a company, especially when they are aiming for more success. These are the strategies that Burger King can use, and this includes Market Penetration, Market Development, and Product Development.

Strategy 1- Market Penetration

It is said that Burger King’s weaknesses are Market Concentration and Scattered Marketing Campaign, so the strategy of market penetration will be able to help with these weaknesses. Market Penetration will help when it comes to Burger King’s presence, and it will also help in improving their influence. Market Penetration focuses on the brand’s image like partnering with other brands, companies or even with people who have a very great image. It will help in having better marketing or branding strategies and it can also result in the company’s opportunities in the future. Market Penetration will also improve the company’s sales and it will be more recognized by more potential customers since they also need to improve their advertisement skills. Market penetration also helps when it comes to improving the company’s pricing.

Strategy 2- Market Development

Market Development is a strategy that is helpful when it comes to introducing a company’s products to new locations. Market Development will help in developing the business or market through expansions. This is a great strategy since we can see that Burger King is already very successful in their field so opening in more locations will not be that complicated for their company. Market Development is a strategy that can help Burger King in gaining more competitive advantage and it makes the business to be locally, and internationally known. The market development will help burger king to be known in every area in our country and all around the world. This can also help when it comes to improving Burger King’s Marketing Skills and Location development. If the company also focuses on opening more branches in different locations, they will have more control and it can lessen the issue that is related to their franchise models. Having more locations can also lead to the company’s increased earnings and it is a great way to compete with their major competitors which are also opening more branches in every location that is possible.

Strategy 3- Product Development

Product Development is a strategy that involves the development of the existing products, and it may also be used to develop new products that Burger King can release. This can give a new life to the company’s existing products, and this can also help with their new marketing skills that their customers will be curious about. Product development is a strategy that can provide satisfaction to the customers, improve the company’s reputation, improve competitiveness, and improve their quality and performance. Product Development is also one of the best strategies when it comes to improving burger king’s weakness which is having a limited product mix.

6. Action Plan

The action plan includes the steps or suggestions that the company can do to be successful. The action plan will help when it comes to the steps that the company needs to consider so that it can lead to the business’ improvements.

Action Plan 1- Market Penetration

This plan will involve better Marketing and Pricing Skills that Burger King should implement. It is said that Burger King’s market concentration can be seen as a flaw to the business so the best thing to do is to adjust their price range. They also have a scattered marketing campaign which can lead to losing existing and potential customers. Burger King can make their products more known or recognized, and they can compete with other companies by lowering the prices of their products and at the same time it still has a great quality. They can also partner or collaborate with famous influencers so that their sales would increase, their marketing and advertising skills will improve, and their business will be more known so it can result in higher consumer security. Burger King can also improve their location to be more known by the customers and in the market field.

Action Plan 2- Market Development

Market Development will help in maximizing Burger King’s full potential in the business industry. They already have a lot of locations that are operating but they still have a lot of potentials when it comes to opening more branches in different locations so that it will be more known, and it can also lead to their control over their products and service. Burger King can search for more great locations for their business since this will be a great advantage to be able to compete with their major competitors which has a lot of branches in different locations. Unlike their other competitors in the country, Burger King does not have a lot of branches when it comes to provincial areas so having more expanding their business in more locations will be beneficial. When they already have more locations, then they will also have more target markets who are their new potential customers. Market Development can also help when it comes to improving their weakness that is related with negative earnings since when a business is already well known and successful, then there is a high possibility that this will lead to an improvement with the company’s sales and earnings.

Action Plan 3- Product Development

Product Development will be helpful since we can also see in this paper that one of Burger King’s weaknesses is that they have a limited product mix. They have a limited range of product lines like burgers or rice meals. The action that Burger King should consider is to provide new packaging for their products and this also works for other brands. They can provide limited edition products with great packaging and when this becomes successful, they can keep this new product on their portfolio or menu. They can also release more rice meals, drinks, desserts, and new flavors of their famous burgers which they are famous for. Adding healthier options can also be a great improvement for their business because this will be perfect for the customers who are into the healthy lifestyle trends. Through product development, they can also improve the demands, and quality of their products which can result in more customers who will be loyal with their brand.

7. Conclusion

To summarize everything that has been stated so far, we therefore, conclude that Burger King Corporation is performing above the average. Meaning, this food chain is very well operating and competing with its competitors. As the years go by, it is constantly keeping up to cater its market, to meet the needs of its customers, and to be one of the top food chains in the industry.

As you have seen, the Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix shows that the Burger King Corporation has a total of 3.02 weighted score which means that it is internally strong. Also, the External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix proves that the total weighted score of opportunities and threats are equal to 2.92 which indicates that Burger King Corporation is an above-average level. Moving on, Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) stated that Burger King is only on the second spot in competing with McDonald's which has a total score of 3.17 while Burger King Corporation has only 2.75, and lastly, the Wendy's at the third spot having a 2.30 total score.

Moreover, in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix, you have seen that what makes that Burger King have high growth and high market at the same time is their whopper products and franchise-owned outlet business. Also, the reason why Burger King Corporation falls to this quadrant is that they have rapid growth, dominant market shares as well as 13, 000 franchises around the world. Furthermore, the Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix of this food chain shows that Burger King falls in the "aggressive" quadrant since it has a total of 0.50 in Financial Position (FP) and Stability Position (SP) while a total of 1.00 in Industry Position (IP) and Competitive Position (CP). Additionally, the Grand Strategy (GS) Matrix proved that Burger King Corporation has a strong competitive position in which strategies such as product development as well as integration strategies will best suit this food industry. To add up, the Internal-External (IE) Matrix shows that the Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) falls in cell I which has 3.02 and the External Factor Evaluation (IFE) falls under cell II because it has a total weighted score of 2.92.

Besides these matrices, we therefore, conclude that the Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) also come up to consider the strategies Market Penetration and Product Development to remain competitive as well as to adopt new concepts that will surely fit the trends in the industry. That is why in the (QSPM) Matrix, the methods or strategies Market Penetration and Product Development can be applied to Burger King Corporation for the food chain company to keep in the right track. To successfully achieve these goals the strategy recommendation comes up with an action plan on how these strategies will work and will help the company to be competitive as well as to perform better than usual. And so, this is the findings that this paper found.

8. Financial Projection

As shown in the chart Burger King’s revenue has a huge step up from the year 2018 which only shows that it is the best year of Burger King because their income has drastically risen and it continues to grow up until 2020 despite the current pandemic crisis situation, it somehow shows that Burger King wasn’t that much affected by the Crisis.

3 notes · View notes

bwayfan25 · 4 years ago

Note

for the family prompts, i would love to see 7 or 47 for matriarchs! (kerry & any of the girls!)

Prompt 47: “My kid’s sick, I have to go.”

It took all of Kerry’s willpower not to just end the Zoom meeting and tell the Board committee that she’d talk to them at the full Board meeting in October, but they were only halfway done with the agenda.

“For the last time,” she said, taking off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose, “we are following the CDC guidelines, not the FDA guidelines. The CDC is the one leading this.”

“But the FDA has to have some part of it, right?” Board Member Dr. Ernest Jones asked belligerently. “I mean, they are a federal agency in their own right.”

“Yes, they are,” Kerry conceded. “But for the last forty years, the FDA has had more of a vested interest in corporations and whoever is in political power than it has in keeping people safe. Or are we all forgetting that it took over fifteen years to fund antiretroviral research to treat HIV?”

“Well, that was different,” lawyer Sophia Rettig, another Board Member, said. “COVID-19 is a pandemic. A global health crisis-”

“And so was AIDS!” Kerry snapped, cutting her off.

Before Sophia or any of the other Board members could respond, there was a sound outside of the door to Kerry’s office. Kerry managed to quickly inform the committee she’d need to step off for a moment just before the door opened and a pregnant redheaded surgeon burst in with Kerry’s assistant stumbling in after her.

“Mr. Marcum, the reason your desk is right outside my office is to prevent unexpected interruptions,” Kerry said to the assistant as she picked up her surgical mask from her desk and put it back on.

“I know, ma’am. I know,” Mr. Marcum said apologetically. “I tried to stop her while still keeping my distance and it… didn’t work.”

Kerry rolled her eyes and then dismissed him with a wave of her hand. As he backed out, she turned her attention to the (rather grumpy-looking) pregnant redheaded surgeon.

“Dr. Levin, you are not allowed to just come into my office whenever you feel like it.”

Normally, if Kerry used ‘Dr. Levin’ (which had come to serve as the most updated version of Annie’s trouble name over the last several years), it was enough to inform the Chief Surgical Resident that the Chief of Staff was peeved. But today, it seemed to have no such effect.

“Can I sleep on your couch?” Annie asked in a desperate voice.

Kerry’s brow furrowed.

“What?”

“Can I sleep on your couch?” Annie repeated.

Kerry looked at her for a moment, processing the request that had not been at all what Kerry was expecting Annie to ask.

“If you want to take a nap, why don’t you sleep in the Surgical On-Call Room?” Kerry suggested, motioning beyond the door into the hospital.

“I tried to. But the Surgical On-Call Room is right next to the Surgical Locker Room, and every time someone flushes the toilet, your grandchildren insist that I have to pee,” Annie said with a groan. “And I don’t have to pee!”

Kerry observed Annie closely for a moment, nearly considering asking to take off her own surgical mask so she could see the rest of her freckled face better.

“When was the last time you slept?” she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“What day is it?” Annie asked, her own brow furrowing.

“Thursday.”

Annie paused to think.

“April?” At her mother’s raised brow, Annie let out a sigh. “Please? I’m really tired and I don’t feel good.”

Kerry stiffened in her chair.

“You don’t feel good?” she asked quickly, her eyes widening in fear. “Do you think-”

“No, it’s not COVID,” Annie replied, holding up a hand. “I just have a headache because I’m tired and I feel nauseous because I haven’t eaten anything. But I haven’t eaten because everything just sounds gross today. Well, everything except bacon cheeseburgers.

“And I get that pregnancy cravings are weird and random, but really?! I’m supposed to keep even more Kosher while I’m pregnant, and yet this week, it feels like the only thing keeping me from going to the Wendy’s downstairs is the fact that I’ll probably get really sick if I eat it.”

Annie finished her mini-rant with a pleading look in her mother’s direction, which earned her both a look of exasperation and a permissive wave in the direction of the couch.

“Yes, you can take a nap in here,” Kerry said in a gentler, but still firm, tone. “But I’m on a call, so you have to be quiet.”

“Thank you, Momma,” Annie said in a grateful voice. “I love you.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Kerry turned back to her computer.

However, as she unmuted the laptop itself before turning either her microphone or video back on, she heard one of the Board Members remark, “I just think the hospital took the mask mandates a little too far. I mean, I get wearing them when treating patients or in public areas with a lot of people, but do we really need to wear them in the bathroom?”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Kerry muttered, pressing a hand to her forehead.

But in the brief moment before she rejoined the call, Annie’s crutches fell from where they had been leaning against the wall. Annie did not move from where she’d curled up on the couch (as much as one could curl up when six months pregnant with twins) and instead just let out a huff.

This, however, gave Kerry an idea.

“Oh, Dr. Weaver,” someone began as she clicked back into the meeting. “I wanted to bring up-”

“Actually, my apologies, but I’m going to have to duck out,” Kerry said, cutting them off. “That turned out to be rather urgent. My eldest daughter doesn’t feel well. I really need to go, uh… go see what’s going on.”

From the Gallery view of the Zoom call, Kerry could see everyone on the call. At her words, they all wore the same sobering expression.

“Not feeling well?” someone asked in concern. “Is she experiencing COVID symptoms?”

“I hope not, but I don’t want to take any chances,” Kerry said, hoping they couldn’t see through her ruse.

None of them did, though, and just nodded in understanding. Kerry gave another half-hearted apology before leaving the meeting and snapping her laptop shut.

“Did you just hang up on the Board of Directors for me?” Annie asked from the couch.

“It was a committee from the Board of Directors,” Kerry clarified. “And I wanted to hang up on them anyways. You just gave me an excuse.”

“Are you going to get in trouble for that?”

“Nah. And not just because I’m going to be serving them a letter signed by all the department heads that calls for their removal at the Board Meeting in October,” Kerry replied as she pulled open one of her desk drawers and started shuffling through it. “It turns out that the entirety of hospital leadership can agree on something if that something is ‘firing the Board for refusing to authorize additional emergency funding in the middle of an international pandemic.’”

Kerry rose from her desk chair and crossed to the couch.

“Here,” she said, holding out a packet of crackers. “Eat this”

“Thank you, Momma,” Annie muttered, taking the packet from her.

Kerry gently stroked Annie’s hair for a moment before her hand paused on Annie’s forehead.

“Momma, I don’t have a fever.”

“I know, I know” Kerry said, raising her hands defensively. “But I just had to check.”

#thank you for asking!!#i'll get to the other prompt sometime later today #i would have written a prompt with one of the kids as a child but i wanted to use this scene for something #kerry weaver #annie levin #matriarchs au #nbc er #family prompt weekend #my fanfiction #er fanfic #cw covid19

7 notes · View notes

writeyourownlifestory · 4 years ago

Text

Sucker Punched

Chapters: 3/9 Fandom: IT Rating: M Warnings: Mention of past child // psychological abuse, Fight Club!au Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Beverly Marsh/Ben Hanscom Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, learning to love yourself

Tag list: @richietoaster, @beproudtozier, @that-weird-girls-blog, @s-onora, @s-s-georgie, @bellarosewrites, @iamcupcakefrosting, @reddieonwheels, @ghostnebula, @madidraw @madi-main, @gazebobullshit, @thoughtfullyyoungduck

By the time Eddie was 13, he was allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and several cooking oils. By 15, he had never swum in gym class and never went to a friend’s birthday party or had one of his own. By 16, Eddie knew that he liked looking at boys rather than looking at girls, though that didn’t seem to matter at the time. By 18, he had graduated high school and that was the end of his social life. And by 21, Eddie’s life had been torn to pieces.

He was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy and now left without a mother, without a home, and without a clue. On top of being told he should go to group therapy, his caseworker had also suggested doing something to blow off some steam. Join a book club or go to the gym. Or maybe join a need-to-know based fight club. Either or.

Chapter’s one - two

Eddie thought, as a nice gesture, he would surprise Ben and take him out to lunch.

He got off of work earlier than he thought he would. They didn’t have that much to unpack and restock onto the shelves. It was pretty slow on this particular day, so the need for any extra baggers or cashiers wasn’t as high as always. The manager of the store gave Eddie the option to skip out forty-five minutes earlier than he was scheduled to leave.

He didn’t jump at the chance to leave, but he took it regardless. Walking down the street, he thought it would be a good idea to head into the gym that Ben frequented at and see if he’d be interested in grabbing something to eat.

He knew Ben’s routine as well as his own. He wakes up and goes for his run. If he was closing, then he’d come home, eat breakfast and hang around the house. Sometimes he would do a bit of work in his room, rearranging some of his models or creating an online template for future projects. And then he’d go to the gym and work out for an hour or two. He’d come home and show, help with dinner and then either go out with Beverly or Mike before returning home for the night.

If he was opening, then he’d still go out running, but he would do it far earlier and make a protein shake or take something portable. He’d go to work and then get out, heading straight for the gym when he was finished, and then come home, shower, help with dinner, and then go out.

He’d usually go to the gym around the same time regardless if he was opening or closing, so Eddie had a pretty good shot of him being there.

He slipped inside, looking around in hopes of spotting him. He came up empty, but waited a bit, thinking maybe he was in the back room. He stood there for nearly five minutes, looking completely out of place in his work shirt and jeans.

“Ay, Eduardo!” A voice called out to him. He looked up, seeing Richie sitting up from a machine he was on. Ben had mentioned calling it a ‘crunch machine’ or something like that. Richie pulled off his headphone, the sound of the music muffled, but still loud enough for Eddie to hear just slightly. “He’s not here.”

“What?”

“Haystack. He’s not here. Bev stopped by and grabbed him maybe about fifteen minutes ago.” Richie explained.

Right. So Eddie had been on the money with the timing but missed him by a few minutes. He wasn’t surprised that Beverly had come and snatched him away. Any time she wasn’t in the group meeting or working at her aunt’s boutique, she was with Ben.

It was fair enough since they were best friends. Eddie didn’t know if that was what being a best friend was, always wanting to be around them and do everything with them.

Or maybe it was more than friendship.

Eddie didn’t know either way.

“Oh. Thank you.”

“No problemo. You wanna do a few sets?”

“Few what?”

“Sets, dude! Gotta work on those gains!”

Eddie just stared, babbled by whatever the hell he was even saying. Mke walked by then, slapping the back of Richie’s head as he passed. “Speak English, dumbass.” He prompted.

“Ah! Geez, Hanlon. Hands-off outside the ring.” Richie mumbled, standing from the machine.

“I think you’re supposed to wipe those down,” Eddie mentioned as Richie approached him.

“Though, do you wanna work out? I’m always down for some tag-team pumping.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying,” Eddie grumbled with a heavy sigh. “But, if you’re asking me to work out, I’m gonna decline. Not exactly in the right attire.”

“That’s fine! Just take the pants off. Boxers and gym shorts are similar enough.”

Eddie scoffed, wrinkling his nose at the idea. “Dude, no.”

“I’m kidding! I’m done anyway,” Richie reached into his pocket, turning off the music playing from his phone and detached the headphones, pulling them off his neck. He wrapped the wire around and around, tightening it before looping it through his arm to hold onto. “Did you walk here?”

“I don’t have a car,” Eddie told him.

No car, no license. He knew the town was small enough, allowing him to walk just about everywhere, but he knew how pathetic it sounded.

Eddie’s whole existence was pathetic at this point.

“Are you going home?”

“Not like I have anywhere else to go,” Eddie answered with a small shrug.

“Want a lift?” Richie questioned. “I don’t have work tonight, so I don’t have anywhere else to go either.”

Eddie shook his head slightly. “It’s fine,”

“Can I walk with you?” Richie asked, taking a step closer. “I don’t mean to be pushy. Just. Super bored and figured a conversation would shake things up a bit. If you don’t want to be bothered, just say so.”

Eddie couldn’t remember the last time he had been bothered. He thought of all the times when he was little when his mother would take away the comic books he had borrowed from the library or forced him to watch the children's programming she had found on tv even though he was over eighteen.

Eddie also couldn’t remember the last time someone cared if he was bothered. He was so used to just doing what other people wanted him to do, what his mother wanted him to do, that being given options seemed so rare and new to him.

Richie waved a hand over Eddie’s face slowly. “You okay? Your eyes sort of glazed over there.”

Eddie blinked, not realizing he had been starring, drifting off into his thoughts. “I’m fine.”

Richie bobbed his head firmly. “All right. Well, do you want that ride or not?”

“Sure,” Eddie replied, deciding he had nothing to lose.

Richie beamed, his eyes lighting up behind those thick glasses of his. He followed Richie out to the parking lot, walking over to the car that appeared to be his. He didn’t know much about the car but knew it was nice enough. An older model. He had seen it once before, on the cover of a car magazine at the pharmacy.

“Ain't she a beaut!” Richie said as they approached the car.

It was blue, or at least it was supposed to be, but dirt stains and other things were covering it. Eddie couldn’t tell if it was dented or the car was just oddly shaped. Eddie just gave a small nod, letting Richie toss his gym back into the back before getting into the driver’s seat.

“Come on, big man!”

Eddie got into the passenger side of the car, surprised to find it somewhat clean. He had a McDonald's cup sitting in the cup holder and the air freshener hanging on the mirror didn’t seem to be working because the car itself smelt like grease and cigarettes.

“Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Richie told him as they pulled out of the car. “Do you mind if I peel into the Wendy’s on Union?”

“That’s fine,” Eddie replied smoothly.

Richie turned on the stereo the moment they hit the road. He had his music playing, a bunch of bands playing alternative rock songs that Eddie didn’t know. “You can change it if you want to. All music is good music to me,”

Eddie didn’t touch the radio. He let it play on as they drove, with Richie lowering it as they got to the drive-through. He half-shouted his order, pausing so he could turn back to Eddie. “What do you want?”

“What?”

“To eat? 4 for 4? Baconator fries? Spicy nuggets? Throw me a bone here, Eduardo.”

“My name is Eddie. Short for Edward.”

“Okay Edward, what do you want?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Dude, it’s fast food. You don’t eat fast food because you’re hungry. You eat it because it’s cheap and filling.” The muffled, machinal voice from the ordering box asked if that was all. “Hang on, one sec! Eds, pick something.”

“I don’t want anything.”

“You just got off of work, right? Did you have lunch?” Eddie gave Richie a small side-eye in response. “Yeah, I thought so. Hey! Sorry about that. Can I get two large Frostys and a large fry too? That’s all.”

Pulling up to the window, Richie paid and proceeded to hand Eddie the bag of food and placed the two Frosty’s in the cup holders. He took the McDonald’s cup and continued to drink it as they drove the rest of the way to the Hanscom household.

Richie parked up front, unbuckling his seatbelt as he shifted in the seat, turning to face Eddie properly. “All right. Let’s eat.” He declared.

He took his cheeseburger and bit into it, holding out the container of fries for Eddie to take. He stole three of them, chewing on them piece by piece. They weren’t as salty as the ones from McDonald's, nor were they as curly as the ones from Arby’s.

The Hanscom’s thrived on eating from home, but now and then they’d splurge and they’d all go out to dinner at Olive Garden or bring in Chinese. And on some nights, they’d go buck wild and get fast food because it was inexpensive and quick.

McDonald’s had been the first type of fast food Eddie had eaten. He wasn’t too impressed with the Big Mac, finding the extra piece of bread to be something of an overkill, but the regular cheeseburger was fine.

These fries were good as well, though Eddie found himself feeling a bit concerned when he caught sight of Richie dipping his fries into the Frosty.

“Oh don’t give me that look. Come on. Don’t knock it till you try it.” Richie argued, nudging Eddie’s arms.

Huffing a sigh, Eddie relented, going to dip the end of one fry into the Frosty, taking a bite of it. The sweet and salty elements weren’t bad. The cold and warm combination was a bit odd, but he didn’t hate it.

“Not the worst.” He admitted, shoving the straw into the heavy liquid. He tried to slurp it up but found himself unable to do so. “Why the fuck is this so thick?”

“Your mom asked me the same thing,” Richie said, his smirk only lasting a few moments before realization hit him faster than Ben’s elbow did the night of their fight. “Oh fuck. I’m sorry.”

Eddie offered a thin smile, keeping his eyes on his Frosty. He stirred it around, trying to melt it a bit so he could drink it.

“I’m guessing you know all about it,” Eddie mentioned quietly. “Reporters had come around the first few days I got here, but Mrs. Hanscom chased them away.”

“I just know what Ben told me. Overprotective mom and stuff. He didn’t go into a lot of detail.”

“Ben isn’t one for gossip.” He knew his cousin wouldn’t bitch or brag about the situation. Ben was a good person. Probably the best outside of his mother.

“You probably don’t want to talk about it,” Richie mentioned, sticking his straw into his own Frosty. “You can if you want to. I’ve been told I tend to run my mouth, but I like to think I’m a pretty good listener too.”

“Not much to say,” Eddie mentioned, attempting to take another sip.

Richie hummed, bobbing his head. They sat in silence for a few minutes, focusing on his meal while Eddie stirred his Frosty around, and around, and around.

“So how did you get into the whole fight club thing?” Eddie asked, deciding to cut through the silence and the gentle tension that was beginning to grow between them.

“You do know the first and second rule of fight club is to not talk about fight club right?” Richie snickered.

“Oh. I’ve never seen the movie so….”

“Stan invited me,” Richie answered. “He told me that I had, and I quote, ‘a very punchable face’ which isn’t something I’m completely surprised about.”

“Kind of rude.”

“But very on-brand for Staniel.” Richie insisted. “I don’t know, man. I started going to the gym, started hanging around with the other guys. They introduced me to it and I’ve been going for about a year now.”

“I don’t understand the point of it,” Eddie confessed to him. “Wanting to hit someone and cause pain.”

“It’s not about causing pain. Look, you know the adrenaline rush you get when you do something completely wild?”

Eddie started blankly to him, unable to come up with a single time he had done anything wild. The closest had been when he would surf the internet late at night when his mom thought he was sleeping.

Richie, not bothering to comment, carried on. “It’s that. We ride that rush for as long as it lasts. It’s hard to put into words. It’s like running and jumping, unsure if you’re going to stick the landing.”

“I think I get it,” Eddie told him. Giving up on the sucking, he pulled the straw out from the cup, licking it slowly, lapping up the sweet creamy flavor. Richie watched him for a moment, his eyes focused on Eddie’s mouth. “What?”

“I could teach you some stuff,” He mentioned, his eyes flicking up to meet Eddie’s. “Working out. How to throw a punch.”

“I don’t want to fight,” Eddie answered.

“You don’t have to, but staying in shape is important. And if your mom did lock you away like some sick bubble boy, you’re going to need to bulk up if you ever want to make it in this world.”

“Stan was right. You do have a very punchable face.” Eddie declared.

He stabbed the straw back into the Frosty, deciding he’ll drink it at a later time when it was melted and suckable. He opened the car door, turning his head back to thank Richie for the ride.

“If you’re interested, come to the gym Friday morning,” Richie called out of the passenger side window.

“I’m opening Friday,” Eddie replied, pushing through the gate.

“Then come Friday night. What do you have to lose, man?”

Richie drove off before Eddie could even come up with an answer.

#Reddie #Reddie au #reddie fic #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #it au #it fanfic #no clown #sucker punch

4 notes · View notes

gruntlife · 6 years ago

Text

Grunt Manifesto

‘Here, this is how you build this hamburger -’ some dude the same height and weight as me but ten years older in his Wendy’s hat says to me. He grabs one conidment, slathers it on, another one, slathers it on, another one, slathers it on, the burger comes off the grill onto the patty, he folds the paper over it and there it is, a little burger in a foil wrapper which I have never once questioned how it came to be that way ever once in my life. ‘Now you try.’

I’m severely anxious about this. I didn’t really see what he did and he did it really really fast. I didn’t see how he folded the wrapper, I didn’t pick up on any of it. He sees my reticence and begins to show me again. The first condiment was mustard. Swipe that on. The second is ketchup. The third is mayonnaise. Then put two pickles and lettuce on it. Then the burger comes off the grill. Then you put it in the middle of the foil, fold the foil over itself and wrap the bottom up.

I can try the next one. It’s a junior bacon cheeseburger. People are outraged, he says, because the price went up 20 cents. It used to be 99 cents, now they cost 1.19 and people make a huge fuss over it.

‘It’s 20 cents, what’s the big deal?’

‘Oh its big,’ says the manager whose been watching me train. It’s my first day here, he hired me because my dad came in with me to apply for this job. I was completely shook by the entire idea of it - dealing with the public terrified me and I already sweat a lot. Being around a hot grill and a deep fryer didn’t help that. I had to really tighten the hat around my head and they’re getting me a hairnet because my long curly hair is too much for food service.

I’m not cut out for this.

‘Okay, so a junior bacon cheeseburger has just a few things: mayonaisse-’ he points to the mayonnaise and I slowly realize he wants me to grab it and so I grab it as fast as possible and end up putting a huge gob of it on the bun and its way too much and i try to put it back but it just gets all over the sandwich foil and so he goes ‘that’s okay, we’lkl just get another foil’ and throws that one away in the trash can without even looking, like some kind of fast food muscle memory basketball god. ‘Okay, mayo, then tomato and lettuce - ‘ I grab one tomato slice and a leaf of lettuce and he goes ‘now when you grab the lettuce make sure the pieces are about bun sized - see, this ones no good, just put it back and get another one, and it gets two tomato slices - ‘ okay, so he does that for me. ‘Now, grab the bacon.’

I don’t know where the bacon is. ‘Where is it?’ I ask

‘Good question! Its in the left drawer above the grill’ which is right beside me above a mean little guy with black hair and black eyes who in years to come I would see selling the kinds of drugs that ruined my friends lives. A crunchy piece falls out, he asks if I want to eat it and so I do. His eyes turn to disgust when he sees me do it and I realize he meant I was joking. But that was also the same exact type of bacon I was putting on this sandwich. That we were selling to someone. For 20 cents more than before.

‘Try not to eat the bacon,’ my trainer says. ‘Save some for the customers.’

Condescending little fucking prick. Doesn’t he know someday I’m gonna do something great, and he’s just gonna be really good at making burgers quick?

Okay, so I’ve built the burger. Now I ask him, ‘can you show me how to wrap this burger better?’

He does it in an instant and I don’t learn at all.

Fucking idiot.

……..

This was my first job at Wendy’s in Indiana Pennsylvania. Well, it wasn’t my first job - I was a paper boy before that and as a kid spent most of my summers on the delivery route with my father loading and unloading a delivery truck with cases of eggs. Indiana PA is a town full of fucking idiots whose newspaper’s internet comments section easily showcases the levels of mercury poisoning in the local water. People were fucking outraged that the junior bacon cheeseburger was 20 cents more.

……..

I don’t remember too much else of working at Wendy’s but that first couple days really stuck with me. I watched as these people who I viewed as incredibly ignorant, cliquey and arrogant were in charge of my soon-to-be-educated-but-haven’t-done-jack-shit-yet self (also totally unaware of my own arrogance.) I got fired within two months for continually stealing food and just not excelling whatsoever. How could you excel at this? What pride could be taken in being able to build a burger to get these hamburger devouring heathens out the door faster so some fucking jamoche I’d never see would make the money they weren’t paying me coming off the top of each burger. The way I fucking saw it, if I made 40 of these hamburgers an hour, they cost between 1 and 6 dollars, and I’m getting paid 5.75 an hour, they’re making hundreds of dollars of profit off of me alone. What the fuck is that?

The manager sat me down and had a serious one on one with me about it which I can’t remember at all. What I do remember is that the other Wendy’s in the mall closed and they fired the guy who fired me and gave the guy from the Wendy’s in the mall his job. When I heard that I thought ‘good, fuck that guy.’

Dude probably owned a house that he was in danger of losing now because someone took away his 25k a year job. Dude probably had kids he had to feed. Dude probably had a whole lot of problems coming down his way. When he looked out for the company, the company never once looked out for him.

What the fuck kind of life is that? My managers at the place were just some people who had started working a job and couldn’t afford the basic necessities of life - every story was about a struggle to pay rent, fix a car, keep a kid fed, something to that nature. The perfect metaphor was the one manager Mike - he kept having to get rides because although he had a car, his brakes needed replaced and his lights had been burnt out for months. He’s got the vehicle to go somewhere, but he can’t stop it and he can’t see where it’s going.

Fuck that life.

…..

But we can’t say fuck that life. A vast majority of us live that life. It makes a large part of us completely unsatisfied with the lives we lead. The way we go through things.

Grunt work. We all have to do it.

What’s your story?

#late capitalism #capitalism #socialism #workers #worker #fellow worker #grunt work #foodservice #service industry #labor #unions #struggle

1 note · View note

disorderedinorder · 3 years ago

Text

April 23rd, 2022

My day started out stressful with a situation I have never been in before, stressing me out heavily the night before and during the event. I decided to get some breakfast as a reward and for something quick before work. I need to figure out other forms of rewards for my efforts. I need to change that mindset.

For breakfast I got McDonald's hot cakes and sausage, a hashbrown, and a small Mocha frappe. I picked McDonald's not just because it's quick and pretty cheap, but because McDonald's has a strong emotional connection for me. The breakfast especially. Thinking about it, I guess I've been conditioned to get McDonald's in stressful situations. I hate daycare, I've always had separation issues with my parents, and so they'd get me McDonald's breakfast for me to eat after being dropped off. After doctors appointments, we'd get McDonald's. On our way to therapy? Get a McDonald's double cheeseburger. I'm learning my triggers. Learning leads to betterment.

It's about an hour after my McDonald's now. And can I be honest? I'm very scared to gain weight. But I suppose that's exactly why I'm doing this. To not focus so much on numbers. To not focus so much on my body's size, but more so how it feels, how my brain feels. I'm trying. But I'm scared.

Lunch time. Protein shake alone today since I had such a large breakfast. I know the breakfast was calorie dense, so that is part of my decision. But mainly I'm just full still. I'm sure I'll be sipping on this the rest of my work day. I managed to drink 16.9 ounces of water by the end of work. I should try and do two bottles next time.

I began to make dinner when I suddenly had to leave the house to pick S up from a friend's after returning from a wedding. Not only was it very sudden, but I was rather high. I hate, and never, drive high. But, S needed to be picked up and had no other options. A panic attack and an hour later, Wendy's was picked up. I picked Wendy's because a friend of mine was drinking a lemonade from them. And it made me crave. I give into cravings easily. I also have issues with having the idea to eat something, and then not being able to stop thinking about it. I need to learn more about my brain, how to stop these impulsive and intrusive thoughts.

This meal was also a binge meal for sure. A hot honey spicy chicken sandwich, baconator fries, a son of baconator, and a strawberry lemonade.

After dinner, I started making the dinner I initially had planned to ensure I eat at home tomorrow. It didn't go as planned, and I ended up eating a few potatoes that I cooked. And now I feel bogged down. Too full. I need to learn my hunger cues and listen to how my body feels. Not my mind.

Final Thoughts

Do not emotional eat. Bad days do not need to lead do negative food decisions.

Portions matter. Eating out occasionally is okay, but gorging is not. Try your best in the future to reduce the amount of food you get if eating out.

Listen to your body and how it feels. It matters more than what you're brain tells you.

#self growth #self healing #self esteem #mental health #healthy eating #my words #journal #eating disorder #ed #eating disoder recovery

1 note · View note

killerbarbiedebbie · 3 years ago

Text

Day 19:

I ate fast food 2 days ago. I had chik fil a, it was so good. I have been looking forward to this post too because even though I'm trying to lose weight, I still have my favorite fast food orders for every restaurant. Also because I have a few OCD tendencies. Here is a list of my favorite orders from fast food restaurants:

McDonald's-

Double Quarter Pounder with Bacon, extra onions pickles, ketchup and mustard. Large fries and a sprite.

Wendy's-

Dave's Double Cheeseburger and Baconator fries with a lemon powerade.

#anorexik #bonespr0 #pr0 @na #body ch3ck #an0r3xic

0 notes

star-going-supernova · 7 years ago

Note

For that question thingy: 4, 7, 11, 17, 23, 43, 55, 56, 57

This is way longer than I meant for it to be, but it was lots of fun, so thanks, friend! :D

4. what are you looking forward to?I’m looking forward to finishing up The Art of Being Alive (i’m also dreading it, but who’s counting?) and getting to all the other wonderful ideas that are just waiting to be writing, and I’m very excited for some of the classes that I’ll be taking this coming semester.

7. what was your life like last year?Last year, I was going through my first year of college and I made the decision to declare my major as Creative Writing, and I’m so happy I did. This time last year, while not horrible, can’t hold a candle to what my life is like now.

11. are you listening to music right now?Yeppers! I’ve got I’m So Sorry by Imagine Dragons on repeat. Listen. Listen, I love Imagine Dragons, okay. They have such good songs with such good lyrics and a lot of those songs have nothing to do with love or breakups or butts or whatever else all the popular songs are about these days. Nothing wrong with those sorts of things, of course, but songs like that just aren’t my cup of tea.

17. opinion on insecurities.Like, in general? They suck and I think we’ve all got ‘em. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if the events that developed my insecurities hadn’t happened. What sort of person would I be, y’know? The thing about insecurities though, is that sometimes, you can fight back against them.

 Let me tell how I fought mine.

After discovering fandoms and fanfiction, I wanted to be a part of them. I wanted to contribute. But I had this certainty inside me, this belief that I couldn’t ever write for preexisting characters. When they were mine, no one could tell me that I was writing them wrong, but from movies or TV shows or video games? That thought, combined with things at home, resulted in me thinking that I could never produce any good fanfiction. And once I got that in my head, I didn’t want to try, to the point that the first few times I did, I had to stop, because I felt ashamed of myself. I felt like I was doing something wrong just by wanting to write fanfiction.

I don’t know what exactly changed. I don’t know if I had an epiphany, if there was a moment where I said “Screw this,” I just don’t know.

One day, I started writing, forcing myself to do it even with all the negative thoughts in my head. I started, and over the course of about three years, I never really stopped. For Bendy and the Ink Machine, since I began writing in October, I’ve written somewhere around 133,000 words, and that’s just what’s made it onto my Ao3 at the moment I’m typing this.

But how did I get there? How did I get from being ashamed of myself for so much as wanting to try, to having over 133,000 published words in a single fandom?

In between the moment I started and the moment I published the first chapter of The Art of Being Alive, I wrote over 210,000 words of fanfiction that I will never show anybody. 110,000 of that is for one fandom, 75,000 is for another, and 25,000 is for a third. And I’ll never share them. It took over 210,000 words of practice and nonsense and playing around with words and characters and plots and dialogue for me to get to a point where I felt even the slightest bit of confidence in my fanfiction.

But in the middle of all 210,000 words, long before BatIM, I got my Ao3 account and posted something for the simple act of proving to myself that I could. I could and I did and then I honestly didn’t do much else. I kept practicing, kept waiting for a fandom that didn’t just make me want to write, but one that made me want to share what I’d written.

So by the time BatIM came around, while my insecurities weren’t gone, I already had proof that I could beat them. Chapter One of The Art of Being Alive went up, and now, when my insecurities get me down, all I have to do is go back and read through the wonderful comments people have left me. I don’t know if I’ll ever lose my insecurities, even ones that I’ve proven I can beat. Does my heart still race when I post something new? Of course. Do I still hold my breath when I open a new comment, bracing myself in case it’s harsh? Yeah.

But by golly, no matter how much my insecurities may screw me over in their myriad of ways, they can’t touch my writing. Not completely. My writing belongs to me now.

And once you beat one insecurity, well… I don’t know about other people, but when my terrible horrible inner voice is trying to psych me out, I can tell it to hush up, because it once told me that my writing sucked, and now I’ve got a whole bunch of people who tell me they love my writing.

“You think I can’t do this thing?” I ask my insecurities. They nod, sneering. They still believe that I belong to them. I lean in and whisper, “Watch me.”

23. fear(s)I don’t know how this happened, but at some point in my life, my mind decided, Hey! We should suddenly be afraid of needles poking us! and my body shrugged and said, Whatever you say, boss. And so now getting shots and having my blood drawn makes me hyperventilate. And spiders. Sometimes, seeing spiders sends me into really terrible panic attacks. Only under certain circumstances though, and not always. Like I literally looked down once and found a spider on the front of my shoulder and I was fine, but put a spider above my head and I’m praying for laser vision as I tremble and hyperventilate.

43. favourite song everHow dare you make me choose. I can’t, although my Most Played Song in iTunes is Forbidden Friendship from How to Train Your Dragon. Other than that, I love instrumental music— like Lindsey Stirling (saw her in concert and it was amazing)— songs with a good beat (like the aforementioned I’m So Sorry, and also many other Imagine Dragons songs), BatIM fan songs (that playlist is pretty much all I listen to when I’m walking anywhere), and I often become attached to songs that are used as background music in various videos. I love songs with interesting music and lyrics.

55. tumblr friends@liliflower137, @guess-my-country, @snippyschnapps, @insanityallegra / @ifellintoaninkwellhelplz, @lepetiteinkmango, and hopefully this list will expand as time passes!

56. favourite food(s)Spaghetti, cheeseburgers, Oreo shakes, mac’n’cheese (when done right), BBQ wings, Wendy’s #5 sandwich only, chicken alfredo, chicken-bacon-cheddar-waffle sandwiches, green apple mentos, mini M&Ms, dark chocolate, goldfish (the snack that smiles back), those little cheese wheels wrapped in red wax, Reese’s Pieces but not the peanut butter cups, slices of a baguette with butter, Pain au chocolat, sprinkles, cookies and cream ice cream, cherries, cantaloup, and calamari but only from that one place on that one river that I may have fever dreamed twice

57. favourite animal(s)Velociraptors, dragons, the star whale from Doctor Who, platypuses, teacup pigs, lil lizards, ostriches but not in real life, dolphins are pretty cool, the jabberwocky, does K-9 from Doctor Who count?, still velociraptors, the purple pygmy puff that won’t stop staring at me, Cerberus, the sheep and alligator in a tornado that a friend drew for me, Not Swans, always velociraptors

#i answered a thing #imagination tier #classified information: proceed with caution #just star being star #life and times of star

5 notes · View notes