I picked up an order from McDonald’s.
The employee handed me the bag, and for a few seconds I just looked at it.
The security stickers were perfectly intact.
The bag was also completely open.
McDonald’s delivery bags are normally simple: fold the top down, put the stickers across it, hand it to the driver.
Apparently someone was new.
He had unfolded the top, pulled the handles upright, and carefully attached the stickers anyway.
So the security system was working perfectly.
It was protecting the stickers.
You could put your entire hand into the bag without touching either one.
I considered going back.
But I wasn’t ready to explain to another adult that the purpose of sealing a bag is, technically, to seal the bag.
So I got into the car.
Then I realized the more important problem.
The customer hadn’t seen any of this.
The customer was going to see an open McDonald’s bag and me standing beside it.
That’s one of the interesting things about delivery work.
The restaurant can forget the fries.
Someone can forget the drink.
Someone can invent an entirely new approach to food security.
But only one person eventually arrives at your front door holding the evidence.
The driver.
The stickers remained intact all the way there.
Of course they did.
The bag was sealed.
Technically.