Friday, June 12, 2009

Drive Thru

I've been thinking about this long and hard for about a month. Since we saw Jennifer's family in the States, in fact. And I want more things to be drive thru. The current trend around here is to limit them, and Toronto is trying to scale back on drive thrus in general. I know it is an environmental hazard and all of that jazz, but...I don't care!

Now, let's be clear here, I do care about the environment. We recycle. We compost. We go out of our way to properly dispose of batteries and paint and that good stuff. Did you know there is a special bin for cosmetics in our dump? It goes with hazardous material like lightbulbs and paint. Kind of makes you go "hmmmm?" doesn't it. We turn off lights, limit water usage. I could go on and on.

But I still want more drive thrus. In our area you can get drive thru food (usually crap, fast food) and drive thru banking. I was amazed and tickled to find that in New York state they also have drive thru pharmacy. Dude! Do you know how much easier it would be for me to get prescriptions refilled and pick them up if I didn't have to unbuckle my two kids and trot them through the store? So I have been thinking of other possibilities and would like to consider the following:

  • Dry cleaning: we don't do that much dry cleaning, admittedly, but I would do more if I could just drop it through a little window and get a number.
  • Basic groceries: I'm only thinking things like bread, milk, and eggs here. Maybe a bit of juice. I'd even be willing to go through the drive thru bank machine and give you cash for this.
  • Extended pharmacy stuff: how many times have you realized you are out of baby advil and have about 10 minutes before the next thing you have to do? I'd love to be able to drive thru and get baby advil or cough syrup without trekking the kiddos into the store. And I am cool with a limit of a couple of items. Say 3 items per trip. So it is a quick thing.
  • All renewal services: come on, you're the DMV, for crying out loud, and you can't get a drive thru service. Seriously.
  • The post office: this seems like another no brainer to me, and frankly, if I had to pick just one thing to have a drive thru for other than what we have, it would be the post office. Nothing annoys me more than having to get the kids out, put the little guy in a stroller or shopping cart, then go and stand in line. Again, I am very happy to have this be for simple items. You need to get something packaged up, weighed and measured, or sent via courier, I say you should stand in line. But for those of us who are either mailing regular mail or who are picking up a parcel, just let us have a drive thru.
And think about the brilliant exchange that this is: although it will damage the environment marginally more for us to have all these extra drive thrus, you will save us all from having to hear the babies crying and toddlers and school kids whining about waiting in line for some boring task that needs doing. My kids have a 2 stop limit most days, so anything after that and the other people in the store or line are in for a treat. That alone is reason for more drive thrus.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

we have drive thru dry cleaners here in GA and the pharmacy thing too, although it would be nice to get baby advil or whatever through it too...lol

Oh and a few years ago, they also had drive up flu shots- for the elderly who didn't want to get out of their cars... haha!

Laura said...

The mere idea of drive thru flu shots is cracking me up! Although it occurred to me after I posted that quick-o Dr's appointments for kids to check ears and throats would me another good drive thru option. tee hee Granted, that one might be sheer laziness on my part, because I am starting to think about reserving a weekly appointment at the doctor's office.

Unknown said...

AMEN to the drive through post office. I hate going to the PO. Hate, hate, hate it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!!

mrsnj said...

LOL! We have drive through dry cleaners and we can get more than just scripts at our pharmacy. We used to have a drive through convience store but it is closed for some reason! AND we used to have the shots too! LOL! We do NOT have the post office though and it does make you wonder why not!! Hummmmmmmmm.....

Girl you need to move to NJ! LOL!

Eric and Jennifer said...

OMG, I LOVE the idea of the Post Office being a drive-thru! I mean, really, why can't we buy stamps through a teeny window?? It would make life MUCH easier!!