Today is Sunday,  October 2 and there are only 53 days until Thanksgiving, so you might want to get that turkey out and start thawing it.  Today we remember the birthdays of Mohandas K Gandhi, Spanky McFarland and Don McLean.  On this day in 1535 Jacques Cartier discovered Mount Royal, in 1935 the Hayden Planetarium opened and in 1967 Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black Supreme Court Justice.  In Guinea it is Independence Day, in India it is Gandhi Jayanti and in the US it is National Fried Scallops Day and National Name Your Car Day (just please, PLEASE do not name it Brad).

What I would like to know is why doesn’t the food you receive in restaurants ever look as good as it does in commercials.  I am talking about fast food places mainly.  You see the commercial and the food they show you looks great.  The burger sits there looking juicy and delicious.  The ketchup shows just enough to let you know it is there, the cheese is melting and the bacon looks like an entire pound is piled in there.  You see the commercial and your mouth waters and you want to run right out and buy one.  Then you go to the actual restaurant and the only resemblance to what you saw on TV is that both restaurants have the same name.

The actual burger is not served on a nice puffy, shiny bun.  It is squashed down so that it is only about an inch high.  You have to dismantle the whole thing to see if you got what you ordered and to see if everything is there that should be.  The only way the ketchup shows is f they slopped it on the outside of the bun.  When you look for the bacon, you are lucky to find two actual slices.  I went to a place recently that didn’t even wrap the sandwich completely.  So the grease leaked out through the bag.  Fortunately, I put the bag on the center console which is plastic and easier to clean than the leather seat would have been.  When I got home I had to rebuild the burger and it looked nothing like the ones on TV.

I understand that they want the food to look great in commercials so that you will be enticed into going there.  I do think that they could make an effort in the place to at least make the food look edible.  On the flip side, I have seen commercials for restaurants where the food looks so bad that I would not even think about going there to eat.  And again I cannot help but wonder – doesn’t anyone review this stuff before they put it out?  I still cannot believe that these people are getting paid big money for this junk.  It is a shame this “don’t care too much” attitude didn’t exist when I was working.  It would have made things a lot easier for me.

Moving on, I had promised that I would get out and about so that I would have things to tell you about.  I had the opportunity to go to the mall recently and the fun started while I was still in the parking lot.  I was driving around looking for a place to park and thought I had spotted an opening.  Fortunately, I was going slow and paying attention.  As I got closer and prepared to pull into the space, I realized it was occupied by one of those little smart cars.  I moved on and found another space.  As I was walking to the mall, another car saw the same space and pulled in, driving right into the small car already there.

There are two things at play here.  One is that the smart car driver should not have pulled the car all the way into the space.  The driver should have realized that the car was shorter than the other cars and not pulled in as far, making it easier to see the car.  Obviously just because your car is smart doesn’t mean you have to be.  The other thing is that the other driver should have been paying attention and driving as if they were in a parking lot and not the Daytona Speedway.  I was able to see the car and not drive into it.  Why couldn’t she?  I am sure we know why, so I won’t bother going into it.

Once in the mall, I was able to get my coffee and wander around enjoying the sights.  At the risk of repeating myself, let me just say that I am amazed at what people think looks good when they go out in public.  There were people there wearing things that I would not wear when I am home alone.  I saw one couple that were obviously looking for Walmart.  People, when you are going out, give some thought to what you are putting on.  Just because you like the red, green, blue and yellow flowered blouse and you like the red and white checked pants doesn’t mean they should be worn together.  Yes, I saw that.  I also saw a woman who looked like she had been painting and working in her garden and then got in her car and went shopping.  At least brush some of the dirt off before going into Lord and Taylor.

I do want to commend one man that I saw in one of the stores as I was walking through the women’s section on my way to the men’s department.  A woman I am assuming was his wife came out of a changing room in an outfit and asked him how it looked.  You could tell by the way she said it that she was pleased with it.  I don’t know if he is always honest or he was just tired or what his reason was, but he told her that it looked terrible.  He said the color was not right for her and the outfit made her look big.  She looked at him for a couple seconds and went back into the room.  I would loved to have been able to hear the conversation on the way home.  I am always ready to learn new profanity.

I came across this week’s fact and when I read it I knew I had to use it.  I have nothing to add.

At Arkansas State University two people cannot hold hands while standing in a doorway unless they belong to a union.

Whaaaaaat?