Monday, May 10, 2010

Signs and Dates

It occurs to me as I get older that there are constantly signs that we as a society are on the fast track down to the never ending inferno (great if you have lots of marshmallows and some sticks) of Hades. I’m not particularly worried as I don’t believe in Hell and will only be forced to spend eternity listening to people complain to me. Seeing as how that’s not much different then my daily existence, I’m not all that worried.

But back to the topic of signs. Today while walking past McDonald’s I noticed a sign advertising their latest McCafe offering, the McFrappe (otherwise known as the “Hamburgler”). But the sign wasn’t only expressing the wonderfully, refreshing quality of the drink in English. It also told of its creamy, chocolaty-ness in Spanish. Yet next to that poster was one promoting the newest line of Angus Beef (or horse meat) burgers, in English only. So what is my takeaway here? Is McDonalds only interested in offering their coffee items to La Raza, and not any of their cholesterol-laden top of the line burgers? Are we “English Speakers” the only ones good enough to enjoy the 1/3 lb goodness of Bacon and Swiss? And what about people that speak other languages? What menu options do they have? Is there a Korean menu that only has the Filet O’ Fish and a side of hash browns? And when I go to Germany are my menu options limited to McFlurries and Orange Juice (ugh bad combo there!)?

Also on my mind is the expiration date on my labels of yogurt. My brand of choice is Yoplait light (love the vanilla) but I’m having some issues around trying to figure out what the expiration date is. We’ve debated in this space before about Chinese food and it’s built in expiration dates which are understood to vary slightly. But this is dairy and dairy always has a date (see US V. Bessie the Cow, 1945). Why is it I can’t find it on this damn cup of yogurt? Oh there it is on top, stamped into the foil, in silver, perfectly legible as long as I hold it at exactly a 43.5 degree angle. Lovely.

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