For Want of a Sausage McMuffin, Solidarity Was Lost

Kerry Howley | December 15, 2005

AP reports from the front lines of the WTO protests in Hong Kong:

McDonald's, the very symbol of globalization, is used to having its windows broken during violent protests at WTO summits, but not in Hong Kong where one group met for breakfast Thursday.

Eight demonstrators ignored the anti-globalization message of their "Junk WTO" baseball caps and feasted on Sausage McMuffins as they planned how to get across their anti-capitalist message.

One protester attending the Hong Kong talks and on whom the irony might be lost was French militant farmer Jose Bove, who spent three months in jail after he helped demolish a partly built McDonald's outlet in southern France in 1999.

Comments

|12.15.05 @ 1:07PM|#

The regular Egg McMuffin (with Canadian bacon) is better. But a Sausage and Egg Biscuit (plus they'll add cheese if you ask) is best of all, albeit a bit dry.

|12.15.05 @ 1:10PM|#

You know, a story like this is almost enough to make you think that people who have a problem with the WTO don't all think and act exactly alike.

And what fun is that?

|12.15.05 @ 1:13PM|#

There's no denying that choosing Hong Kong as a venue for a WTO summit was a stroke of genius. A place that's geographically remote, unabashedly pro-capitalist, and in possession of a long tradition of valuing political pragmatism over populist hysteria. My guess is that the protestors felt so out of place engaging in their usual antics that they saw no point in keeping up all of their shallow posturing.

|12.15.05 @ 1:16PM|#

Wasn't the assumption of the pro-WTO crowd, in general, that capital would flow toward the developing countries, instead of what actually has happened, a record current account deficit in the US?

|12.15.05 @ 1:19PM|#

You know, a story like this is almost enough to make you think that people who have a problem with the WTO don't all think and act exactly alike.

Aw, joe, you're making us re-examine our assumptions. That hurts my brain.

Anyway, if the protestors put on too many pounds they may find that smashing windows is just too much exertion. Hey, we can hope...

|12.15.05 @ 1:27PM|#

theCoach,

Which crowd? Some American and European labor groups were concerned that capital for business investement would migrate toward the developing world, and take their jobs with it. Some activists from the developing world were concerned about Western captial would flow into their countries and prop up oppressive elites. Other were concerned that it would flow into their countries and disrupt their established systems of trade.

And, of course, others thought that it would result in capital flowing one way, from poor countries to rich ones.

|12.15.05 @ 1:35PM|#

Aw, joe, you're making us re-examine our assumptions. That hurts my brain.

So, what assumptions did you re-examine, Thoreau? ;)

|12.15.05 @ 1:38PM|#

I assumed that anti-WTO protestors would be courteous enough to not wear hats indoors.

I was wrong.

:)

(Mostly I'm just having some fun here.)

|12.15.05 @ 1:46PM|#

On the Iraqi election, 'This is stability, at last' via the BBC. I guess they're part of the Right Wing Media™, now.

More seriously, one can hope this is a sign of real improvement.

|12.15.05 @ 1:49PM|#

I assumed that anti-WTO protestors would be courteous enough to not wear hats indoors.

Does anyone know how hat etiquette works in Hong Kong? :)

(Mostly I'm just having some fun here.)

Likewise.

|12.15.05 @ 1:50PM|#

Let's hope, Eric. Maybe this one really will the light at the end of the tunnel, for real this time. Let's hope the corner really has been turned this time. Tis the season for wishing for Peace on Earth.

And no, since the BBC also releases stories about setbacks and problems in Iraq, they will never count as the Right Wing Media.

|12.15.05 @ 1:51PM|#

Wasn't the assumption of the pro-WTO crowd, in general, that capital would flow toward the developing countries, instead of what actually has happened, a record current account deficit in the US?

The typical assumption would be that capital should flow towards the high real return. A very reasonable guess would be that the investment opportunities in the developing world would present the highest available real returns.

Unfortunately, in many cases, specific country concerns have convinced many investors to stay out. These concerns usually fall under the categories of inflationary risk (in many places in the world double digit inflation is not uncommon), and sovereign risk, what happens if some entity, the government, thugs, crimminals, steal my property. Can I get it back, not at all clear in many countries?

In markets where at least a few of these concerns have been ameliorated (China, India), one does see significant inflows of capital.

Unfortunately many parts of the world that could use development, Africa, the poorer nations of Asia, have been unable to attract these much needed capital inflows.

So in short, it is a very reasonable thing to assume, but it simply hasn't occured yet.

|12.15.05 @ 1:52PM|#

Does anyone know how hat etiquette works in Hong Kong? :)

And does that hat ettiquette cover this lovely tin foil sombrero that I purchased?

Warren|12.15.05 @ 1:57PM|#

Does anyone know how hat etiquette works in Hong Kong? :)

I understand that it not as fashionable to place one's ass on one's head as it is here ;)

|12.15.05 @ 1:58PM|#

And does that hat ettiquette cover this lovely tin foil sombrero that I purchased?

I used to talk to a guy who raved about the tailors of Hong Kong. So reading that, I imagine a guy in a styling bespoke suit with a gleaming foil sombrero...

|12.15.05 @ 2:01PM|#

[quote]You know, a story like this is almost enough to make you think that people who have a problem with the WTO don't all think and act exactly alike.

And what fun is that?[/quote]

A few years ago I read an account written by a guy who worked at one of the Starbucks during the Seattle WTO meeting.

He said that the protestors and union guys never tipped.

|12.15.05 @ 2:01PM|#

Wow, I managed to read theCoach's comment completely backwards.

Sorry about that.

|12.15.05 @ 2:19PM|#

Using energy gained from gorging on sausage mcmuffins, the protestors use the master's tools to dismantle his house.

|12.15.05 @ 2:24PM|#

"militant farmer". Ooh, I like that. And just who is minding the farm while this anti-globilization militant farmer is out cruising the globe?

|12.15.05 @ 2:27PM|#

Wow, I managed to read theCoach's comment completely backwards.

Do you mean that you actually figured out what theCoach meant? If so, please explain to the class. It read like a contradiction to me.

|12.15.05 @ 2:38PM|#

I'm not denying this happened, but is just a wee bit of skepticism advisable here, when not a single alleged WTO protester was identified by name in the story? Wouldn't a story like this be exactly what the corporate bosses want to see on news wires?

|12.15.05 @ 2:40PM|#

This merely confirms my preconceptions about WTO protesters. If you're going to ruin a McMuffin by ordering it with sausage, why not go whole hog and get the biscuit? It may be crap compared to the real thing, but it's good crap.

Incidentally, I saw some total looniness in Seattle, so I think we non-fans have some reason to question the sanity of many WTO protesters. Now that I think about it, they probably didn't get Canadian bacon out of some anti-Canada animus. How can anyone hate Canada? Wackos.

Warren|12.15.05 @ 2:50PM|#

Do you mean that you actually figured out what theCoach meant? If so, please explain to the class. It read like a contradiction to me.

ditto

|12.15.05 @ 2:53PM|#

luisa,

You're totally right, and then some. It may be a bit short on facts, but the facts aren't really of value since this kind of story is complete fluff anyway. It's akin to the "libertarian calls fire department for help" story. That's why we're largely just having fun with it. Just sit back with some genetically modified popcorn and enjoy.

Rodney

|12.15.05 @ 3:33PM|#

Don't you get a free egg roll when you buy eight of the damned things over there?

In Germany we got a free beer if we ordered the value meal.

Eric in Hollywood

- because I have absolutely nothing better to do today.

Jeff P.|12.15.05 @ 3:34PM|#

As a Scotsman I find the line "There's a Little McDonalds in Everyone" to be offensive. The McDonalds are a shifty conteptable clan. If you must have a little Scotsman in you, fuck a MacLaren.

|12.15.05 @ 3:38PM|#

But if you feel the need for a large Scotsman in you, try a Connery.

Welcome. . .to the cock.

|12.15.05 @ 3:41PM|#

I recall starting a new job a couple blocks from the IMF back in 1999 during an "anti-globalization" protest. We were watching the news coverage and there was this twenty-something railing against MNCs while holding a Coke in her hand. Since I worked for an international trade consultancy, we all got a big kick out of it...

|12.15.05 @ 3:52PM|#

The McDonalds are a shifty conteptable clan.

I'll bury a dirk in yer cowardly back!

|12.15.05 @ 3:53PM|#

The regular Egg McMuffin (with Canadian bacon) is better.

I second that.

It's akin to the "libertarian calls fire department for help" story.

Rimfax,

I don't totally agree with your analogy. Whereas many libertarians would agree that a fire department (safety & protection) is a good use of public funds (albeit some would not), I think most or almost all anti-WTOs would protest McDonald's as a symbol of what they are against.

I do agree it's definately a fluff piece, though.

|12.15.05 @ 3:54PM|#

Pro Libertate,

It basically confirms what we all know about anti-WTO protestors - they're rather ignorant and haven't much of a clue for what they actually stand for.

|12.15.05 @ 3:56PM|#

The regular Egg McMuffin (with Canadian bacon) is better.

I second that.*

*Although any of these choices will sit in your stomach like a rock until your ass esplode later.

|12.15.05 @ 3:56PM|#

True. They should've ordered breakfast burritos.

|12.15.05 @ 3:58PM|#

Yes, the breakfast burritos are the only thing that I seem to find mildly digestable anymore...although it's been a while.

dhex|12.15.05 @ 4:00PM|#

the entire concept of a breakfast burrito makes me want to smash the state...with nutrition!

|12.15.05 @ 4:10PM|#

You folks are all throwbacks. The ultimate in breakfast technology is the McGriddles. I just don't get why they keep pushing the word McGriddles to describe a singule object. It has all the earmarks of a misread typo in a memo to me - "Bill Carson is demanding that each individual breakfast delivery device be labelled a 'McGriddles.' Are you going to go to bat against Carson? Myself will not."

|12.15.05 @ 4:20PM|#

I tried McDonalds for breakfast. Once.

As far as the anti-WTO crowd goes, I've never been able to make out a coherent program, apart from vague broadsides against American culture and a sort of smarmy paternalism toward the "little brown people."

McDonalds must really be something, what with how they make all those Frenchmen buy their products at gunpoint.

|12.15.05 @ 4:25PM|#

That's right, breakfast burritos with hot, decadent, imperialistic salsa! ¡Olé!

This reminds me of an old National Lampoon article on Che Guevara. Oddly enough, I just took a quick look to see if the article was on the web, and it turns out that I posted on the same thing a year ago. Figures.

I have an old National Lampoon book that pokes fun at Che in a parody entitled, "Che Guevara's Bolivian Diaries" (written by National Lampoon founder, Doug Kenney, I believe). I tried to find it on the web, but I guess the Internet doesn't have everything just yet. Anyway, it was pretty funny. All I can recall off the top of my head was that Che became addicted to the Yanqui imperialist drink, Coca-Cola, and redirected his efforts to finding more of said drink. Probably closer to the truth than the crazy "cult of Che" would have us believe.

Comment by: Pro Libertate at December 22, 2004 02:13 PM

|12.15.05 @ 4:40PM|#

This isn�t exactly related, but it kind of is.

Yesterday, on the bus ride home from the office, I sat across form a kid � 20 maybe � in bondage pants. He had the whole get-up going on � handcuffs, chains, black fingernail polish, skull-print tee-shirt, and billy-goat hair / beard. Your typical drum beater.

And I couldn�t help thinking how that get-up may get him laid by a particular demographic, but it�s very likely he never flies.

|12.15.05 @ 4:54PM|#

Every time I order a sausage McMuffin with no egg, they put egg on it. This makes me angry.

|12.15.05 @ 4:57PM|#

French militant farmer

So, is this the punch line?

"You have have two cows. Your burn down a burger-stand and move back to Berkeley."

|12.15.05 @ 5:18PM|#

Mr. F. Le Mur,

Nice. If I may enhance...

"You have have two cows. You burn down a burger-stand and move back to Berkeley and live off the $800 per cow dairy subsidy."

|12.15.05 @ 5:20PM|#

One Egg McMuffin, please, hold the corporate hegemony.

|12.15.05 @ 5:20PM|#

"Every time I order a sausage McMuffin with no egg, they put egg on it. This makes me angry."

So ask for a biscuit with sausage.

Order thusly:

"Put sausage on a goddamned biscuit. Nothing else."

|12.15.05 @ 5:20PM|#

I've always had a perverse desire to blow some time by hanging out at "anarchist" meetings and pointing out how very authoritarian and unanarchic their policy positions actually are. I should probably get a troll costume first, though.

|12.15.05 @ 5:24PM|#

Dupea: I'd like a plain omelette, no potatoes, tomatoes instead, a cup of coffee, and wheat toast.
Waitress: (She points to the menu) No substitutions.
Dupea: What do you mean? You don't have any tomatoes?
Waitress: Only what's on the menu. You can have a number two - a plain omelette. It comes with cottage fries and rolls.
Dupea: Yeah, I know what it comes with. But it's not what I want.
Waitress: Well, I'll come back when you make up your mind.
Dupea: Wait a minute. I have made up my mind. I'd like a plain omelette, no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee, and a side order of wheat toast.
Waitress: I'm sorry, we don't have any side orders of toast...an English muffin or a coffee roll.
Dupea: What do you mean you don't make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches, don't you?
Waitress: Would you like to talk to the manager?
Dupea: ...You've got bread and a toaster of some kind?
Waitress: I don't make the rules.
Dupea: OK, I'll make it as easy for you as I can. I'd like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A number two, chicken sal san, hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise. And a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Dupea: Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.
Waitress (spitefully): You want me to hold the chicken, huh?
Dupea: I want you to hold it between your knees.
Waitress (turning and telling him to look at the sign that says, "No Substitutions") Do you see that sign, sir? Yes, you'll all have to leave. I'm not taking any more of your smartness and sarcasm.
Dupea: You see this sign? (He sweeps all the water glasses and menus off the table.)

|12.15.05 @ 5:32PM|#

Kudos on the title, BTW. :)

The Wine Commonsewer|12.15.05 @ 5:56PM|#

Thow-row, Mrs TWC about laughed coffee all over her monitor this morning when she read this remark of yours:

I assumed that anti-WTO protestors would be courteous enough to not wear hats indoors.

Number 6, same thing happens to my House Blond Katie. Makes her mad too.

Kerry, Mrs TWC loved this post.

|12.15.05 @ 6:00PM|#

McGriddles are too excessive, with the syrup in the bread and all. I won't touch them. But I'm the kind of guy who hates it when his syrup touches his sausage.

That sounded so dirty.

Every time I order a sausage McMuffin with no egg, they put egg on it. This makes me angry.

In my world, I have to order it as "a Sausage McMuffin with Egg," just like it says on the menu. If I just say, "I'd like a Sausage McMuffin," they ask, "Do you want egg with that?"

We should switch worlds.

|12.15.05 @ 6:01PM|#

"Put sausage on a goddamned biscuit. Nothing else."

ROTFL!

I have a friend whose favorite item to order is a Big Mac without meat. No joke. I've seen her order it before...my god, what a sideshow ensues when trying to explain her special order.

TallDave|12.15.05 @ 6:15PM|#

Damn those delicious capitalists!

|12.15.05 @ 7:05PM|#

Rebel rebel rebel!

|12.16.05 @ 1:59AM|#

Best fastfood breakfast has to be those little chicken biscits you get at Chik-Fil-A.