There is a billboard out on Main Street which declares, courtesy of the McDonalds corporation, that “Chocolate drizzle is a right, not a topping.”
The picture is of some frothy coffee drink thing, and I admit, it looks nice. I’m sure that frothy coffee thing drinkers will love it and will find that chocolate drizzle to enhance their coffee thing drinking experience.
But it’s a right? A right? You mean like my right to a fair trial? My right to vote? My right to post a blog entry saying that these people have gone beyond whacked in the attempt to tell American drivers that we require the best of everything?
And when I go into the Angelborough McDonalds and they have run out of chocolate drizzle, is that a human rights violation? Can I report them to Amnesty International and have teams of concerned college students circulate petitions demanding that I be made whole again?
When my children are with me in the store, and I deny them a drink with chocolate drizzle in favor of milk, orange juice or bottled water, will the other concerned customers call Child Protective Services to report my neglectful or abusive parenting?
If the gal behind the counter refuses to put chocolate drizzle on my Quarter Pounder With Cheese (remember, it’s a right, not a topping, so I am hereby entitled to chocolate drizzle on everything I order, including a dot of chocolate on each of my supersized french fries) is she guilty of war crimes?
Here in the States we have entitlement issues. I get that. I’m sympathetic. And advertising exists only to create needs we didn’t have already. But Jefferson if he lived today would not be revising the Declaration to include chocolate drizzle as an inalienable right, and maybe, just maybe, it would help us to understand that some of the joys in life are optional incidentals.
The best of everything at all times would be lovely, but since we live in reality, would it be okay if we all got over ourselves now?
excellent post – you have a way with words and I certainly agree that nice as chocolate drizzle is, it’s hardly a right
The sad thing? I don’t think I like chocolate drizzle. I don’t like chocolate in coffee. I know that makes me weird, but it’s just not my cup of…my cup of coffee. 🙂
Amen to that! Loved this post!!!
Thanks!
Its frightening the strength of the media – it declares what we should eat, what to wear, how to act, ect. And if we dont we’re a “bad” person. Its horrible. On one level we all know it’s b.s., yet it’s so strong that it makes us doubt our opinions of ourselves, that we (or is it just me?) go and do what they say anyway “just in case.”
These corporations wouldn’t pay millions of dollars to advertise if it didn’t show results. They’re not just putting up signs to beautify our highways as an act of artistic altruism.
This is my favorite quote from “The Running Man” from Damon Killian(Richard Dawson):
“This is television, that’s all it is. It has nothing to do with people, it’s to do with ratings! For fifty years, we’ve told them what to eat, what to drink, what to wear… Ben, don’t you understand? Americans love television. They wean their kids on it. Listen. They love game shows, they love wrestling, they love sports and violence. So what do we do? We give ’em *what they want*! We’re number one, Ben, that’s all that counts, believe me. I’ve been in the business for thirty years.
People are too darn entitled. Too many people think that things that are their rights aren’t.
Beautifully stated.
Right on. Even my children could tell you that chocolate drizzle is a privilege, not a right. 🙂
That would make a better billboard, actually. Wouldn’t people rather feel “privileged” to drink their frothy coffee-thingie, rather than only getting their due?
Amen! Too many people confuse rights (small r) with Rights. Small “r’ rights are really privileges, such as driving a car. Those are earned and can be taken away. True Rights are not earned and can only be taken away under extreme circumstances: Voting and owing weapons.
Personally, I don’t consider chocolate drizzle to be either. 😉
Ok, I initially read that as “chocolate in my coffee is a right, not a dropping.”
Ew.
And, chocolate in my coffee is a sin!
That would be eew. 🙂 I’m not so much a chocolate fan to begin with, but I want my coffee to be coffee.
The entitlement thing going on in our country is out of control. I see it constantly, and it drives me crazy. What happened to humility?