They Say/I Say -- Live and in-person

     This is funny when I think about the incident that took place today.  I am so proud of myself for exercising the They Say/I Say -- live and in-person.

I took my vehicle into Wal-mart for an oil change.  (I know, I know, THEY SAY never take your truck to Wal-mart but I SAY I have some research to do along with some shopping.)

THEY SAY may take an hour, hour-and-a-half at the most.

I SAY okay.  With my notebook in hand, I go to McDonald's for my research.  I place my order; A club sandwich, fries and soda.  Last time I was in a McDonald's was more than two years ago.  I didn't know they offer club sandwiches.  I wonder what I am about to eat.  I search for warning labels to discover there aren't any.  No nutritional print-out, poster, nope.  Nada.  Zilch.  I take my tray to a table and again, I search for nutritional labels or anything else that will explain to me (or warn me) about what exactly I am about to consume.  Once again, I find nothing.  How interesting, the paper liner on my tray announcing that "April is McReady Month".  I have never heard of this and so I scan the paper liner.  Oh, I get it, McDonald's is now targeting those afraid of tornadoes. . .interesting.

I search the grocery aisle to discover all the "fast food" on the shelves. . .

An hour-and-a-half later, I step to the service area and. . .

THEY SAY no, your truck is not ready yet.

I SAY how much longer?

THEY SAY not much longer.

Two-and-a-half-hours later. . .

THEY SAY we are working on it but it may take awhile.

I SAY let me speak to a manager.

THEY SAY (begrudgingly) okay.

A few minutes later, the store manager arrives.

I SAY I don't mind an hour or two but this is a bit ridiculous.  It's been over two-and-a-half-hours and your employees are just now starting on my truck.  Does it normally take over two-and-a-half-hours to do a simple oil change?

THEY SAY oh, we are sorry.

I SAY my time is is valuable.  I am a dissatisfied customer.

THEY SAY oh, let me fix this problem.

Manager steps around the counter, picks up the paperwork, checks the time to realize I was not lying about the length of time.  He jots something on the paper and then steps back to me. . .

THEY SAY your oil change is free of charge.

I am proud of myself.  and now I hear THEY SAY quit procrastinating on your essay Paula and get back to work.

I SAY okay, okay, I will get back to work.

Some McFacts

     I am finding some interesting facts about McDonald's.  Yes, McDonald's does target children with the toys inside the Happy Meals.  "McDonald's averaged 10 million Happy Meals sold in an average week.  After the introduction of the Beanie Baby their sales skyrocketed to 100 million sales in just one week" (Schlosser).
     According to Eric Schlosser, in his essay "Fast-Food Nation: The True Cost of America's Diet" a ". . .survey of American schoolchildren found that ninety-six percent could identify Ronald McDonald.  The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus.  The impact of McDonald's on the nation's culture, economy and diet is hard to overstate.  Its corporate symbol - the Golden Arches - is now more recognized than the Christian cross."
     Schlosser then goes on to say that "Americans now spend more money on fast food than they do on higher education, personal computers, software or new cars.  They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music - combined" (Schlosser).

Hit list. Are you on it???

     When McDonald's first opened for business, their main target was young adults.  Young adults were the ones going to the movies and grabbing a quick bite to eat with their friends.  The meals were roughly the size of today's Happy Meals and that was enough to satisfy these young movie buffs.
     Over the years, the meals grew larger (and so did the eaters).  McDonald's was no no longer satisfied in targeting only the young movie goers for these people were now addicted to fast food, grown up and now having children.  So, McDonald's added a new population to their "hit list"-- the children.  Commercials were centered on happy children eating happy meals playing with happy toys on the happy playgrounds.  Yes, McDonald's once had a playground on virtually all of their locations.  To top it off, McDonald's even offered these children birthday parties.
     Then, as the years passed by, McDonald's started a new hit list of which Americans were no longer their sole targets.  McDonald's ventured overseas.  Overseas meant finding more victims to commercialize upon and hats off to the Golden Arches for finding such a niche.  Yes, the Asians have fallen prey to the McDonald's in China.  For a measly $1500.00 a couple can be married under the Golden Arches.  This festival event comes complete with cheeseburgers for all the guest and even a wedding cake made of pies.  These cardboard boxed pies are stacked into the design of a wedding cake of which guests may feast upon.
     Americans need not fear for McDonald's is back to targeting the Americans.  Just today, the news captured my attention as the news anchor announced the one-day-only McDonald's hiring of 50,000 Americans.  Here's a population that I never thought of targeting-- the unemployed!  I have never worked at McDonald's but I think I will call them in the morning to find out if they offer benefit packages such as free meals to those working.  I will ask if the health benefits are for those who are employed with the company for more than just a few years.  Maybe they offer fitness packages as well?  But, then, the news anchor went on to inform me that McDonald's does have a 90% turn-over rate.  I wonder why?

Oh, The Temptations

     My first reaction to Zinczenko's essay "Don't Blame the Eater" was that of an opposing view.  After all, shouldn't individuals be held accountable for their own actions?  Are not the choices one makes up to the individual?  Shouldn't parents be held accountable for teaching their children proper nutrition?  Moreover, isn't it up to the government to regulate proper nutrition within the public schools?  Aren't there health classes in the schools providing nutritional information?  So, why not blame the eater?  Oh, but as I am doing more research and digging deeper into the skills of the advertising industry, I am finding out more ways to agree than to disagree with Zinczenko's view.  There's a cleverness used in advertising that even the most educated person can fall prey to and succumb to the temptations of not only the golden arches but also something as minuscule as the candy dish sitting upon the desk of a coworker.

Do You Want That Super-sized???

     In his article, "Don't Blame the Eater," David Zinczenko shares his own personal struggles of being overweight.  He grew up eating fast food because not only is fast food so cheap but it is widely available with few to no alternatives. . .especially for latchkey kids.  Zinczenko states that the child obesity problem is all of ours.  He tells of the growing amount of diabetes of obese children and he states the actual medical results.  The funding has increased from "$2.6 billion in 1969.  Today's number is an unbelievable $100 billion a year."  Besides the lack of alternatives, according to Zinczenco, "is the lack of information about what, exactly, we're consuming."  He then points out the fact that prepared foods are not covered under the Food and Drug Administration labeling laws.  Zinczenko believes that the fast food industry is targeting children without issuing warning labels of the health hazards.  He goes on to say that people need to be informed in order to make good choices.

Duh! or Huh?

     In Stanley Fish's essay, Why You Won't Find The Answer in Strunk and White, Fish writes about the difficulties in understanding the well-praised book The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. & E.B. White that was published in 1959 by Macmillan Company.  Fish acknowledges that "Strunk and White's advice assumes a level of knowledge and understanding only some of the readers will have attained; the vocabulary they confidently offer is itself in need of an analysis and explanation they do not provide."
     I agree with Stanley Fish.  While highly educated English Majors may understand the contents and say Duh! while reading it, many other students (such as me) read the book, scowl and say Huh?  For years, the book sat upon my shelf and every so often, I would grab the book and flip it open in hopes of fixing that bad sentence I just wrote.  Each time I flipped the book open, I was disappointed all over again.  Now the book sits untouched on that same shelf.
     In 1986, Mamillan publishing company strived to get it right when they published "The Elements of Grammar" by Margaret Shertzer.  Aspiring writers who struggle with the difficulties of grammar rushed to the bookstores in hopes of learning and improving our writing styles.  Well, Macmillan, you published another disaster and failed me yet again.

The Blame Game

     In the essay, Don't Blame the Eater, the author David Zinczenko makes a strong argument of not placing overeating upon the indulger.  Instead, he blames the calorie-packed foods being served at the fast-food joints.  Fast, easy and convenient foods are what makes people fat.  He then goes on to do the calorie counting at the golden arches.
     While I agree with Zinczenko on not blaming the eater, I disagree with pointing the finger at the fast-food industry.  As I see it, good healthy eating habits begin in the home.  Yes, blame the parents.  Parents need to shoulder the responsibility of teaching nutritional values to their children.  As a parent of two boys, I know the stresses of working full time and attending college and cooking nutritious meals can be overwhelming but I find it easy to stock my kitchen with healthy foods.
     Here is where I could go on a rant about the parents in California suing McDonald's because their children are screaming and crying for Happy Meals with toys.  These parents want the toys taken out of the Happy Meals.  I say, keep the toys and tell your children to be behaved.  Come on parents--PARENT UP!