Coney Island

The coney island is the  precursor to today's McDonald's and Burger King; a restaurant where you can eat a limited range of food - primarily hamburgers and hot dogs, but also apple pie - at a very reasonable price and without having to wait long for it to be served. It's also the source of the endless coffee cup. 

Despite its connections to the aforementioned globe-spanning chains, the food served at the average coney island is surprisingly good, since it's prepared more home-style than industrial.

Unfortunately, the first coney island I ate in clearly had a problem with its ventilation system, and I came out reeking of chip fat.

Starbucks

You've probably seen the scene about Starbucks and decision-making in the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan film You've Got Mail.

In fact, Starbucks doesn't just force you to make a thousand choices to get a cup of coffee. I went in there after some common-or-garden ground coffee, and having passed what I thought was the hardest hurdle - choosing the type of coffee - they wanted to know what blend I wanted and whether it was for a Turkish coffee maker, Bodum-type percolator or a coffee machine. And when I confessed that I needed it for the latter, I was then interrogated as to whether the filter had a flat or conical base. I ask you: DOES IT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? (I bet it doesn't).

Honestly, I'd rather be stuck in one of those darned call routing systems than go through that rigmarole again. Come back Kenco instant coffee (which I can't get here either): all is forgiven!