You probably would pay 4¢ more for an extra beef patty, but should you?
I was caught in bureaucratic hell on Monday, and I was either going to pass out from lack of lunch, or forced to go across the street to a regally spokesmodel oriented fast food selection.
When I do frequent the national fast food chains, I do look at the "value menu" figuring if I spend less money, the experience will seem less horrible.
The other frustrating part of menus at fast food places is that they don't show the price of a regular hamburger, or they hide it so people can't find it.
The woman in front of me had a different financial dilemma. She asked if there was a special on the signature burger, and was told that you could get 2 of those for $4.
As I was well-past my lunch time, yet not close to getting bureaucratic help across the street, I was tempted to get the two large sandwiches. But I didn't want to spend as much as $4 to do so.
As I was still waiting, I noticed on the value meal that they had a double hamburger for $1, but double hamburger don't taste as good as the regular hamburger. Was hoping that the regular hamburger was significantly cheaper than a double hamburger.
I finally got to the front of that line (still faster than the bureaucratic hell across the street) and asked how much a regular hamburger cost. "96¢."
Let's do the math: You can get one hamburger patty between two buns for 96¢ and two hamburger patties between two buns for 4¢ more.
The logic screaming in your face is to spend the extra 4¢ (plus tax) and get the extra meat. And I succumbed to that logic. In hindsight, this was a mistake.
Sure there was more food for virtually the same amount of money. And more food means more value. But in the eating world, especially in that scenario, sometimes virtually free food isn't worth it.
Now you might ask if I knew better, why did I succumb to the temptation and get the extra meat.
Because I and others are human. Because stress, temptation, and the value of value led to a lesser choice.
I was staring at the calorie information on the side wall while waiting for the food. The food amount in two double hamburgers felt like a lot of calories, sodium, fat, et al. And that extra beef patty did make a significant difference.
Dishing out 4¢ for an extra beef patty seems logical. But the fast food world doesn't always fit in with logic. Next time, I'm eating lunch before I jump into bureaucratic hell.
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