The other day a friend and I were walking along Sukhumvit Skywalk when we caught a cloud of Burger Smell wafting out of McDonald's.
I yelled "More Burger Smell, Please!" as my body gesticulated up and down with a slam-bang pumping motion, as if I was pumping a gigantic bicycle tire.
"Huh?" said my friend.
"Don't you know? At every McDondald's there's an undocumented worker -- here, probably some Burmese refugee fleeing civil war in his homeland -- whose only job it is to operate the Burger Smell Machine all day, to manually pump Burger Smell into the street."
"Really?" asked my friend
"Jing-jing!" I continued. "Of course, it's not real Burger Smell, just some chemical that McDonald's scientists developed--it smells a lot like burgers and triggers endorphins in your brain that make you crave a cheeseburger. So, if the Manager feels that customer numbers are low, she yells at the guy who pumps the Burger Smell Machine: More Burger Smell, Please!'"
"It's probably true!" chuckled my friend. "When I smelled that, I wanted to turn around and go to McDonald's."
I used to think that this story was just vegetarian folklore, since I first heard it from my friend Shannon, a vegetarian. But today Poo told me to go get McDonald's as a treat for the boys, who are confined to the condo because of swine flu. When I got on the return bus, I was carrying a bag full of burgers.
Soon I was embarrassed. The smell from the burger bag began to fill up the bus. Then, I noticed everybody on the bus was staring at me -- no, not at me -- at the burger bag.
Everybody on the bus was craving a cheeseburger!
I yelled "More Burger Smell, Please!" as my body gesticulated up and down with a slam-bang pumping motion, as if I was pumping a gigantic bicycle tire.
"Huh?" said my friend.
"Don't you know? At every McDondald's there's an undocumented worker -- here, probably some Burmese refugee fleeing civil war in his homeland -- whose only job it is to operate the Burger Smell Machine all day, to manually pump Burger Smell into the street."
"Really?" asked my friend
"Jing-jing!" I continued. "Of course, it's not real Burger Smell, just some chemical that McDonald's scientists developed--it smells a lot like burgers and triggers endorphins in your brain that make you crave a cheeseburger. So, if the Manager feels that customer numbers are low, she yells at the guy who pumps the Burger Smell Machine: More Burger Smell, Please!'"
"It's probably true!" chuckled my friend. "When I smelled that, I wanted to turn around and go to McDonald's."
I used to think that this story was just vegetarian folklore, since I first heard it from my friend Shannon, a vegetarian. But today Poo told me to go get McDonald's as a treat for the boys, who are confined to the condo because of swine flu. When I got on the return bus, I was carrying a bag full of burgers.
Soon I was embarrassed. The smell from the burger bag began to fill up the bus. Then, I noticed everybody on the bus was staring at me -- no, not at me -- at the burger bag.
Everybody on the bus was craving a cheeseburger!
2 comments:
seriously? i've never heard of that before. i guess because in my country, burgers are a normal part of daily diet. no need to pump buger smell across the street (or malls for that matter.) i, however, just get a burger once in a month... or maybe twice.
No Deen,
It's not serious . . . I don't think so.
I, too, eat a burger once or twice per month.
Or, maybe three times???
Thanks for all your comments.
They are always interesting.
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