Fast food- The grease we all love

I've noticed a couple of Speak Out items in the paper that deal with overweight kids these days. Can you really blame us, though? I mean is there anything greater out there than fast food? You order into a little box, drive around, pay and get your food. Now wouldn't you say that's convenient? Unfortunately, fast food shows its evil side in most college students.

Whenever a college rep comes to our high school, they like to mention the fact that we usually gain 15-20 pounds once we graduate high school. So basically, what they're saying is we're going to die of a heart attack at the age of 24.

Here I'm going to give my top five favorite fast food restaurants. People do reviews all the time on the "fancy" places. Fast food needs a little love too, right?

1: Taco Bell: There's just something about this place I love. Although I've heard some horror stories of things going on in the kitchens of some Taco Bells, the steak quesadillas are some of the best things around.

Note to surrounding Taco Bells: Don't sue me ... you're no. 1 (nervous smile)!

2: Burger King: Don't let the smell of burning flesh fool you when you pass this place. I usually go there after work and I've been known to spend almost ten bucks on myself. My regular order is a large Whopper Value Meal with cheese and a Coke, 5-piece chicken tender, and a Hershey's pie. If I continue to eat there I may be bankrupt and overweight by next year.

3: Steak 'N Shake: I consider this place borderline fast food. It's a lot more expensive than most other burger joints, but I guess I should expect to pay more since they play that great 1950's music. Nothing beats the Frisco Melt and cheese fries. They're apparently very clean in there, because I feel like I'm walking on a Slip 'N Slide when walking from the booth to the bathroom. Wait a minute. Steak 'N Shake ... Slip 'N Slide? Coincidence? I think not.

4: McDonald's: The king of cholesterol, but what teenager cares about that? We're only young once so why not eat as many Big Macs and apple pies as you can while your metabolism is more active?

5: Subway: Occasionally, I need to feel healthy. That's when I end up going here and getting one of those low-fat concoctions. Usually, an hour later I'm hungry and go to one of the other four mentioned places. However, Subway's a good place to go when you need to feel like you care about your health.

And there you are. My top five favorites. I'm sorry, Hardee's. There's something I find horribly annoying about your Angus beef commercials. They look like a really bad preview of an upcoming Real World episode.

I need to eat more things that are baked, not fried, due to the whole grease factor. How about chocolate chip cookies?

Sam DeReign is a senior at Oran High School. Contact him at sdereign@semissourian.com.