Mayor McCoy and The Little People (McDonaldsGate)

When you speak from an extreme moral height, it must sometimes be very difficult to see yourself in others. When you have attained some level of success it’s probably easy to let yourself believe that you are perfect and that you are surrounded by idiots. Especially when you are a mayor of a city that’s “even bigger than Wasilla”.

A case in pont is our illustrious Mayor McCheese. I was lucky enough today to stumble onto his blog (thank you Tippi! EDIT: Note Tippi is from out of town, Arizona to be precise so what kind of impression are we giving?). It’s not anywhere I would have looked. It’s part of a new commercial venture that the mayor is engaged in. An internet service that provides cities with instant online communities, not a bad idea on the face of it but more on that later.

http://www.oneonlinecommunity.com/cgi-bin/index.php is about as close as I can get to the actual blog..Or download a pdf of it here (what kind of blog doesn’t let you link to it ffs!) you can track it down when you get there so I present for your edification and for satirical purposes ( protected by the first ammendment, Scotty. Look it up), some snippets.

“I’m not one to poo-poo on local businesses.  We need more business, more industry, more good jobs, and more economic growth.  But, an incompetent business reflects negatively on our community and our people.  This worries me greatly, because if my personal experience with our local McDonald’s is how others are introduced to Pontiac — we are in big trouble!”

I for one am REALLY gald that the mayor doesn’t poo-poo ON local businesses. Quite apart from the unsanitary nature of this, it’s really going to add to the burden of already overworked local small businesspersons to have to clean Mayor feces off their premises..You might wonder also about pot/kettle/black scenarios re incompetence but that’s just my opinion (OH that was cold).Note: what he meant to say was “Pooh Pooh” the definition of which can be found here

“Let me be the first to say that I love McDonald’s. I’ve spent a lot of money there.”

Just what the depth of the Mayor’s love is and how MUCH money he must have spent there even in just the last 24 hours will become clear…

“This isn’t a bash on McDonald’s or the fast-food industry.  It’s a criticism on the staff and people who work at our local McDonald’s.”

Yes because it’s so much easier to criticize the employees in a blog post than actually doing something about the perceived problem by talking to the owner or the manager of the business and hey, it wouldn’t be near as much fun or make you feel half as superior as doing it this way does.

“When we heard McRib was back (for a limited time, of course), we started eating McDonald’s for lunch and dinner for almost an entire week! “

Have you ever watched “Supersize Me”? Apparently the Mayor has not. Anyhoo..It turns out that McDonalds had neglected to slather the sandwich in it’s customary barbecue sauce on one of the Mayors (potential) 14 trips. As if this were not a disaster in it’s self….

“In order to make sure I didn’t get singled out (which happens when you are a political figure), I asked my employee who just returned with his McRib to check his sandwich.  Same thing!  He had no BBQ sauce! “

Dun dun duuuuuuuuuun!!! See? you didn’t think  it could get any worse did you? You were wrong! Two things strike me. FIrstly hizzoner seems to be suggesting that a lot of people don’t like him because he’s a “political figure”..Hahahahaha..sorry. Secondly that obviously this was done in error by a new hire who hadn’t been fully trained. Not a big deal, mistakes happen, people are just people. Most normal people would just say “oh well” and GET OVER IT! Not Scott though…

“I called McDonald’s and complained.  I received an apology by the manager and was told to come in and give the manager’s name for a replacement.  But that’s little compensation for driving all the way across town again.  And, if this happened to me and some else, then it happened to the other people who ordered McRib’s and didn’t realize they got ripped-off until they opened it — several miles down the Interstate.  And, they now have a first impression of Pontiac.”

No. This was a simple mistake and while he may feel it’s little compensation, what compensation did he expect? As for it reflecting badly on the city, that’s abject bull. Remember that McDonalds is a nationally franchised company. Mistakes happen all the time, they just do. Regardless of what the business is or sells, all businesses make mistakes. Reasonable people realize this and get on with their lives. They do not think “Oh that Pontiac Illinois! I got a McRib there with no sauce. DAMN THEM!! I’ll NEVER go back there!!”. Scott of course is not renowned for his powers of reason…

“Probably one of my most shocking experiences with our local McDonald’s was about six weeks ago when I ordered a value meal.”

“Shocking”…You know this is going to be good!

“The outside sign had a price listed, but when I got the pay window I calculated in my head that the price was wrong.  I asked for a receipt (which you seem to have to ask for anymore), and I discovered they charged me ten cents more than the price listed.  It’s only .10 cents, but it’s still wrong.  When gas prices rise by .10 cents, everybody goes nuts.  So, I told the young worker that there is a mistake.  She directed me to the next window.  We’ll, that person didn’t know what to do either.  So, I asked to see a manager.”

Firstly he means 10 cents not .10cents which would in fact be one tenth of a penny which I doubt even he would argue over but one never knows. He then proceeds to outline his conversation with the manager and how he gave him a lecture on the nature of sales tax. A conversation that doesn’t in my humble opinion ring entirely true.

“A minute later he comes out to the car.  I could tell he had change in his hands.  He asked me how much they owed me for the difference.  I can’t believe he actually asked the customer how much money McDonald’s owed me!  I looked at my receipt and told him that the difference from the board and the receipt was ten cents, and the difference in the sales tax was a penny with the adjustment.  The kid looked at me like I just spoke German, this “manager” informs me that the sales tax didn’t change.  HUH?  I asked what do you mean by that?  He said that McDonald’s changed some of their prices which is probably why the price of the value meal was wrong, but that McDonald’s didn’t change the tax.

I started to laugh.  I looked at him and asked “you realize that McDonald’s doesn’t set the tax rate, right?”  He fumbled a bit and said he didn’t really know.  I then asked “and, you do realize that sales tax is based on the amount of purchases you make, right?”  With a surprised look he answered, “it is?  I didn’t know that.”  I then told him tax is based on the sub-total of the sale, so if the subtotal of my order changed, then tax adjusts too.  It was clear this “manager” was totally lost.  I asked is age.  He said he was twenty.  A twenty year old doesn’t know what sales tax is?

This lack of basic knowledge and training is totally unbelievable to me. “

Thing is, the manager was right and here (thanks to my friend Zack) is why:Original price of sandwich = $3.00. Tax on said sandwich at 6.25 percent = 18.75 cents.This will be rounded to 19 cents. Price plus 10 cents = $3.10. Tax on this amount at 6.25 percent = 19.38 cents which is rounded to…19cents. Perhaps he really just wanted the .38 cents (yes really point three eight this time)….Hmm he really WOULD argue over a few tenths then. I WAS WRONG! He finishes in grand style:

“How can you manage something when you haven’t a clue on how things work?  I can understand not knowing how to fix the freezer compressor, but to not understand how basic sales tax is calculated, or to know that tax is not just a fixed number that McDonald’s sets — is unacceptable and stupid”

Yes it’s always best to toss in a few personal insults. It adds gravitas to your point I think…NOT! This speaks volumes about the kind of man we have as Mayor. He’d rather insult someone who most likely is making minimum wage than talk to the business and help get the problem fixed. Somehow in his mind, this makes him appear the better man. but I believe it diminishes him and the city by aptly demonstrating his true nature.

You might want to check out the rest of the blog which further slams McDonalds and it’s employees and interestingly includes anecdotal evidence to suggest that a Big Value Breakfast can be used to cure a migraine (who knew??). He concludes that he’s “done” with them and calls them “horrible” While I cannot speak to the quality of their food as I am a vegetarian (well mostly),I don’t believe that the Mayor ought to be calling any business in Pontiac horrible. This more than simple human error is the kind of thing that WILL give pontiac a bad name with actual and potential visitors and WILL hurt the town’s image overall.