Dude, where's my pub?

Dear Congressman,

Back in the late seventies I was a long haired teenager of sixteen and living in England, where I attended both American Community School (ACS)- Wimbledon and then ACS-Knightsbridge for my first two years of high school. Living in England allowed me to make new friends and explore the many centuries of history that were available to see on a day-to-day basis, making London one of my favorite cities in the world to this day. Plus, originally being born in the UK meant I had roots there, making it more of a family event on holidays such as Christmas, when we could visit and stay with relatives that we would normally just call with seasons greetings rather than making jolly with them.

I made many friends while attending the ACS schools, and as teenagers, you could probably guess that a favorite activity was to visit any of the numerous pubs and sample the local wares. I know... the drinking age in England is 18, you say... but it was not strictly enforced and as long as you were not too loud or causing trouble there was no problem in getting served.

One of our favorite areas to haunt was the King's Road area in Chelsea, where the World's End Pub, the Chelsea Potter, and the Chelsea Drugstore were well known to us. Of the three, you have probably heard of the Chelsea Drugstore, courtesy of the lyrics of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones. I remembered the Chelsea Drugstore as having that Austin Powers type look, with a modern exterior and equally modern settings inside. So back in 2006 when my wife and I last stayed in London, I dragged her up the King's Road on a mini-pub crawl to visit the premises.

Only I could not find it. Instead, I found this...


I was confused. It had the same strange architecture and adjoining courtyard that I remember from my high school days, but instead of serving lager and lime they are now serving Big Mac and fries. If you look closely at the front entrance on the right hand side, you will clearly see the golden arches of the McDonald's corporate logo hanging out front of the Chelsea Drugstore.

Needless to say, I was floored. This is progress? Next thing you know they will be handing out a knighthood to Mick Jagger....

Oh wait... it is Sir Mick, isn't it.

I didn't know whether to cry or buy some McDonald's stock. Maybe I should do both.

To quote the Talking Head's "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower"