What if there were no "free refills"?
Replies
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I'm in the USA, I get water when I go out for dinner. If I do have a diet soda, I rarely even finish it half way. I don't need the government to tell me what's right and wrong, I have no problem saying no to soda on my own.
People love to make America out to be so bad, but then why do all these countries constantly ask for our help????????
Apart from a couple of USA/Canada born people who live in Europe making comparisons no one has said anything negative about America. In fact what international posters have been saying is that their countries don't have free refills but still have an obesity problem.
Try reading again without the paranoia0 -
Just feels so damn unamerican to take away something we currently get for free. I usually do unsweetened iced tea or water and they better keep em coming!!
Strangely enough I would commend McDonald's for boldly listing their calorie counts right on their menu. I don't see any other fast food restaurants in the area doing this, except as a marketing tactic (this wrap is under 300 calories!). Oh wait Panera might as well, not too sure right this second
I would think a simple class in nutrition and weight management would do more for the obesity issue than taking away our refills, but there's so much ****ty information in this space that such a class very well might do more harm than good0 -
Isn't this a mandate now? With a phase in time. Mc Donalds just started early. Perhaps they wanted to set the tone.Just feels so damn unamerican to take away something we currently get for free. I usually do unsweetened iced tea or water and they better keep em coming!!
Strangely enough I would commend McDonald's for boldly listing their calorie counts right on their menu. I don't see any other fast food restaurants in the area doing this, except as a marketing tactic (this wrap is under 300 calories!). Oh wait Panera might as well, not too sure right this second
I would think a simple class in nutrition and weight management would do more for the obesity issue than taking away our refills, but there's so much ****ty information in this space that such a class very well might do more harm than good0 -
You could try not eating out.
You could also try saying no when they ask if you want more. The only problem is when the server automatically takes your glass away while asking you for another refill.. before you even get to say no, they are so fast, sheesh.
i personally hate when my glass is half full and they think i need a refill.
You could order milk, there is no auto refill on that.
Or you could drink diet coke or plain water and get zero calorie refills.0 -
Strangely enough I would commend McDonald's for boldly listing their calorie counts right on their menu. I don't see any other fast food restaurants in the area doing this, except as a marketing tactic (this wrap is under 300 calories!). Oh wait Panera might as well, not too sure right this second
Panera does list them. Not quite as large a type, but they do.
Maybe I'm showing my age here, but I remember when an adult-sized McDonald's fries was the equivalent of a small kid-sized bag today (I remember it used to come in a little white paper bag, and that was considered an "adult" portion). I went to YouTube to look up old McD's commercials from the 70s because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just dreaming it - and no, I'm not. Somewhere between 1976 and 1990.... things tripled, quadrupled in size.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I never noticed it, but... in a way, how could we all have missed it?
Most fast food places in my city don't offer free refills because there's too much of a problem with people actually vandalizing the machines. I guess that for once, living in a high-crime city actually pays off. :indifferent:
I don't order anything but water or unsweetened tea when I go out, anyway, so the free refill debate doesn't affect me. I do agree that it should be about self-control, though.0 -
I see where you are coming from. Most people do not have self control the same way some of us do. However, I think if they had to pay for an additional soda then they might realize they don't need it thus promoting self control. I just think the idea is unrealistic because people tend to loose their minds when when something that once was now is not...0
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I think if they had to pay for an additional soda then they might realize they don't need it thus promoting self control.
It sure would work for me, because I don't have extra money to spare on something like a soda. Some might shrug and go, "But it's only a dollar!" or whatever, but.... for that dollar I'd rather pick up an orange from the fruit stand outside!0 -
I don't really think it would make a significant impact on most people.0
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I drink diet soda, so this really has no impact. It really just boils down to responsibility of the person.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Just feels so damn unamerican to take away something we currently get for free. I usually do unsweetened iced tea or water and they better keep em coming!!
Well, I would hope that if refills are no longer free they will stop charging $2 for a coke, but that is probably a pipe dream on my part. The free refill schtick helps restaurants justify ridiculous mark-ups on sodas.0 -
Please tell me you're trolling. Obviously you are either very old, or grew up in a very secluded area to not have the concept of either "free" refills or all you can eat buffets (started over 200 years ago).
The reason fast food joints offer free refills is because its more cost effective and gives the impression that you're getting something "free". Years ago the drink machines were behind the counter. Then they realized they could offload that work to the customer to reduce labor costs and move to the next order faster, thereby increasing profits. With restaurants where wait staff comes to your table, the drink refilling offers the staff the opportunity to check in periodically to try to sell more. It's a win-win. The net cost of soda to the food joints is nearly zilch.
The restaurants I worked in, five cents is all it cost the restaurant for the soda. The other 1.75 was profit. You would have to drink a lot of free refills to make it not worth it to them.0 -
I really have issue with banning sodas and or any other sort of food or soft drinks. In my mind, it is ridiculousness to establish laws on limiting sodas and/or other foods in an effort to curb obesity.
Anytime I've ever tried to lose weight and told myself, "I can't ever have this ever again (like soda or chocolate or cake)...." - that turns out being all I want to eat. I doubt I'm the only one to go thru that.
I would rather see the efforts going into better educating the obese on reading nutrition labels, understanding how to develop a food and/or exercise plan that works for you, how to be creative in getting sources of fiber and protein, why is it important to have a protein (with or without some form of a carb) for a snack, why is fiber important, etc. etc. etc.
It's not the food itself that makes someone obese, it's the choices a PERSON MAKES that makes them obese.0 -
Just feels so damn unamerican to take away something we currently get for free. I usually do unsweetened iced tea or water and they better keep em coming!!
Heh. Yeah, this.
I don't go to chain restaurants much, but it's common even for small local restaurants in the US to have free refills, and I'm pretty sure my regularly silly number of diet Cokes had nothing to do with me getting fat. Me thinking going out to eat justified an appetizer and dessert as well as the entree, even though I went out to eat a lot, among plenty of other reasons, on the other hand...
I am not convinced this is a new thing. I can't say whether restaurants like those I go to now had free refills back in the day for sure, since I didn't go to them much as a kid and wasn't generally permitted to have soda, but certainly when I was in college I think it was common enough (and I'm pretty old!). All-you-can-eat buffets definitely aren't new, however--back in the '80s my sister and I would complain because whenever an elderly relative would take us out it would always be to the all-you-can-eat place, which never had anything we wanted, but was quite popular with the Great Depression generation (or perhaps simply those on a fixed income) for obvious reasons.0 -
Um no. How about self control? If I want another soda and it fits my macros I am having another soda and I shouldn't have to pay for something that is already included.
have to agree, generally I also get a glass of ice water so don't ever need a refill anyway0 -
No.
Stop hoping for bureaucrats to police every little thing you think 'might' be a problem with other people's habits. If a person is stupid, you can't pass a law that's going to stop their stupid. If you could, I wouldn't have ever encountered this gem.0 -
I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
No one suggested refills are an inalienable right. It has been suggested many times that if the option is available, it's a matter of self control and choice. I was able to go from being overweight to a health weight while still getting a refill (free or not) during the time it took me to lose that weight.
Why do people that support this love to say something like, "I'm all for personal choice" or "I'm not really about limiting choices" and then immediately, in the same sentence no less, say the exact opposite?
Bottom line: Obesity exists in countries where free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets don't. So why ban something that's obviously not the reason for obesity? Instead of totally ineffective reactionary measures like this one, try focusing on precautionary and potentially useful ones like nutrition and exercise education?0 -
I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
No one suggested refills are an inalienable right. It has been suggested many times that if the option is available, it's a matter of self control and choice. I was able to go from being overweight to a health weight while still getting a refill (free or not) during the time it took me to lose that weight.
Why do people that support this love to say something like, "I'm all for personal choice" or "I'm not really about limiting choices" and then immediately, in the same sentence no less, say the exact opposite?
Bottom line: Obesity exists in countries where free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets don't. So why ban something that's obviously not the reason for obesity? Instead of totally ineffective reactionary measures like this one, try focusing on precautionary and potentially useful ones like nutrition and exercise education?
You're right that obesity exists in other countries that don't have free refills, but it is epidemic in the US. You are comparing apples and oranges here and they are not the same.
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I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
No one suggested refills are an inalienable right. It has been suggested many times that if the option is available, it's a matter of self control and choice. I was able to go from being overweight to a health weight while still getting a refill (free or not) during the time it took me to lose that weight.
Why do people that support this love to say something like, "I'm all for personal choice" or "I'm not really about limiting choices" and then immediately, in the same sentence no less, say the exact opposite?
Bottom line: Obesity exists in countries where free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets don't. So why ban something that's obviously not the reason for obesity? Instead of totally ineffective reactionary measures like this one, try focusing on precautionary and potentially useful ones like nutrition and exercise education?
You're right that obesity exists in other countries that don't have free refills, but it is epidemic in the US. You are comparing apples and oranges here and they are not the same.
So free refills are the cause of the epidemic? That's the position you're taking? You think that a large percentage of obese people in the US get the majority of their overage calories from soda refills?
It should also be noted that the obesity rates are rising quickly in Canada and nearly all of the western European countries. I wonder what they're doing differently from people in the US if this is an apples to oranges comparison? I'm pretty sure I know. It's from a caloric surplus that comes from a eating more than the body can utilize each day. And those calories, like in the US, are coming from a wide range of food sources, not just soda.0 -
I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
People pay for bad food choices by getting fat.0 -
I need many refills. They like to give you tons of ice and two ounces of soda0
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I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
No one suggested refills are an inalienable right. It has been suggested many times that if the option is available, it's a matter of self control and choice. I was able to go from being overweight to a health weight while still getting a refill (free or not) during the time it took me to lose that weight.
Why do people that support this love to say something like, "I'm all for personal choice" or "I'm not really about limiting choices" and then immediately, in the same sentence no less, say the exact opposite?
Bottom line: Obesity exists in countries where free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets don't. So why ban something that's obviously not the reason for obesity? Instead of totally ineffective reactionary measures like this one, try focusing on precautionary and potentially useful ones like nutrition and exercise education?
You're right that obesity exists in other countries that don't have free refills, but it is epidemic in the US. You are comparing apples and oranges here and they are not the same.
So free refills are the cause of the epidemic? That's the position you're taking? You think that a large percentage of obese people in the US get the majority of their overage calories from soda refills?
It should also be noted that the obesity rates are rising quickly in Canada and nearly all of the western European countries. I wonder what they're doing differently from people in the US if this is an apples to oranges comparison? I'm pretty sure I know. It's from a caloric surplus that comes from a eating more than the body can utilize each day. And those calories, like in the US, are coming from a wide range of food sources, not just soda.
Soda refills are not the only reason, but I am in full agreement with the OP's post. SOMETHING has changed since the 60's and 70's. What exactly do you think it is? :flowerforyou:0 -
Please tell me you're trolling. Obviously you are either very old, or grew up in a very secluded area to not have the concept of either "free" refills or all you can eat buffets (started over 200 years ago).
I'm 52, which is old, but I wouldn't think it was "very old", and I also grew up without free refills (other than water) and all-you-can-eat buffets. The only all you can eat buffets available when I was a child were at parties or receptions. There were no restaurants with them in my area.
But, I still maintain the reason people were thinner back then was that we moved more rather than how much we ate. It's really hard to maintain a healthy weight when you are sedentary. Most people simply don't want to eat that little.0 -
Meh, maybe sometimes that would work. But I feel like if someone wants that second soda, they'll get it even if they have to pay. At places where they have strawberry lemonades and stuff where there aren't free refills, loads of people still order another one even though they know they will be charged for two. It's all about self-control.0
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I, for one, welcome our legislatively-inclined bureaucracy-loving overlords.0
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I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
No one suggested refills are an inalienable right. It has been suggested many times that if the option is available, it's a matter of self control and choice. I was able to go from being overweight to a health weight while still getting a refill (free or not) during the time it took me to lose that weight.
Why do people that support this love to say something like, "I'm all for personal choice" or "I'm not really about limiting choices" and then immediately, in the same sentence no less, say the exact opposite?
Bottom line: Obesity exists in countries where free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets don't. So why ban something that's obviously not the reason for obesity? Instead of totally ineffective reactionary measures like this one, try focusing on precautionary and potentially useful ones like nutrition and exercise education?
You're right that obesity exists in other countries that don't have free refills, but it is epidemic in the US. You are comparing apples and oranges here and they are not the same.
So free refills are the cause of the epidemic? That's the position you're taking? You think that a large percentage of obese people in the US get the majority of their overage calories from soda refills?
It should also be noted that the obesity rates are rising quickly in Canada and nearly all of the western European countries. I wonder what they're doing differently from people in the US if this is an apples to oranges comparison? I'm pretty sure I know. It's from a caloric surplus that comes from a eating more than the body can utilize each day. And those calories, like in the US, are coming from a wide range of food sources, not just soda.
Soda refills are not the only reason, but I am in full agreement with the OP's post. SOMETHING has changed since the 60's and 70's. What exactly do you think it is? :flowerforyou:
Cheap, readily available, caloric dense foods and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.
Now that's SOMETHING and far more encompassing than 'free soda refills".
Edit: typo0 -
I am an American but I have spent many years living and traveling outside the US. And the US is the only place where soft drink refills are free. In many places you pay for water to drink as well.
But guess what, free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets did not make me fat. I have always disliked the full sugar sodas, so the only sodas I have had are sugar free. It doesn't matter how many free refills of sugar free soda I have, they won't make me fat. And I've never been a big fan of all-you-can-eat buffets. I'd much rather pay more to have good quality food served piping hot. And for years I've almost always taken food home from restaurants because the portions are so large.
So what made me fat? What I bought and ate in the comfort of my own home was my biggest problem. I would eat because I was bored. I could demolish a family size bag of chips in one or two evenings or a half gallon of ice cream in a week. I consumed a lot of 'empty' calories that didn't meet my nutritional needs.
I eat out a lot. I suspect more than the 'average' American and my problem wasn't what I had in restaurants it was what I stocked and ate in my own home. I suspect that to solve the obesity epidemic we don't need to fix what people eat in restaurants we need to fix what they prepare and eat in their own homes.
Guess what, I have lost over 75 lbs still eating out a lot and still have free diet coke refills. Yes, I am more conscious about the nutritional value of what I eat when I eat out, but the biggest change is what is in my home. I no longer snack when I'm bored, and I plan my meals and snacks with my macro targets in mind. Oh, yeah, I still hate all-you-can-eat buffets, but I still go with my family and friends if that is where they want to go. I just make the best choices I can given the options available to me.0 -
Here's a buffet tip. I'm sure u wash ur hands before you go up to get ur food. But being hand sanitizer to use after touching all those dirty handles of the serving spoons that were handled by many people before u. Gross!0
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I DON'T WANNA HAVE TO PAY FOR REFILLS JUST BECAUSE OTHERS ARE UNABLE TO CONTROL THEMSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!
As it stands I had to walk out to my car for my license to buy cold medicine last week. WE CANNOT PROTECT THE WEAK AND STUPID FROM THEMSELVES...it's a never ending battle. There need not be laws for everything. Please let's allow darwinism to do it's good work and keep refills and everything else in life FREE so that nature can take it's natural course. PLEASE for the love of God and all that is holy (like free refills) do not RATION or otherwise control refills.
I cannot tell you how painful and difficult it was to drive my sick butt to the pharmacy that fateful day...after waiting all day for someone to be home to watch the kiddo. I was a sick, sweaty, teary eyed, runny nosed painful face flinching hot mess and barely made it there. I teetered in the line after being at TWO counters for suggestions what kind of "allergy" medication I might need only to be told I needed COLD medicine. When all 6 other guests were done and it was my turn and I was still alive my mouth struggled to make the words that my mind struggled to remember the name of the medicine I had JUST A BIT AGO been suggested by the lady behind the counter.
THEN the girl says she needs my ID. "But it's all they way in the car?!" "I'm sorry, I NEED it." It felt like an eternity gingerly walking all the way to the car so the steps would not bump my headache too hard. Then the breaks I had to make for blowing my nose. Then returning to find the lookalike of Fraziers dad getting grumpy b/c the lady had told me I could come back to the front of the line and I took her up on it.
Then to muster up the strength to do the decent thing and EXPLAIN to the man that I had been sent out after already being at the counter and told I could come back up, because the worker did not see fit to bother herself to tell him so that he might not continue to want to kill me for cutting in line. He eventually felt sorry for me as I explained, but I'm certain he thought I was a junky or an a-hole at first. Prolly both.
Then to finally have to answer whether the amount of pills in the container were "enough", I guess this is a consideration if you are going to have your purchases rationed, but I was desperate and just like "those are fine" ...(I'm not trying to make anything out of it or medicate a team, just myself, prolly just for a day or two.)
I tell this whole rant/story so that people might understand HOW INCONVENIENT AND RIDICULOUS trying to regulate the shet out of every single thing for the masses because of the stupidity/irresponsibility/laziness/ignorance of the few really ends up being in practice. It might SOUND nice to make little "rules" for "their own good" but it makes mundane tasks needlessly monumental.0 -
Is a glutinous mentality what happens when you love San Luis's Cracked wheat sourdough bread so much that you begin to make all your diet and menu meal planning decisions around it?0
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I do agree with you. 100%! Most of the folks spouting about self control and choices are folks under 30 or so. They have grown up with the glutinous mentality that has infected this country. Refills are not a inalienable right that an individual has, they are a luxury that has been turned into a mandate due to competition between restaurants. There is no self control in this country anymore, go to WalMart and see who is using the handicap parking and scooter chairs. Morbidly obese. When did obesity become ok? We pass laws about when and where people can smoke but no one is complaining about that. I am not really about limiting choices, just making people pay for them. Let see how bad you want to be fat.
No one suggested refills are an inalienable right. It has been suggested many times that if the option is available, it's a matter of self control and choice. I was able to go from being overweight to a health weight while still getting a refill (free or not) during the time it took me to lose that weight.
Why do people that support this love to say something like, "I'm all for personal choice" or "I'm not really about limiting choices" and then immediately, in the same sentence no less, say the exact opposite?
Bottom line: Obesity exists in countries where free refills and all-you-can-eat buffets don't. So why ban something that's obviously not the reason for obesity? Instead of totally ineffective reactionary measures like this one, try focusing on precautionary and potentially useful ones like nutrition and exercise education?
You're right that obesity exists in other countries that don't have free refills, but it is epidemic in the US. You are comparing apples and oranges here and they are not the same.
Saudi Arabia has a worse obesity problem than the USA and it doesn't have free refills at its restaurants. Ditto other Gulf Arab countries.
Also, I'm over 30 and in favour of letting restaurants decide whether to do free refills or not, and of customers learning how to not go OTT with free refills. Are people really drinking that much more than if they were paying for refills? There's only so much pepsi you can drink before you have to start making trips to the bathroom every couple of minutes...0
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