The man who destroyed mealtimes

Richard McDonald, who founded the McDonalds restaurant chain, died in 1998 but as long as our civilization survives he will never be forgotten. The golden arches he invented seem to infest the planet like a bright yellow plague. On American highways where once there were spectacular views stretching to the horizon, the landscape is now dominated by fluorescent plastic letter Ms, the height of four-storey buildings. McDonalds restaurants are impossible to ignore. The company has exported their concept of fast food to 120 countries worldwide, including a vegetarian version in non-beef-eating India. One of the chains busiest restaurants is the Moscow McDonalds in Pushkin Square. It is widely thought that the restaurants opening there, in the early 1990s, was largely responsible for introducing capitalism to the old Soviet Union. This year a new McDonalds will be opened somewhere in the world every three hours. The company is obviously aiming for world domination, and is destroying traditional eating habits wherever it goes. In Japan the arrival of McDonalds has even overcome the traditional taboo about eating with your fingers while standing up, which was always regarded as bad manners. Richard McDonald has taken his place among the people who have shaped the modern world and lifestyle every day 32 million people worldwide eat a Big Mac. But he has altered far more than just our eating habits and skyline. His fast-food chain has fundamentally changed human behaviour in every country that has been McColonised, and it is argued that it is responsible for causing obesity among millions of its customers through the easy availability of a cheap 500-calorie meal with an above average fat content. It all began in 1948 in San Bernardino, California. In the post-war baby boom, American families were becoming increasingly concerned about value for money. Richard Dick McDonald was a quiet, thoughtful man, who had already earned himself a reputation as a marketing genius he invented drive-in laundries and was the first person to use neon signs to advertise. Richard and his brother had the idea of feeding people quickly and cheaply from a simple, fixed menu without making them get out of their Chevrolets. And so McDonalds, and the concept of fast food, was born. The company expanded quickly and in 1955 the McDonald brothers sold their 25 restaurants, although Richard continued as a consultant until the seventies. In the fifties and sixties, before McDonalds restaurants took over mealtimes, the diner, the traditional American restaurant, had been considered king. American families used to go to their local diner to eat freshly made food in a relaxed atmosphere, and to chat to friends and neighbours. This golden age was destroyed by the golden M restaurants and the new concept of fast food, which has helped to create todays society where people dont even know their neighbours and are suspicious of strangers. It is perhaps no coincidence that several of Americas worst mass murders have taken place in McDonalds. The staff at McDonalds are all taught at the McDonalds University, set up by Richard McDonald to maintain high standards in his restaurants. It emphasizes how the company is one big family (but with strict rules e.g. nobody can wear vulgar nail polish). This model has been borrowed by numerous other companies from Ford to Microsoft, and is said to have spread American values worldwide more effectively than any other US export. With his system Richard McDonald has given us faster food but this has arguably created a demand for everything else to be faster too. Modern society has become impatient and easily frustrated. Above all Richard McDonald created an unstoppable monster that gave birth to the phrase junk food. The world will never recover the innocence it lost when it first tasted a Big Mac. Adapted from the Daily Mail

1 Henry V An English king invades France but his army is so small that the French expect to win the battle easily. The night before the battle the king disguises himself as a common soldier and goes around the camp encouraging his men, who are all exhausted and demoralized. The next day, just before the battle, the king makes an emotional speech. He says he is glad that he has such a small army because if they manage to win the battle, their glory will be greater. The king and his army win, and thousands of French soldiers are killed. The king then marries a French princess, and the two countries make peace. 2 The Merchant of Venice A young nobleman desperately needs money. He manages to borrow it from a money-lender, but promises that if he cannot pay it back, the money-lender can have a pound of his flesh. When it is time for him to repay the money, the nobleman hasnt got it, and the money-lender is so greedy that he takes him to court to get his pound of flesh. But the noblemans girlfriend disguises herself as a man, and defends him brilliantly in court. She argues that the money-lender has a right to the pound of flesh, but without taking any blood. The judge agrees with her, and so the money-lender loses the case. 3 Macbeth A nobleman meets three witches in a forest. They tell him that he will eventually become King of Scotland. He goes home and tells his wife about their prediction. She is such an ambitious woman that she encourages her husband to murder the present king, who is visiting their castle that night, so that the witches prediction can come true. The nobleman at first doesnt want to, but finally he kills the king, in spite of feeling terribly guilty. When he eventually becomes king himself he enjoys the power, but has to commit more murders to keep his position. His wife, however, goes mad with guilt and dies. Soon after, a huge army comes to attack the kings castle and he is killed. 4 Hamlet A young prince sees the ghost of his dead father, the old king. The ghost tells him that he did not die a natural death, but was murdered by the princes mother and his uncle, who is now king. The prince promises to take revenge, but at first he is so indecisive that he cant decide what to do. He gets so angry with himself that he contemplates suicide. When he eventually decides to take revenge, it all ends tragically. First, he kills his girlfriends father, who is spying on him. She then commits suicide. He manages to kill his uncle, but kills his mother accidentally at the same time. Finally, he himself is killed by his girlfriends brother. 5 King Lear A king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, as he is now old and tired. But first, they must say how much they love him. The two elder daughters, who dont really love him at all, lie to their father. They tell him that he is wonderful, and that they have always adored him. He believes them and they are given a lot of land. The youngest daughter only says that she loves him as a daughter should love a father. The king is so furious that he gives her no land but discovers, too late, that she was the only one who really loved him. His two other daughters and their husbands take over the whole kingdom and drive him out. The youngest daughter is killed and the king dies of a broken heart.

Get ahead in business with Shakespeare

DO YOU want to know how to avoid being stabbed in the back by your colleagues at work? Learn from Julius Caesar. Is your wife pushing you too hard to get promoted in the company? Remind her what happened to Lady Macbeth. A business management college has turned to Shakespeare for lessons in how to survive in business. Cranfield University School of Management has joined up with the Globe Theatre in London to offer courses on what Shakespeare can teach todays business executive. The idea is the inspiration of Richard Olivier, the son of Laurence Olivier, who was probably the most famous Shakespearean actor of all time. The people who run todays multinational corporations face the same dilemmas and responsibilities as the kings and dukes of 1600, he said. The clear favourite for executives is Henry V, a study of leadership. Nicholas Janni, one of the teachers on the course, listed the dilemmas facing the king in the play: What right does he have to be leader? How should he deal with traitors? How can he inspire his troops and get them to follow him? But according to Richard Olivier the potential for management training is endless. On the two-day management training course at the Globe, business executives not only study the moral questions raised in the plays but also learn basic techniques of acting and roleplay increasingly regarded as an essential skill in todays business world. Adapted from The Times

WHICH PLAYS WILLI STUDY?

Desired quality changing. Youll study Knowing how to take difficult decisions in a business environment that is continually Hamlet

Desired quality Avoiding becoming so obsessed with power that you can be persuaded by your wife to murder the company director. Youll study Macbeth

Desired quality Understanding the quality of justice and the danger of being too greedy useful for bank managers and credit-card company executives. Youll study Desired quality Youll study Desired quality Youll study The Merchant of Venice Knowing how to delegate, how to give up some power without losing control. King Lear Motivating your staff for a life-or-death sales battle with a rival. Henry V