Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A protest! In Berkeley!

Can you imagine? We've got the Code Pink grannies protesting the Marine recruiting station (pretty bright, putting one of those in Berkeley) and a bunch of yahoos living in oak trees and pouring urine down on people so the university won't cut down the trees to build a sports complex (I don't think it's going to work).

And yesterday there were picketers in front of MacDonald's protesting that store's layoffs of several employees, some of whom are disabled. Fine thing, but why not broaden the scope a little to include selling food that is basically poisonous, marketing it aggressively and insidiously to children? 

They even had the nerve to market it to my kid. A few years ago, Sophie and I were riding on my motorscooter through downtown Berkeley when we were stopped by a red light in front of this very MacDonald's. "Mama!" she exclaimed, "What is that amazing smell?" And instead of arguing with her over the merits of that brainwashing smell or whether we were going to eat there, I lied: "I have absolutely no idea!" And stepped on the gas to gun us out of there. And no, she's never eaten there.

I  know people in Berkeley have a reputation for being ridiculous and intolerant, but I like to think I'm just ridiculous. Guess not when it comes to this subject.

Yep—I'm still working on those vacation pictures. But I just had to get that off my chest.

3 comments:

Beth said...

Gotta tell ya, I love Berkeley! There's always something going on there:)

p.s. You've been tagged:)

KatieGirlBlue said...

HA! I love it: "I have no idea."

You are hilarious.

Missed you so while you were away, and oh my lord, don't get me started on Nevada and the mental fortitude it takes to stay awake while driving through it. I resent it for being in my way when I want to drive to the Bay area.

Glad you discovered the secret Basque community and all the great food, though...

Actually have an email drafted to you telling you when we'll be in your area....right, that was actually a month ago...I'm a bit behind on my corespondance....

Jen Yu said...

Oh, you make me laugh! I like that you live in a hippie town like Bezerkeley and that you lied to your daughter to save her from Evil. ha ha ha! What a mom you are :)