Deleted Post

A few weeks ago (December 3rd), I shared a post where I was going to talk about an "item of the week" from Trader Joe's or Sprouts.

In an effort to eat better (and that stock was constantly changing at the stores) ... I've scrapped the idea as well as the blog.

Just thought I'd put up a "note" for those who might wonder where the blog went.

Attention Fast-Food Workers … Please Watch What You’re Doing

Today’s blog is about something I am currently going through that was caused by someone’s inattentiveness – I’m sick to my stomach and feel just … pukey.

I know you’re all thinking – no one would ever intentionally cause someone to suffer. You’re all right. Or, if they did … they’d be psychotic, right? And, no fast food worker would do that intentionally.

I don’t think they did. But, they did make a mistake.

These mistakes are becoming more and more common. And, while we should be forgiving … some of those mistakes have HUGE consequences for the customer.

Today is an example of that. Someone else’s mistake is now causing me to be very sick.

What happened? How did it happen?

I was out running errands and feeling parched, so I decided to get a $1 any size drink at McDonald’s.  I opted for a LARGE COKE. LARGE COKE. Nothing to eat.

There was no way that could get messed up. Not at all. Just a simple LARGE COKE.

Total was $1.08. I pulled up to the payment window and paid. The girl asked if I wanted my receipt. I said no. Why? I’d end up leaving it in the car, then putting it in my purse, tossing it somewhere in the house … or forget to throw it away. After all, it’s not like you can “return” the drink. And, think of the “paper” I’m saving them. I didn’t think I’d need it either.

I pulled up to the second window, got my drink and straw then drove off. This part is my fault … I put the straw in and took a drink without looking.

YUCK!!! Ewwww!! DIET!!

There was no mistaking that foul taste of artificial sweeteners (namely Aspartame) I am very allergic and sensitive to. The type you get so ill, it goes straight to your head so you avoid it like the plague. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, stomach pains … not a fun experience.

I looked at the lid, and sure enough … the DIET button was punched. Ugh!

I had to turn around and go back. Not an easy task considering the location I went to. It wasn’t like I wanted that location; it was just close to where I was going.

I parked, went inside and told the staff. The woman who took the drink (full except the one huge sip) looked absolutely disgusted with me and made a huge production saying “get a FRESH REGULAR COKE” (she walked away from the counter).  

Great, so everyone was staring. Leering was more accurate. I felt like just walking out without the drink and saying “keep the money”. In retrospect, I should have. I felt like a “leper”, or rather salt in the sugar bowl. Definitely didn’t feel like a “valued customer”.

No “sorry”, no “oops”, no nothing from them – just “leering”.

I’m not looking for someone to kiss my butt, not at all. That’s just awkward. A simple “we’re sorry” at the time would have sufficed. It’s not like they were busy. There were no patrons on the inside and I was the only drive-thru customer at the time. There were three BEHIND me as I left the first time – but no one “BEFORE” me.

Hardly a “rush” period. Having worked for pizza delivery stores, I know a “rush” when there is one.

About 1-2 minutes later, a sheepish young lady handed me a drink with a straw and mumbled “sorry”. I accepted the apology, took the drink, went to a table and stuck the straw in.

Same reaction … YUCK!!! Ewwww!! DIET!!

Not wanting to be a pain in the a$$, I asked if they used a fresh cup. Was told “yeah”, but I wasn’t too sure. No matter. They wanted me to leave. So, I did. They basically waved me off as if dismissing me.

Feeling very sick – like head is throbbing, throw your guts up, stomach on a wild roller coaster, and every smell nauseates you kind of “sick” … I still had another errand to run. Which, I did. I left the drink in the car, got some groceries and came home.

I barely made it inside when I grabbed a bottle of Dasani and slugged it down. That was good. Thinking the taste from the first drink was lingering, I drowned myself with Dasani and waited several minutes. By this time I was dizzy (Aspartame also does that to me) and I just wanted to throw up, hoping I would feel better. Anything to stop that feeling!

Knowing that PLAIN/REGULAR Coca-Cola works wonders on my stomach, and not having anything else for nausea …

I looked at my McDonald’s drink and took another slug. YUCK!!! Ewwww!!

Yeah, pretty redundant response. But, it was definitely DIET. There was no way around that taste. I poured the drink down the sink and threw the cup away. There went $1.08 down the drain.

We don’t have Pepto-Bismol as I am allergic to that … break out, severe headaches, nausea, uncontrollable vomiting, and then the dreaded throat swelling type of allergic.

Sorry for being graphic, but Pepto-Bismol is not permitted in the house. And, I didn’t have a current “script” for Zofran or Compazine either. I had to rely on what my grandparents did when they were young (as well as when my mother was young): Coca-Cola and Hershey’s chocolate. Sadly, I can’t even get up without feeling dizzy.

Four hours later my stomach was still reeling from that awful DIET stuff. And, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to eat either. Every smell seemed to heighten that “sick” feeling (even the smell of plain saltine crackers). Yeah, it’s a pretty bad reaction to that “stuff”. Thankfully no throwing up, though my stomach is still considering it. I’m trying to “talk it down”. So far, we’re on a cease-fire. Can’t guarantee how long that will continue.

But, I feel blessed I wasn’t “deathly allergic”, otherwise? I’d have been dead before getting back to the McDonald’s. That’s where I feel just blessed. I have a “moderate” reaction. Yeah, I know – I’m sitting here with a sledgehammer type headache, dizziness, nausea, and a trigger-happy stomach, and I am “blessed”. I am. Trust me there.

There are others that are not as lucky as I am. This “warning” is because of those people out there.

And, because of a few medical conditions in my family, my doctors have said “NO DIET DRINKS AT ALL”. I think that makes it pretty clear I am to avoid “DIET DRINKS”.

Now, some will say:

“You shouldn’t be drinking soda anyway”

          [My right to drink what I want. Even my doctors have said I can have “carbonated beverages within reason, just no DIET drinks”. This is not your body so you don’t get a say. That’s like me telling people not to wear green because I don’t like the color. Our bodies, our choices. I shouldn’t be “poisoned” as a result though.]

“You should have gone inside”

          [Partially true, let’s outlaw drive-thru windows; make everyone go inside. It’s not like we’re trying to save gas from repeatedly stopping/starting cars; or trying to make a more productive use of our time. After all, didn’t businesses install them to serve more people, did they?]

“You get what you pay for”

          [WRONG. I paid for a LARGE COKE, not DIET. There is a difference.]

“That’s why they need more money”

          [I see, let’s reward them for getting orders wrong and making people sick. There’s a good way to get a raise – make customers sick to convince the majority of people that fast food workers are underpaid.]

Sorry if some of my “replies” come off as sarcastic. That’s not my intention. But, sometimes we forget one thing when we try to “talk over” people or “answer” them back – the “POINT” being made of what someone is saying.

So, why am I writing this blog? I’ll get to that later.

True, I should have gone in. There have been times the “COKE” and “DIET COKE” fountains or “bags” get switched even at “self-serve”. And, I shouldn’t be excluded from the drive-thru because the employees are not attentive, considering I was the only customer at the time (drive-thru and inside).

I will “allow” them one “excuse” … they might have been out of COKE and they figured to at least act like they were trying.

Some companies prohibit the staff from saying “we’re out of that”. So, they’re told to pass it off, and if the customer has a problem … call corporate.

HUGE PROBLEM WITH THAT …

Doing that can make someone seriously ill if not kill them. That’s worse than admitting “we’re out of that product”. Just be honest about it. Losing $1.08 in revenue is better than a lawsuit that you could lose $10,800; $108,000; $1,080,000 or more in. That is just negligence right there.

Why not just give me a clean cup and point me over to the self-serve? That way, it is off of them. If I screwed up, I wouldn’t want it back on me. In fact, I’d ask the customer if they’d want their money back or just hand them a clean cup. After all, they screwed up once at that particular fountain (the drive-thru one), why risk it again? Yet, they did.

As a result, they made a profit, and I will not be going back to that location. I might not go back to McDonald’s at all. Health fans/nuts, you might want to rejoice. Of course I can’t speak for my mom. Certainly we won’t be buying drinks from them again.

So far we’re cutting out the places we can go to eat, even as a treat. Maybe that is good for us, bad for the industry though.

The entire point is this: “be careful of what you’re doing”.  Please. All you fast food workers who think it might be funny (to switch out the sodas) – it isn’t. There are serious and dire consequences for doing that.

And, to the fast food industry: thinking that you’re going to substitute a product like that (COKE for DIET COKE); can have serious repercussions down the road – you will lose my business. You’re lucky I don’t want to sue.

But, I can’t speak for the next person. That’s why I am writing this blog … to inform, educate, prevent a more serious problem than the one I am going through today.

Right now, I will be calling today a “lost day”. I’m going to rest and try to talk my stomach out of its planned activities. I really don’t want to do what it wants. 

I want this blog to serve as a “wake-up” call …

**PLEASE BE CAREFUL

**PLEASE BE HONEST

**PLEASE RESPECT YOUR CUSTOMERS

Those of us with food allergies and sensitivities want to enjoy what you have to offer. We’re not trying to make it difficult on you – we want to patronize your establishments. We just ask for a few “considerations”. Minor requests. Stuff that should be easy. 

I don’t ask for the world –

I ask for “no [blueberries, peanuts, etc.]” because I enjoy breathing more than the “taste enhancement”. I don’t like sleeping sitting up because my throat is swollen and that is the only way I can sleep, otherwise I stop breathing.

I also don’t like my skin breaking out in an itchy rash or my head spinning around like it is a merry-go-round either. That isn’t fun.

I ask for REGULAR COKE, because my body has too many issues [health problems, headaches, itching, nausea, vomiting, etc] with the ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS associated with DIET drinks. 

[screencap of the McDonald's page with "Diet Coke"]

[ingredient list for the "Diet Coke"]

[notice it contains "ASPARTAME"]

If you (yes, you, the fast food places) cannot accommodate my request – tell me. Tell me you don’t choose to. Yes, I’ll be mad. I’ll go somewhere else and have my own personal boycott of that location or your company.

But, please … don’t act like you are trying, and then poison me as a result.

Because, that is what it feels like.

AS OF NOTE: I AM NOT, WHATSOEVER, IN ANY MANNER ... ACCUSING ANYONE AT MCDONALD'S OF POISONING ME. I AM ONLY SAYING THAT IS WHAT IT "FEELS" LIKE. 

FLICKS!!

I was born in 1976, so I have a pretty good memory from say … 1980 to today. Some parts are good, some bad … and some? It’s questionable.

Anyway…

One thing I remembered, loved, and could hardly find after 1985 was a particular candy my mom and I shared.

It all began in 1980 when moved to California from Texas. I fell in love with a “treat”. This was very special as we didn’t really have candy at home. We were living with my grandma, so the treat was something “secretive” as she didn’t quite approve. Still, my mother was my mother … and she did want she wanted. As of note, I don’t think I turned out too bad.

After moving to Nevada in 1985, I no longer found this “treat”. We’d look at gas/convenience stores, grocery stores, and pharmacies. It seemed they were nowhere to be found. I thought it was exclusive to California, so on trips down there … I’d look.

NOTHING.

As the years went on, I’d sometimes think about them. I’d often ask my mom if she remembered them and what they were; she did. We’d talk about them and reminisce. It brought back a lot of good memories.

Here was my recollection of the treat:

“Ghirardelli, colored foil wrapped, tube-like, chocolate drops”

I was right. They were.

Old Ghirardelli "Flicks" wrapper picture I found on the "Candy Wrapper Museum" website

I didn’t get a computer and internet access until 2003, and I couldn’t think of what they were to see if they were around. I have found that nothing is truly gone as long as there is the internet.

Last year … I finally found a lead! I used a search engine to look up the key words: “Ghirardelli, colored foil wrapped, tube-like, chocolate drops”. Instantly found quite a few websites dedicated to the old candy.

I learned they were called “Flicks”, and I learned the fun, not-so-fun, sad, and perhaps happy history of them …

“The History of Flicks® Candy

“Flicks Candy” is a chocolate-flavored treat that has been around for over 100 years. It was originally developed by the Ghirardelli family in the late 1890’s, but wasn’t called “Flicks” until 1904. It was produced in San Francisco, California and then later in San Leandro, California up until 1989. By that time, the machinery that produced Flicks had been continually operating for nearly 100 years, it had been damaged in its move to San Leandro, and replacement parts were no longer available, as the equipment’s manufacturer had been out of business since World War II. For these reasons, production of Flicks ceased in 1989.

In 1963, William Tjerrild, son of Danish and Swiss immigrants, went to work for Nestlé’s Chocolate as a mechanical engineer and learned the art of manufacturing confections and chocolate. After Nestlé’s, William worked for various confectioners until developing his own manufacturing company that specialized in fabricating chocolate and nut processing machinery.

In 1988, William’s son, James Tjerrild came to work at the family business. Growing up in California, James loved eating Flicks at the theater, and sorely missed the product after production ceased in 1989. So, in 2004 the Tjerrild family acquired the Flicks® trademark and recipe, and produced its first cases of Flicks Candy.

In 2005, the Tjerrilds acquired the original decommissioned production equipment that had produced Flicks for nearly 100 years. The machinery was originally built in Racine, Wisconsin in the late 1890s or early 1900s. The equipment was painstakingly dismantled, relocated, and reconstructed in Fresno County (California) by the Tjerrild family’s machinery company.

Now Flicks®, Flicks Cacao®, and Non-Pareils are made on the same historical machinery, in Fresno, California.” (http://www.flickscandy.com/history.html)

Imagine … having the potential to find something from your childhood!! Would they taste the same? Would it bring back the same feelings?

So, I did some more digging on their website …

“The Original! Just like when you were a kid!

Four different colored tubes of Flicks Candy but all are filled with the same great flavor of Flicks Candy.

If you had Flicks® as a kid, this is probably what you remember! And whether your favorite color was red, yellow, green, or blue, there always seemed to be a tube at the movies just for you.

All four tube colors have the same sweet, smooth chocolaty flavor candy inside, and still are made with the same recipe (since 1904).” (http://www.flickscandy.com/flicksoriginals.html)

Yay! Now … where to find them.

I scoured the internet to soon learn the only way I could get them was through shops on Amazon or little “hole-in-the-wall” places.

Ordering candy, particularly chocolate, in the summer was a daunting task. They’d likely melt after I spend a bundle on shipping, and even when I cooled them … they’d be distorted. Also … there were some customer complaints about the chocolate being “stale” and “yucky”.

That was definitely out of the question. And, if I was spending $16-$20 for a case of 12 … I wanted my money’s worth. So … I gave up the notion of trying to get them.

About a month ago, I was at a CVS … and I found them!!

The Flicks I purchased at CVS

Unwrapping the Flicks ... same foil wrap, same cardboard tube, and same "drop" candies ...

Closer view of the "foil" wrap ...  near-identical phrasing on the wrapper

Yes, they were the FLICKS I was reading about online. So, I had to buy eight (8) tubes … two (2) of each: gold, red, green, and blue. My mother was surprised to see them, and we talked about the talks we used to have about them. And, that talk also brought back a lot of memories.

And … we remembered sitting in her car eating them all those years ago in California.

Are they the same? Honestly … I can’t remember. My mom, like me, is just glad to have them back.

The packaging is almost identical, so there’s that in their favor. There seem to be more “wafers” in the package, and the chocolate? It’s not too bad honestly. Just finding them was a real treat. Not too many places carry them, and not all of the CVS stores have them. I’m glad there is one though.

As far as the price … they’re no longer 10¢ (like they were in the 1970’s_ … now, they’re about $0.99 or $1.00. Forty (40) years later and under/about a buck? I’m not going to complain.

Am I glad to have them back? Absolutely!! Do we still eat them in the car? Not yet … at least not during the summer.

I posted a picture/link about them, and a friend was inquiring as she’d never seen them, heard about them, or had them. I doubt many have, they were (according to some) primarily in California.

If I didn’t have my trip in June … and it wasn’t getting hot … I’d say a road trip was in order just to see if they’re available in California. Not to mention it’d be nice to go back to where we were living and eat them there. It might sound silly to some, but there are times we need to stop and appreciate where we came from so we know where we’re going.

Mmm……

I wonder how December is looking for a road trip ...

FYI: Tjerrild is pronounced “Chair-Old”. They kept the similar phrasing on the packaging as well.

References:

Flicks Candy - History. (n.d.). Flicks Candy - History. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.flickscandy.com/history.html

Flicks Candy - Original Milk Chocolate. (n.d.). Flicks Candy - Original Milk Chocolate. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.flickscandy.com/flicksoriginals.html

The Candy Wrapper Museum. (n.d.). The Candy Wrapper Museum. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.candywrappermuseum.com/flicks.html