Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
Fingergate's Inevitable End
Cops declare the whole thing a hoax, arrest Anna Ayala, woman who claimed to have found a finger in a bowl of chili at a San Jose Wendy's. Bay Area Wendy's restaurants claim $2.5 million in lost business. Ayala charged with attempted grand larceny. Headline writers compete for puns on "finger." DVD sales of The Hitcher, promising but ultimately disappointing 1986 Rutger Hauer/C. Thomas Howell joint that contains a finger-in-fast-food plot twist, remain flat. I still wonder what the big bulbous thing to the left of the fingertip is in all the pictures they show. Hoax or no hoax, I wouldn't be caught dead in either Wendy's or San Jose, let alone a San Jose Wendy's, but I hope the authorities can finally return the finger to its rightful owner.
The Lonewacko Blog|4.23.05 @ 2:07PM|#
The finger was reportedly not cooked. I don't think any criminal could be stupid enough to not think about that. I smell frame-up.
|4.23.05 @ 2:20PM|#
Ummm, you don't think criminals can be stupid? There are a
nearly infinite number of examples.
Truly Ms. Alaya didn't think it through. If she'd used a cockroach
or a mouse, she'd have gotten away with it: untraceable, not
uncommon, and being uncooked wouldn't have been a red flag. But a
human finger? She should have realized that that would set off a
thorough investigation.
|4.23.05 @ 2:24PM|#
So it is more probable to you that Wendys put an uncooked finger in their food and lost 2.5 Million in business in an attempt to frame Mrs Ayala, than the idea that Mrs Ayala might be just a little stupid?
|4.23.05 @ 2:46PM|#
I once worked at Wendy's, and I don't know if they still do
this, but...
...it used to be that the chili was made from old burgers that
dried out on the grill and didn't sell. We'd collect all the burger
in these big bags and stick it in the freezer. Then, when the time
was right...
...The finger might have been an improvement.
Rather than larceny, doesn't fraud seem like the appropriate
charge? ...and speaking of appropriate, I don't think Tim deserves
a Bronx cheer for puttin' down San Jose or Wendy's. I wouldn't eat
in a Wendy's again either--at least I wouldn't admit it in polite
company--and I've heard enough about San Jose that I don't think
I'll ever want to go there.
...Still, I found The Hitcher thoroughly satisfying--I
guess there's no accounting for taste.
|4.23.05 @ 3:30PM|#
The scene of The Hitcher that sticks in my mind was Jennifer
Jason Leigh lashed between those two trucks. I suppose you could
say it works on a certain prurient pornoviolent level...
Aw, screw it: sometimes its *fun* seeing a chick tied up...
|4.23.05 @ 3:31PM|#
How believable was her claim in the first place? I don't know where Wendy's makes its chili, but how would a human finger get in a batch? One would have to believe that a worker lost a finger that could not be found and no one thought to look in the chili. On the basis of simply avoiding bad PR, you would think they'd go through the chili just in case the finger was in there. Or you would have to believe the worker lost a finger, did not tell anyone about it (even to seek 1st aid), and no one else noticed. This always sounded like an urban legend from the start.
|4.23.05 @ 3:37PM|#
Guess you could say they put the finger on her! Hahahahah! Get it? Finger? Hahah, finger, you see, they put the "fin-ger" on her! Heh...heh...hello? Is this thing on?
Tommy|4.23.05 @ 3:59PM|#
I don't blame anyone for not wanting to come to San Jose. I've
lived here all my life and it seems the most exciting thing to do
here is go to Wendy's.
Today's front page of the San Jose Mercury News: FINGERED!
over a full page photo of that woman.
|4.23.05 @ 4:13PM|#
My favorite scene from The Hitcher was when Rutger Hauer walks into the diner and puts pennies on the hero's eyes.
|4.23.05 @ 4:42PM|#
Do you know the way to San Jose? I've been away so long, I may go wrong and lose my way.
Neb Okla|4.23.05 @ 5:41PM|#
You guys must be pretty wealthy to be able to afford to never
eat at Wendy's. To me, spending $1.89 a day on a Jr. Cheeseburger
Deluxe and a Side Salad is a pretty good deal in terms of college
student nutrition.
Nothing cheaper comes close to the quality. Mc Donalds has a DOUBLE
cheeseburger for a dollar and a salad with nicer *looking* lettuce,
but the one I had most recently was not very crunchy. More of a
"spring greens" salad.
|4.23.05 @ 5:42PM|#
Has anybody checked to see if Ms. Alaya has access to a funeral home? Its would seem like the best snag a human finger and get away with it.
|4.23.05 @ 6:31PM|#
Finger in the chili? Small potatoes when you're talking about
Wendy's health hazards.
I heard they use dihydrogen monoxide to dilute the syrup in their
sodas. No thanks, I'll just have a cup of water!
|4.23.05 @ 6:37PM|#
My brother worked on a burn unit for 8 years. He was also known to have fun with the various digits that he found laying around the place (until he got into a bit of trouble for it, but that is another story). Come to think of it, if he had tried it, it at least would have been cooked.
|4.23.05 @ 6:43PM|#
The finger was reportedly not cooked.
Not surprising, half the time they don't cook the chicken fingers
either. >:-
|4.23.05 @ 7:37PM|#
Rather than larceny, doesn't fraud seem like the appropriate
charge?
If she was suing Wendy's for damages, on the basis of a claim she
knew to be false, that's extortion. Not sure about grand larceny
though...
|4.23.05 @ 8:45PM|#
Tim Cavanaugh, you give "ruthless" a bad name.
Whatchoo mean you wouldn't be caught dead in either Wendy's or San
Jose?
As it happens, the Little Woman and I had lunch at Wendy's this
very day, and she had chili. We discussed, ahead of time, that
she'd order, "Chili, but hold the finger," but we decided they'd be
unlikely to get it.
We had a very delightful dining experience. We both had Frosty's.
Is there anything better on this planet?
Then, the exit of Wendy's is the entrance to WalMart.
Life is so good!
|4.23.05 @ 9:17PM|#
"...it used to be that the chili was made from old burgers that
dried out on the grill and didn't sell. We'd collect all the burger
in these big bags and stick it in the freezer. Then, when the time
was right..."
Is there a problem here?
Anyone ever enjoyed horehound candy?
(I bought a bag today on special for 88 cents at WalMart.)
I was a candy cooker of hard candy for a couple of summers. We did
a thorough clean-up at the end of the week, therefore we made white
candies on Monday, and the colors got darker as the week
progressed.
Come Friday morn, I poked into the broom closet for the lonely bale
of horehound--the herb. I grabbed a handful, threw it into the
giant copper kettle with a little water to make the "tea." That
made, I added the usual ingredients of sugar and corn syrup, except
I cut back on them as much as possible--my foreman advised me
here--to allow maximum "recyled" liquid into the mix.
The recyled liquid was from screwed-up batches and sweepings from
clean-ups Monday thru Thursday.
Hey! The liquid was brought to a high temperature and filtered
endlessly. ( It did, however, remain dark.)
I still enjoy horehound candy, as should Tim Cavanaugh.
|4.23.05 @ 11:01PM|#
All fingers point directly to Ayala as the
culprit.
I am ashamed to admit that I actually did a spit-take on
that.
I'm surprised I haven't heard about this story yet over at the
weight loss/eating disorder communities I frequent on Livejournal.
The "rooster head in the Chicken McNuggets" appears monthly, as
does girl whose biology teacher swears he took a tour of the
McDonalds meat plant and was shown that their burgers are made out
of worms (belief in her story runs about 75%.)
|4.23.05 @ 11:04PM|#
As fast food goes, Wendy's isn't so bad. Maybe it's just that I
worked there, so I can't stand the place. I met a guy who worked in
an ice cream shop, and he said he couldn't stand the thought of ice
cream anymore--hadn't eaten any for years.
...I don't know if they have Fatburger where you live, but that
place rocks! You could do a lot worse than El Pollo Loco too, but
doubt those have made it east across the Mississippi.
I suppose the Frosty at Wendy's is probably as good as ever. ...But
I'm standin' behind the Rutger Hauer comment--it's a good
flick!
|4.24.05 @ 12:26AM|#
The Hitcher
Just saw it a month or so ago, for the first time. Awful movie,
just annoying as hell, ridiculous, almost as annoying as that old
radio screamer with Agnes Morehead, Sorry, Wrong Number.
At least that was only about 20 minutes long, The Hitcher
seemed like it just sucked hours and hours of my life away.
Neb Okla|4.24.05 @ 12:34AM|#
Ken, I know what you mean. When working at the MidOhio Food Bank
as a volunteer one evening, I was given the task of hunting down
the toy surprise in boxes of Cheerios. After digging through a
couple of pallets of Cheerios and repackaging them I didn't eat
them for years. The dust got all up in my nose and sinuses or
something.
It was cool to see a forklift pallet half-filled with rubber bouncy
balls. I begged the forklift driver to "accidentally dump it" but
no such luck...
|4.24.05 @ 2:35AM|#
Ahhh, luxury.... you guys haven't lived till you've hosed a port-a-john clean (ps--- the vietnamese STILL don't know what the hole in the shitter is for); or picked up a roiling bin of maggots on a Sunday morning trash collection detail.
|4.24.05 @ 6:25AM|#
Neb Okla: Why did you have to do that? Does the food bank have something against cheap Incredibles related merchandise?
|4.24.05 @ 12:03PM|#
Sung to the tune of "If I had a Hammer"...
If I had a finger
I'd put it in the chili
Down at the Wendy's
All over this land
I'd settle out of court
Make a lot of money
And I woundn't go sharin' with my brothers or my sisters
All over this land
|4.24.05 @ 1:31PM|#
Cool, I see we have a bunch of Hitcher fans here - I always
liked that one. Can't believe they're remaking it, though. Of all
the damn things in the world to remake...
Oh yeah, Wendy's. I felt like it was pretty open-and-shut the
second it was revealed this woman has a long history of bringing
suits against big companies. Sure, it's possible that such a person
might legitimately find a finger in her chili. But Occam's Razor
says probably not.
|4.24.05 @ 1:35PM|#
I just found out: there was a "Hitcher II" released in 2003. With C. Thomas Howell. (Straight-to-video, natch.) Somehow I don't think I'm going to bother.
|4.24.05 @ 3:54PM|#
I have a hard time understanding The Hitcher as a
remake too. I don't like any remake unless it improves on the
original. What are they gonna do, answer the unanswered questions?
Answer questions sooner?
Why is this maniac doin' this? Is the maniac just a figment of the
kid's imagination? Answer those questions too forcefully or too
soon and you'll ruin it. Ruined popcorn movie? ...Yuck!
...and part of the fun of the original is that it's like a big
dated reference. It seems pretty obvious that they derived the plot
from the classic Doors song. ...if I was going to pitch the movie
using the classic format, it's Blue Velvet meets Route 66.
...But if you want clean plot lines and a well rounded plot, you
have to connect the dots yourself. ...if that's what you want to
do; either way, pass the popcorn.
|4.24.05 @ 4:25PM|#
Let's face it though, what percentage of major films this year will be original works, that is, not sequels or remakes or book adaptations? I'm sure it's not more than 50%...
|4.24.05 @ 5:33PM|#
...Adaptations to a new medium I can handle. Has anyone else
seen Sin City?
There's a suggestion that two of the central characters may be the
same character. The three central characters seem to all be in the
same situations; in fact, they use some of the same dialogue: "Come
on old Man. Show 'em you're still worth somethin'." --or something
like that.
They use the same dialogue in differenct plots over and over again.
In fact, if it wasn't for a scene that showed two of the central
characters in the same place at the same time, you might think that
the three of them were the same character at different points in
time.
...So the three plots are all alike, but one rings kinda from a
first person perspective, one from second and the other from
third--or maybe first person plural. Is any of this really
all that interesting?
...Probably not--but pass the popcorn!
The Wine Commonsewer|4.24.05 @ 9:36PM|#
Dionne Warwick knows the way to San Jose. That has to tell something about the place.
|4.25.05 @ 4:45AM|#
That San Jose song only made sense pre- and post- dotcom boom. During the boom it didn't make any sense at all.
|4.25.05 @ 8:42AM|#
Ken S:
You bring up some really good questions in regards to re-makes. I
think studio executives love them because most of the shit is
already in the can.. script, pre-publicity, brand familiarity,
etc.. all one needs to do to be "successful" is to update the
special effects.
On an artistic (story-telling) level, this is such horseshit. The
recent re-make of Amityville Horror is a prime example. The movie
actually starts out pretty well, but it totally loses it. Stories
scare people, not cheap "shock" edits. Why are these movie people
totally missing the point.. to tell a story? You can do that and
make money, too.
|4.25.05 @ 1:58PM|#
This thread began with commentary about the Wendy's
finger-in-the-chili hoax, but has now degenerated into a discussion
of horror movies.
The connection?
Digital effects, obviously.
Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.
|4.25.05 @ 3:44PM|#
as does girl whose biology teacher swears he took a tour of
the McDonalds meat plant and was shown that their burgers are made
out of worms (belief in her story runs about 75%.)
That's not true. My friend is a McDonald's franchisee and he tells
me that worm meat is more expensive than beef. Until the price of
worms goes below beef he won't consider it as a supplement. Same
goes for kangaroo meat.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245