Chips Gadol

March 2, 2009

O.K., I admit it. For the first time in more than 7 years I have had a Big Mac. Even though “McDonaldsization” is one particular aspect of globalization that is dismaying to me, I just wanted to try a Big Mac here in the Holy Land. I finished an appointment near Dizengoff Center, so I went to the McDonalds on the third floor of this sprawling shopping mall that covers two buildings attached by walkways over Rehov Dizengoff. I felt like I was in any McDonalds that I had ever visited, including a disproportionate number of overweight people, especially distinctive for Israel, where there seems to be an interest in fitness, with obesity not nearly as common as in the U.S. In fact, there were only two noticeable differences between this McDonalds and any other one I have ever been in. First, everybody was speaking Hebrew, not McDonalds Hebrew, such as “fries” or “chocolate shake” in phonetic Hebrew, but Hebrew. The posted menu had nary a word of English, but the pictures were all familiar, or at least roughly familiar, given that I have not frequented too many in the past 7 years. There was one exception to the Hebrew. There, above a picture of the sandwich I was curious to try, were the Hebrew letters, “bet” “gimmel” and then “mem” “kof,” Big Mac! The second difference was that everybody seemed to be arguing with the attendants. The woman next to me spent at least 5 minutes discussing the various premiums that come with a happy meal with an exchange back and forth of 5 or 6 10 argurot coins (each worth about 2 cents to give you an idea of the magnitude of the issues under dispute). After I confidently placed my order in Hebrew—Big Mac—I am sure that the attendant said, “do you want fries with that?” When she saw my puzzled look, I did hear “chips gadol?” (big chips as they say for fries), but I declined with a confident, "lo" for no. In case you are curious, I have no desire to try another Big Mac either here or elsewhere.