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Oh, $1 double cheeseburger, we will miss you: McDonald's has taken it's double cheeseburger off the Dollar Menu. True believers may shed a tear.(Pueblo Chieftain, The (CO) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 9--Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today . . . OK, that may be an extreme reaction. But there are more than a few of us who will mark -- nay, mourn -- the passage of the double cheeseburger from the McDonald's Dollar Menu. Stand at a McDonald's counter around lunchtime, or any other time, in the past several days, and you too will see a sad soul who hasn't heard the word. They'll order a double cheeseburger, maybe some fries and a drink, and when the cashier tells them the price, that's when they find out: "But, it's only a dollar!" the anguished customer will say. "It's on the . . ." No, it's not. And while they're staring up at the Dollar Menu, mouth open to somehow help their eyes find a meal that has become a familiar friend, that's when it comes. "I'm sorry," the cashier will say. "It's not on the Dollar Menu anymore." Ouch. Workers at several McDonald's in Pueblo said the change happened last week, ending the best way known to get the most hamburger, cheese and bun for the least amount of money. Several other items disappeared too, and the prices for regular hamburgers and cheeseburgers have gone up to a dollar. "Orders from headquarters," said a worker at the McDonald's on Northern Avenue. Some people, including a certain business-page editor, have been known to keep $1 in quarters sitting in their trucks as an emergency dinner fund, knowing that the Dollar Menu double cheeseburger was their eating refuge. But rising prices for everything from diesel fuel, bread, cheese and workers has brought a sweet thing to an end. Granted, the double cheeseburger has only risen in price to $1.29. It's still a good buy, earning a calories-to-pennies ratio of 3.4. But in the good old days, two weeks ago, that ratio was 4.4 calories per penny. No, they aren't all healthy calories, but that's not the point. "Everybody's complaining about it," said a worker at the McDonald's on Bonforte Boulevard. "But there's nothing we can do." Amen. To see more of The Pueblo Chieftain, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chieftain.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |