Fung Shui With Those Fries?
Sheffield Admin Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 10:11AM A McDonald’s restaurant in Southern California has taken the bold step of getting a Feng Shui makeover, a move which at first glace may seem a little like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear—or in this case, a silk purse out of a cow’s ear.
Feng Shui is based partly on the idea that the physical world influences our internal world. It supposes that the physical things of our world—wall color and furniture placement, whether they are mirrors in the living room or a big TV in the bedroom—can have a tremendous influence on our psychological, mental, and spiritual lives. The good news is that we can have some control over this, by having living plants in our homes, by using certain colors, or by placing particular elements in certain spots in a home or business.
Everything I’ve heard about Feng Shui—which, granted, isn’t much—sounds good to me. Although Feng Shui is a complex and ancient system of looking at the world, that can’t be explicated in a few short paragraphs on a blog, much of it just seems like common sense. We know that it’s more difficult to sleep in a room that’s brightly lit than in a dark one. We know that we tend to feel cooler or warmer depending on the wall color.
Well, I think it’s great for McDonald’s to take this step. As long as there are McDonald’s, there will be people eating at McDonald’s—I mean, if the nutrition information (now readily available on the McDonald’s Web site) doesn’t scare people off, nothing will.
Given that, if you’re slurping down an artery-clogging clump of greasy fat, you may as well be doing it in lovely environment.
So kudos to Mark Brownstein, the owner of the restaurant in suburban Los Angeles. Even if the redesign was just a ploy to bring in more customers in the heavily Asian area, a little Feng Shui goes a long way toward making the world a better place.
Maybe next the designers, Feng Shui Grand Master Dr. Chi-Jen Liu and his daughter, Master Jenny Liu, will take on designing the operating rooms where the triple bypass surgery is done.
By the way, this is what I found while researching this item, from the McDonald’s Web site: A quarter-pounder with cheese has 510 calories, and 26 grams of fat. Add a small order of fries to add 250 calories and another 13 grams of fat. If you’re thinking that maybe you’ll save some calories by ordering the chicken McNuggets, think again: ten pieces have 420 calories, 24 grams of fat, so if you’re really craving the beef, you may as well suck down that big burger.
Most people can maintain their weight by eating about 2000 or 3000 calories a day—depending on their body size and their exercise amount. And most people only need about 50-100 grams of fat per day. Let’s say you’re on the small size, and don’t exercise much. A quarter-pounder with fries gives you 760 calories and 39 grams of fat. What can you possibly eat for your other two meals that day? A carrot?
To be fair, let me also mention that a walnut bran muffin at Starbucks has 430 calories, 18 grams of fat. Together with a latte, you’ve got 620 calories and 25 grams of fat, and that’s not even really a meal.
In case you’re still reading, even though I have gone so far afield from design and Feng Shui, a banana has about 100 calories and no fat. And a slice of whole wheat toast, 76 calories and one gram of fat. (This information from the www.nutritiondata.com.)
Okay, I know this isn’t a nutrition blog, but I couldn’t help it. McDonald’s is such an easy target. But even I have to admit that those fries are delish.
Reader Comments (6)
Can you help me, Stylehound?
I live in a co-op and we are thinking about refurbishing the elevator. I was asked to choose a covering to replace the existing flooring. "That will be easy," I thought--as anything will be better than what we have there now. Off I went to my neighborhood Home Center, where I was sure I'd find many choices.
I quickly ruled out carpet because of the care it would require and the need to replace it in a few years.
I saw a large selection of laminates and solid woods. The walls of the elevator are wood panelled, and I thought that this might be too much wood.
My building's lobby is a dark green, polished terrazo. I thought it might be nice to bring this into the elevator. But I was told that the weight would be too much if several people were in the elevator at the same time.
So I looked for an attractive linoleum to harmonize with the terrazo. But when I flipped through the racks I found many examples, but none that I felt was appropriate.
What should I do? Keep what we have and give it a couple coats of wax and buff it good?
Hi Tom:
You can use a vinyl tile treatment which have faux marble or stone patterns. The Amtico tile company has many selections you can choose from. On the other hand if you want carpeting or something softer there are also carpet tiles from FLOR. You do not have to glue this down - they have a special interlocking device so you can easily take it off and replace it.
You can look at the selections on their websites at www.amtico.com or www.flor.com.
Good Luck!
Alexia
Well does anyone realize that in NYC in Soho and Tribeca, the Whole Foods have been feng shui'd? I mean MacDonalds, its still lousy food that has zero nutritional value so feng shuiing it means nothing.
At least feng shui goes along with the concept of healthy food! So many New Yorkers have done feng shui but still a lot of people want to keep it a secret! go figure- its been around for 4,000 years so what's the big whoop?
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