It Pays to Read the Fine Print

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I admit that, occasionally, when Erin and I aren't interested in cooking, I walk out to a nearby Wendy's and bring home a meal. Yes, we should be eating better than this, but at least it's not McDonald's. And also, with every meal we buy, we ask for the Minute Maid lemonade drinks, not Coca-Cola or Sprite. I figure that gives us a small reason to feel a little virtuous.

The other day, I'm ordering our meal at Wendy's, and I sidle away from the cashier in order to give the line room. I find myself right up against the drinks machine with the various drinks logos all in a row. I see the logo for Minute Maid lemonade and, in fine print beneath it:

CONTAINS 0% JUICE

I blink at that for a long while, thinking, "if contains no juice, what the heck *is* it made of?"

And then I look at the lineup of drinks: Coca Cola, Sprite, Minute Maid Orange Soda (pretty sure there's no juice in there either), Nestea iced tea, Diet Coke. Not one juice or water among them.

And suddenly I feel a whole lot less virtuous.


In the aftermath of yesterday, Peter MacKay has accused Scott Brison of cynical politics, saying "they're calling it what it is, a completely cynical manipulative move by Mr. Brison to enhance his own personal career."

Well, I guess Peter MacKay knows cynical and manipulative when he sees it. So, I'll defer to his wisdom on the subject.


From Darren Barefoot (I don't link to his weblog just because of his pretty layout) comes a link to this story on James Carver, who recorded the song that would eventually lead off the wonderful movie, O Brother Where Art Thou?. Seems he wrote that song while on a chain gang in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1959, and the producers finally tracked him down to his run-down apartment in Chicago.

To quote Darren: "The movie producers handed him his first royalty cheque for US $20,000 and he said 'I'm gonna call Michael Jackson up, tell him I'm gonna slow down. Let him catch up on me.'

It's stories like this which tell me that, for all of its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it's still a beautiful world.

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