31 Jan 2013
Views Editor
Nod: Veggie hate gets crunched
Personally, we think Taco Bell gets a bad rap. It may not really be Mexican food, but you can’t hate a fast food chain that introduced taco shells made of cheesy Doritos chips to the drive-through windows of every American.
That bold spirit of ingenuity is what got us to the moon. It’s almost patriotic.
But that same bold spirit recently got the fast food giant into hot water — or maybe hot sauce.
To coincide with the Bowl Championship Series football showcase, Taco Bell released a new television commercial last week ridiculing the brave souls who bring veggie trays to munch during football parties instead of “real” party food like a 12 pack of tacos.
But the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health food advocacy organization, wasn’t laughing. Apparently some of their best friends are veggies.
The group invited their followers on Twitter to express their disapproval on Taco Bell’s page, and the outburst of complaints prompted the company to pull the ad from the airwaves.
Taco Bell deserves a nod for respecting the concerns of vegetarians who like dipping carrot sticks into ranch dressing without being forced to apologize for it.
Shake: Iran’s space oddity
Ever since the Soviet space program sent a dog named Laika into orbit in 1957, animals have been used to test the dangers of space travel before human life goes on the line.
This trend continued last week, when Iran’s state-run news agency announced that the country had successfully launched a monkey into low orbit and retrieved the animal safely after re-entry.
We really like space, but we also like animals, so we’re not sure if we approve of these monkey-flinging antics. Besides, scientists are concerned that the same technology used to safely transport a primate passenger to the final frontier could fire long-range missiles into other countries.
Just to be safe, we’ll give Iran a brief shake of the head. After all, they’re approximately 7,257 miles away — what’s the worst that could happen?
Shake: I’ll show you a tip
This week, a Missouri pastor inadvertently made an enemy out of every server who lives off tips.
After racking up a bill of more than $200 with a group of 20 at a St. Louis area restaurant, the anonymous pastor took offense to the establishment’s policy of automatically adding an 18 percent gratuity charge to the bill of parties with eight diners or more.
In an effort to avoid paying the charge, the pastor tried to split the check between the people in her group, but the automatic charge was still applied.
The final tip added to the pastor’s bill? $6.29. But instead, she crossed out the amount, wrote in a zero, and added a note: “I give God 10 percent, why do you get 18?”
The patrons apparently had no problem with the quality of the service they received, but decided to provide a religious message instead of cash.
We’re sure this woman’s church appreciates the tithing money she contributes, but the server who provided her meal probably doesn’t live on bread alone.
This stingy preacher ought to crack open her bible more often, since we’re pretty sure it mentions generosity fairly often. Until then, she’s getting a shake for holding out.
