Comforting Cholesterol

I was sat in KFC earlier in the week, having my 2 pieces of heart attack and a drink of toothrot, not thinking about anything in particular when I started taking notice of the people around me. I then started looking at the other fast food joints dotted around, especially McDonalds and Pizza Hut not too far from me.

Norwich has been in the past quite an insular city, the diversity message still has trouble getting through to some members of society, so much so, that it was once known as the last white city in England. I used to diversity training with NEAD which was quite scary when you start experiencing peoples' prejudices. Anyway, I digress. I have my favourite coffee oases and the clientelle is predominantly white, middle-class, very rarely do I see people of BME persuasion eating or drinking there, despite the diversity of the menues on offer.

In McDonalds, the people eating there were predominantly young, white teenagers with a love for Burberry, white velour track suits and heavy gold chains. Pizza Hut had more of a diverse age range with couples and families eating, again, predominantly white.

In KFC, there were representatives from all age groups and ethnicities. I sat behind a couple who by the sounds of their accents were French African and German. There was an Indian woman in a sari eating with her family. A grandmother gumming a drumstick, with her Burberry grandchildren. Several Chinese girls sitting together nattering and laughing together.

I know as a TNC, KFC is the spawn of the devil. It's deeply unhealthy, environmentally questionable, pays rubbish wages and according to some, does not even serve chicken, but genetic mass-produced freaks. However, here in this restaurant, in the midst of retail heaven, people from different economic, social and ethnic groups were meeting and eating together. I don't think that's a bad thing at all.