The McBite

McDonald's Chicken McBites, from here on out known simply as McBites, are a discontinued food option at McDonald's restaurants. They were created in April 2012, and discontinued in 2013. I had been working at McDonald's for a year before I ever hear about McBites. It wouldn't be until three years after it's supposed discontinuation that I would have to experience them with my own eyes to discover the knowledge of their existence entirely.

I had to get a job if I wanted to go on an expensive field trip. My high school did France and Spain for most of their European field trips as part of the curriculum for the languages they taught. Despite being enrolled in neither French or Spanish, the trip was open to all who wanted to go. My friends suggested I go with them. So I got a job at McDonald's to fund the trip. I would have to work for the rest of the eleventh grade, and wait patiently during the beginning of the twelfth until I would get to go on the trip in March of 2016. I may have been ignorant to them, but McBites were going to sneak up on me.

My only other instance of flying before had been with family. This time it would be a foreign adventure alongside five dear friends. And... a chaperone, if he could be called such. Our first stop was Paris, France. From there, we would make our way down towards Spain. Along the way, we would see classics such as The Eiffel Tower and The Louvre. The Notre Dame remained unaffected by the fire that awaited it three years into the future. However, despite these historic masterpieces marking their influence on our minds, there was a certain masterpiece hidden between the lines of culinary history.

Teachers and students were expected to go out together when free time was available for exploration. For the most part, they actually did go together. But we were the other half of the twelfth graders, and our group's chaperone went for the, much appreciated, careless approach. Where not only did we never have to deal with the likes of adult supervision throughout our days, but it was he who would be lost in the city on a few occasions. It's this type of supervision that lead six 17 year old's to go to McDonald's at almost every opportunity they were given. We thank you for your service, Teach.

The first time we went, they snuck by unnoticed. I was far too hungry and eager to get to the cash register. I had a craving for a larger portion of poultry, and got a McChicken combo. But before I paid for my food, there was something that I had wanted to do. I pulled a card from my wallet to show the girl that took my order. It was a McDonald's Employee Platinum Card. Why did I show it to her? My entire purpose was to show that I found it cool how we both worked at the same place, just on opposite sides of the planet. She didn't understand my intentions, and actually asked me if I wanted to see a manager about getting discounted food. I remember scrunching my eyebrows together, amused and confused at the idea of my Canadian card working in France. Despite my wonder, I told her it was fine, and that I'd pay full price. It wasn't my plan to swindle this McDonald's out of a few euros, even if they weren't hurting for it. My friends would pay homage to the famous dialogue of Pulp Fiction, by ordering the "Royale with Cheese."

The second time we went to a McDonald's, the very fabric of our minds would be changed. We thought we knew what it meant to eat McDonald's. We were teenagers in high school. If you've ever worked or dined at a McDonald's, then you know that the two are practically synonymous at this point. The lot of us scurried through the streets and into our next McDonald's of choice with no chaperone in sight. Even five years ago, McDonald's had already invested in self-ordering computers in their lobbies. France's looked like they had been there longer. My store had only gotten them recently before I left for the trip. We scrolled through it's options together, our millennial eyes already accustomed to looking at screens. And that's when we saw it. An entire box of shareable bits of McDonald's chicken. "40?" My friends and I exclaimed in unison when we saw it. Back in our hometown, there was no item at a McDonald's with a number higher than 20. Seeing 40 of anything was going to make us gawk at it. As an employee at the time, I'd be amazed each time a customer ordered two 20 McNugget boxes. Yet here we sat, looking at these 40 piece McBites boxes, and we began to contemplate with one another. "Two of 'em?" And it was like we didn't have to ask at all.

It's at this point of the story, that I have to take the opportunity to apologize. This is where I should be getting to what McBites taste like or how they're made. Describing the feeling that came over me when I would bite into each one's bite-sized crispy batter. But the truth is that I can't tell you any of those things. Sadly I can only describe the feeling that they give me today. Not the one I experienced five years ago. When asked today what my favourite McDonald's item is, I say "McBites". It's almost a weird lie. I haven't had them in so long, and the taste completely alludes me. All I have now are the memories of my friends and I chanting "McBites" through the streets of France, like we were trying to manifest them from thin air. I want to try them again so bad, but I fear that it will never be the same as it once was. It's a memory, hollow of it's more descriptive contents like taste and sensation, but then I remember that it's a memory filled with some of my deepest connections.

The only message of this story is that if there are McBites near you, I suggest you head to your nearest McDonald's. Just bring good friends.