Fast Food Revolutionized

~Jimmy McLaughlin Class of 2025

On a Rainy Saturday morning in 1997, Thomas

Blake was born. His parents, Linda and Jeffry, 

were both poor factory workers with almost 

nothing to their name. Linda and Jeffry had so 

little, so Thomas was the bright spot in their life. 

He had a normal childhood for the most part, and 

as he got older, his parents grew increasingly 

more distant. Tom was a very bright child, 

however, his parents could never afford to send 

him to college. Right now, Tom is working as a 

dishwasher at McDonalds. Tom has never been 

satisfied with where he’s at, and right now, things 

seem as glum as they could possibly be. 

”Morning Tom!” “Hi Sally.” For Tom, the worst 

part of his job is his manager, Sally. Her perpetual 

enthusiasm got on his nerves because he was 

always more of a pessimist, or as he would say, a 

‘realist.’ Tom seemed to think that Sally enjoyed 

working at a McDonalds in Jerkwater, 

Pennsylvania, while Tom thought it was the worst 

thing in the world. The thing he hated the most 

about working at McDonalds was how nothing 

new ever happened. Everyday went like this:

6:30 AM: Arrive at Work

6:45 AM: Start ‘cooking’ the food

7:30 AM: Spend thirty minutes in the bathroom on your phone due to ‘stomach problems’

8:00 AM: Cook more food

10:30 AM: Yell at John for not doing his work

12:00 PM: Lunch Break

1:00 PM: Bathroom Break #2

3:00 PM: Final batch of food

5:00 PM: Go home

In the three years Tom worked there, that schedule had changed once, and that was when a bag of fries caught on fire and he got a week off work. Around 1:30, Tom had just finished his second ‘bathroom break.’ A new customer had just walked into the restaurant. The man was about 5’11, long brown hair covering his eyes, and a full lumberjack beard covering his face. He ordered a Big Mac, a lemonade, and some small fries – nothing out of the ordinary, and just as Tom finished taking it, the man spoke, “Do you really like being here?” Tom’s face began to turn a shade of green when he realized something, when the man spoke this time, his mouth never moved. “Excuse me?” Said Tom, trying his best to keep calm. Once again, the man spoke, mouth frozen still. “Don’t you feel like you’re meant for something more than working at a McDonalds?” At this point, Tom was convinced he was in some kind of crazy dream, or his mind was playing tricks on him. “Is your mouth moving?” Tom said abruptly. “No, it isn’t. Truth be told, I’m not really human.” Said the man. “What are you?” Said Tom. “You know as a kid, you have a dream that you wanted to accomplish no matter what, I’m that feeling. And I’m here to tell you that you should follow your dreams and stop working at McDonalds.” In the blink of an eye, the mystery man disappeared. The rest of the day went as usual, however, when Tom went home, an unusual wave of motivation washed over him. Tom didn’t always have food in the fridge, so on this particular night, he went down to the ATM around the corner. As he was withdrawing enough money for water and some cup noodles, he saw something. An idea. ATM’s were cheap and easy to manage, and he saw firsthand the success a McDonalds sees, just because of the convenience. He could outsource the work to people near the machines, and use ghost kitchens and a fleet of drivers to restock the machines. It was almost like fast-food vending machines. Finally, Tom saw a way out of the life that he hated so much.

Over the course of the next six months, Tom spent every second of his free time working on his project. He worked extra hard at his job, because he knew he needed all the financial support he could get when he started his business. Tom was ready, and now all he had to wait for was his meeting at the bank to take out a loan. The last thing he needed was a name. After going through several different ideas, Tom thought back to his time as a high school football player. He was a linebacker, and received several college offers, but no scholarship opportunities. His nickname on the team was ‘Big Tom.’ That was it.

Two weeks after he opened his first machine, Tom was able to pay off the bank in full. People loved Big Tom’s so much that they sent Tom emails asking for a location closer to their homes. Tom finally felt satisfied with his work, however, he couldn’t have even expected where things would go.

1 Year Later…

In the last year, Tom had become; simply put, the most successful man in the world. The machines were so cheap to install that they had become a worldwide phenomena. Tom had generated almost 150 billion dollars in the last week, and the company was valued at almost 12 trillion dollars. Tom, however, stayed true to his roots, and still lived in a fairly modest home with his girlfriend. The success that Tom was seeing still hadn’t hit him, and when it did eventually, there was one place for him to go.

As Tom walked back into that McDonald’s for the first time in almost a year, a familiar, bearded face was there to greet him. Lips standing still, he spoke once again, “How does it feel, Tom?” “It’s a little bit surreal.” Tom said. Before disappearing  this time, he said one last thing, “Congratulations, Big Tom.”