Variety Friday: Free Office Supplies from McDonald's

Despite the fact that I review snack food, I'm not a big consumer of junk food. In fact, I cook my own meals 98% of the time. When I get sick though, that goes out the window as I don't have the energy to put together meals, let alone get on my bicycle and shop for food. About a week ago, I caught a cold and we indulged in some rare take-out from McDonald's.

As a weak sop to my cold and a vague nod at nutritional needs, I got a chicken sandwich and a side salad. I'm well aware that I was fooling myself. The chicken sandwiches are as bad or worse for you than the burgers. Mine was a spicy variety that was fire engine red in a way that made it clear that it was made from materials that do not naturally occur on this earth. Also, the salad was pretty much iceberg lettuce with a few scraps of red cabbage, green pepper and onion tossed in like bits of confetti for aesthetic reasons.

My husband feels no need to pathetically justify bad food choices by making anemic menu selections on the rare occasions that we give in to the junk food gods and offer up our arteries for hardening in supplication. He went for the quarter pounder with fries set meal. With the set, he was given a plastic file protector promoting the World Baseball Classic. Not being a baseball fan, I had never heard of this event before, but I say with every hint of sarcasm that it's appropriate that McDonald's should be involved in promoting athletic events.

While I don't find it strange that McDonald's gives away free stuff with food purchases, there's something a little weird about giving away office supplies. Who says to themselves, "cool, I really wanted a file protector!" Somehow I doubt that McDonald's in the West is giving away such mundane stuff. On the other hand, at least it has some utility. I put tax documents in mine.