My encounter today at McDonalds

[not_me_not_I]

McDonalds flavors their french fries with beef fat. Aren't you afraid they're doing the same with the hash browns?

[CrystalGeezer]

Phoenix rising from the hashes fears nothing. No actually that crossed my mind, but I'm not sinking my teeth into flesh. I'm eating gross food, shit's gonna happen.

[not_me_not_I]

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutri...o.do?itemID=35

I just checked. They do.

Ingredients (Allergen statement in ALL CAPS.)Back To Top
Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*, citric acid [preservative]), salt, corn flour, dehydrated potato, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), extractives of black pepper. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent).

Just stop by Burger King instead. At least they're open-minded enough to have veggie burgers on the menu.

[CrystalGeezer]

So, ironically, I am a carnivorous vegetarian because a company has tricked me into eating meat disguised as a potato? The golden arches' mind should be opened Athena Style.

[Neader]

I only read the first post.

Crystal, I love you, you know that, but that was a dick move.

You still got rid of the item, it was put to use, though you may not have used it, something did and benefitted from it (your dogs). You gave it away. McDonalds isn't going to give you your money back. Why should they? They won't gain anything from it, you bought something, and though they gave it to you in a different manner than you ordered, you still put it to use. And those poor people behind you, innocent victims.

[CrystalGeezer]

I only read the first post.

Crystal, I love you, you know that, but that was a dick move.

You still got rid of the item, it was put to use, though you may not have used it, something did and benefitted from it (your dogs). You gave it away. McDonalds isn't going to give you your money back. Why should they? They won't gain anything from it, you bought something, and though they gave it to you in a different manner than you ordered, you still put it to use. And those poor people behind you, innocent victims.

Because it wasn't what I ordered, it wasn't what their order screen assured me they were giving me, it was a break in the contract of our transaction and it caused me inconvenience. Innocent victims? Cry me a fuckin' river.

[Neader]

But why would they give you your money back? You still used the item! It doesn't matter if it was a dog or a human or whatever, you bought it and put it to use!

[CrystalGeezer]

But why would they give you your money back? You still used the item! It doesn't matter if it was a dog or a human or whatever, you bought it and put it to use!

It's a matter of principle. If you go to the theater and watch a movie that has poor sound and ask for a refund, you can't give the movie back. Hospitality. And regarding the poor innocent victims, they got their food. It's just that the McDonald's employees had to walk outside and around my car and personally hand each bag to them transaction by transaction because their supervisor was unwavering to the rules. I parked at the second window, the first window took their money which kinda worked out for McDonalds. I'll remember this for next time.

[Dave]

McDonalds HBIC might have given you a coupon in the interest of moving the line along, but...

You wanted to encounter "evil" and you did, right?

Plus you got to make a scene in the drive-through at McDonalds and no doubt cost them more than $2.50. You also demonstrated to all the people in line behind you that McDonalds would rather argue with you over $2.50 than do business with them.

and your dogs, riding around in a car instead of running through the woods chasing rabbits or something, got to get in touch with their inner nature and eat some meat.

I'll argue with Jackie. I don't agree that you should have had to "prove it." Here's why. You're only accusing them of making an error, not of maliciuosly giving you something you didn't want, but they, in asking for proof, are accusing you of lying. The receipt is proof enough. They could have taken the receipt and had you sign it, maybe put your DL number on it, and that would have been sufficient.

But the real lesson? Don't go to McDonalds.

[CrystalGeezer]

McDonalds isn't going to give you your money back. Why should they? They won't gain anything from it...

You know what they would gain? An quiet bond between buyer and seller. A moment of empathy. A moment of understanding the situation and making it right. But they don't have to do that because they are so ginormous and seemingly in control that all human interaction and customer service is moot. You're absolutely right, why should they? They have nothing to gain. They've already manipulated billions of buyers into consuming their predictable product, they don't have to adhere to same rules that apply to smaller companies because they are a corporate monster that has defined it's own out-of-balance reality that needs to be put in it's place. In time.

[CrystalGeezer]

Look at the tags.

No, not don't go to McDonalds. Don't run away from McDonalds because to do so gives them power to define their realities and in so doing, our reality. It's difficult to explain. When I say experience "evil" or whatever, I'm not talking about anything that anyone would understand, I'm talking about going to the dark place to read the dark signs. So I'm not encouraging people to go eat at McDonald's, I'm just saying don't enable McDonald's false sense of superiority by ignoring them. Bleh, it's so difficult to explain.

[CrystalGeezer]

Parts of this song kind of describe it, not the whole song. McDonald's acts like a Black Mirror reflecting false intentions, so when you go there and "read signs" you can hear mischief and deceit then use your findings to combat falseness and in the long run, combat the very mirror where you spy the deceit. This is the very crazy side of this(and inevitably the post that kills the thread), but the reality is that McDonalds is morally corrupt and that corruption filters all the way down to them hanging on to their two dollars for dear life.

[Dave]

Carl's Jr once did this:

I bought my food (mistake, I know. I haven't been there in 3 years, though.) I paid with a bank card. She said it didn't go through and she ran it again. It was an account that I used for online transactions and I didn't keep very much money in it. When my $8.67 order wound up being triple-charged, I got an overdraft. I was able to have the extra charges removed, but I had to go to the back in person to do it, and had to leave work for over an hour.

After all this, I told Carl's Jr what had happened and they blamed my back. No. My bank didn't run the card three times. It was actually the fault of their card processing company. I told them that it had been a big hassle and that I thought it would be nice if they gave me a free lunch like the one they tried to charge me, not once extra, but twice, and they refused to do anything to make it better.

I don't know if all Carl's Jr's are the same but my advice is don't ever go there. My friend saw them dump the fryer basket in the garbage and then hit it on the inside of the garbage can to get the crumbs out. She also said that she asked them to make sure her criss-cut fries were crisp and warm and the lady palmed them and said "they're warm."

I used to go there at 11 or so at night and get salad and then all of a sudden I couldn't. They are supposed to throw it away at 10pm. This dude that was the manager would have this case with about 6 salads in it that had been totally delicious an hour before, that they had forgotten to throw out, and when I'd try to buy one, he would say no, and throw them away.

I actually talked to the owner about the triple charge and told them that if they didn't throw away 5 or 6 salads every night they could afford to give me my free meal.

They don't care, and they are still in business.

[Dave]

Parts of this song kind of describe it, not the whole song. McDonald's acts like a Black Mirror reflecting false intentions, so when you go there and "read signs" you can hear mischief and deceit then use your findings to combat falseness and in the long run, combat the very mirror where you spy the deceit. This is the very crazy side of this(and inevitably the post that kills the thread), but the reality is that McDonalds is morally corrupt and that corruption filters all the way down to them hanging on to their two dollars for dear life.

I'm not buying it. Ignoring them doesn't give them power. Thinking that they are going to teach you about the nature of evil does. And...

wow, I hate to even type this, but the truth is, you just want a meatless egg mcmuffin. *ducks and runs*

[CrystalGeezer]

Hmmmm. Same thing, Dave. I mean you could've gone to corporate. I dunno. Taco Bell seems adamant about customer service with all the phone numbers posted on the windows and the receipts, they want you back. But they're just as enmeshed in slinging evil as all of them, they just do it kinder. Another thing McDonald's does that seems really strange to me is that they rotate menus every day, so if it's the weekend, the prices are driven up to cash in on the church-goers and on-the-way-back-from-little-league moms. I'm not even touching on the meat aspect and factory farming which is deplorable, I'm sure. I'm just talking about how they process their very bread and butter, their customers like cattle as well.

[CrystalGeezer]

I'm not buying it. Ignoring them doesn't give them power. Thinking that they are going to teach you about the nature of evil does. And...

wow, I hate to even type this, but the truth is, you just want a meatless egg mcmuffin. *ducks and runs*

Running away gives them power. They are too enmeshed into the fabric of man's downfall that running away will do any good. It's just a fact, they have to be faced.

Not true! It used to be, then I started making them at home and they taste WAY better and it's way cheaper. But I did learn to read darkness there. I'm totally serious.

[CrystalGeezer]

And not to play up too much what might actually be one person behind many personas playing bird fight**/devil's advocate, but notice the extent of McDonald's dark grip on humanity? Morrissey fans defending McDonalds? Something is out of balance.

**I love me some book of lambspring

[Dave]

you're lucky they didn't put you here

[Black Cloud]

I used to work in restaurants, and most places have no clue how to treat customers. You must admit when you're wrong, and make it right, and then people are happy to come back and spend more money. Yes, try not to give money back, but giving a $2.50 refund will buy you more repeat business because customers feel valued. Yes, even if you're serving swill.

Although I'm vegan, I sometimes go to McDonalds to buy Diet Coke or unsweetened tea. I like that it's a gajonga size for 99 cents, and they have really cool straws. I also just like watching everything, because I am thoroughly puzzled by it all. Why do they need mechanical cup dispensers? Are their employees unable to determine which size cup is "medium?"

It's weird there, like entering a movie by M Knight Shyamalan. There's something vaguely military about their whole operation. Those uniforms and make up and hairstyles strip the employees of individuality; they become McDonalds. It's creepy. There's a hive mentality there that I'm not a part of, and it's fascinating.

And based upon what I've seen it's not 100% food, but maybe only 80% food, 15% plastic, and 5% evil (thanks, CG). It's highly engineered.

[cornelius blaze]

'The Cursed Earth was also notable for a lawsuit involving the publishers of 2000 AD, McDonalds, Burger King, and the Jolly Green Giant. Four episodes in the series, written by John Wagner and Jack Adrian, featured copyrighted characters without permission.[2] One storyline depicted wars between rival gangs, headed by the Burger King and Ronald McDonald - including scenes of Ronald executing a gang member who spilled a milk shake. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the owners of these characters objected to the use of their trademarks and sued. Publishers IPC settled out of court, publishing a half-page retraction and agreeing never to reprint the offending episodes.[3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cur...c)#Controversy