Dear Ronald

Dear Mr McDonald, or as I feel I know you so well after all of these years, Ronald,

I have been a great fan ever since I was a nipper and continue to be a regular customer at your restaurants in my adult and now, upper middle age years.

I have witnessed the transition of your company from its earliest days in the mid 1970's in the UK when there was a novelty value in a quality burger in a bun and with a side of fries. It was a very welcome change from what was pretty unappetising and appealing fare from the usual fast food outlets offering in comparison, well, just bits of meat in bread and soggy chips.

You have revolutionised the whole experience of eating on the go and first stop, always, on a early departure for our family holiday is at a McDonalds for a welcome breakfast and coffee for me, the missus and our children.

That family friendly atmosphere has been a major attraction and has perpetuated, for certain, in our small family circle a loyalty to the brand and ethos of good wholesome and tasty food that has now crossed generations to include grandchildren.

In more recent years I have frequented a McDonalds during the course of my working week as I can rely upon there being one somewhere out on my daily route which can sometimes involve a couple of hundred miles of motoring.

Sitting on a high stool or in a comfortable booth seat is a welcome respite from being stuck behind a steering wheel and in traffic and add to that the availability of free Wi-Fi and I have an instant satellite office from which to keep up to date with e mails, paperwork and demands on my time.

I have particularly liked the remodelling of the restaurant chain to the green livery and natural finishes. You cannot be said to have rested on your laurels in the introduction of new ordering, payment and serving systems.

I can honestly say that I now plan my working days to include a pass-by of a McDonalds just to give me the option, if needed, of a rest and good refreshment. In fact, I do not need an excuse to just pop in and enjoy a meal and a drink and to watch the world go by.

One such occasion was June 2nd this year, 2018.

It was a stinker of a saturday with heavy rainfall and quite treacherous driving conditions on the A1079 from my home in Kingston Upon Hull to my destination for a business meeting (Yes, a saturday is just like any other day to the self employed) at your Bilborough Top 523 restaurant on the A64 dual carriageway just to the south west of York.

I was glad to leave the waterlogged carriageway at the looping slip road and it appears that many other motorists had the very same quest for sanctuary from the very bad early summer conditions and I left a convoy on the A64 to join a similar one approaching your restaurant.

Consequently the volume of traffic caused a few issues of finding a designated parking space in the car park, I think I counted about 45 bays and with a number of cars just in waiting for a vacant place to park.

I had arranged my meeting on the premises for 10am and was a bit panicky in that I entered the exclusively McDonalds parking area at about five minutes before the allotted time, only to come across the aforementioned congestion.

At the best of times it is stressful to have to spot a parking bay but add to that the ongoing torrential rain and you can appreciate additional pressures on those present. I could sympathise with the cars where there were restless and hungry occupants already excited about a day out to such destinations on that route as Scarborough, Bridlington and to see the tourist attractions of York. There was also a couple of sports teams in their matching kit, appearing to be big eating rugby players.

It did take some time to park up and then make a frantic dash through the scything rain to the restaurant doors.

The scene inside was, I must say, a bit crowded and not a little bit steamy from damp clothing and footwear and I could see that the collection display was quite full with numbers, a bit like at a bingo hall and with a lot of people just hovering around in anticipation of getting their order.

I had to wait in a queue to give my request and others waited patiently at the automated screens to place theirs.

I have never before had to wait for so long to be served but I was sympathetic to the cause of those on duty who were, without doubt, performing to the best of their ability.

Meanwhile, through the rain streamed windows overlooking the A64 I could see and also hear the thundering flow of vehicles but now in the warm, humid and pleasantly odour infused environment of my favourite restaurant I felt like a million miles away from that treacherous route,.

Finding a seat and table was another challenge with food in hand as the many weary travellers like myself showed little compulsion to make a move and return to that inhospitable open road.

Life was in slow motion in that comfortable place and the business meeting went well although my colleague had been delayed by a bad accident on his journey from Leeds.

The choice of venue was excellent, but then again, it always is in a McDonalds.

Then just yesterday I got an official looking letter and a demand for payment of a parking fine for my 2nd June visit.

I was, as you will appreciate, very shocked at this and found myself staring at the images of my car that had been snapped as it entered and left the car park over a time period of one hour and fifty nine minutes but with the permitted maximum stay being just ninety minutes.

I began that process of forensically disecting my movements on that day.

I mentioned about the delay in getting parked and that must have been about fifteen minutes and then the further waiting around to order and be served with my breakfast wrap meal (brown sauce) and black coffee, at least another 10 minutes.

By my crude reckoning the sheer congestion on that horribly wet day both outside and inside the restaurant added an unavoidable 25 minutes which would mean that although I still exceeded the 90 minute permitted time this would only have been by some 4 minutes.

I am usually a very conscientious and diligent person and find my contravention of the parking policy on that day upsetting and I apologise for the trouble caused to those who oversee and manage this part of the McDonalds Empire.

I find myself asking for leniency in this matter as many circumstances conspired to bring about the illegality of my parking which were beyond my reasonable control.

Yours faithfully,

Peter, Aged 55