The popularity of fast food production today is a direct result of busy families. In today's society both husband and wife usually obtain full-time careers. These careers take up much of the family's time and energy. Children of these families are usually very active in many extracurricular activities such as soccer, Boy Scouts, football, baseball, and basketball. With all of the practice, games, and outings, these activities consume a great amount of the family's time. In this fast paced life people find it more and more convenient to grab some food on the way home than to prepare a full meal for their family. Families find it more convenient to have someone else do the cooking and cleaning than to take more time away from each other and do it themselves. Single people find it easier to pick-up some fast food than cook a big meal for one person. Often, single people choose to go out to eat instead of cooking because they just have never learned to cook, and really never plan to learn. It is also a result of the most obvious, people these days are just lazier than people in our past were. Sometimes it is the result of time and convenience and sometimes it is a result of the low cost, or maybe a combination of the two.
Fast food is there to save you when you forget your lunch or do not have the time to fix your lunch. Also, there are some cases where people are not able to bring their lunch to work and must go somewhere to eat or pick-up some food. For example a Southwestern Bell Telephone employee, who works out in the field, drives around the city all day in a work van; the employee has no where to store a lunch and no place to heat it up. People in these situations are left with few options; fast food or dine in at a local restaurant. Fast food is available in nearly every city and is much more convenient when you are in a hurry or on a low budget. Most people do not have a long lunch break and do not have time to sit down and be served a hot fresh meal at a local restaurant.