This is from an email that I received from the Dad’s dad. This is not first hand information so I cannot attest to the authenticity and accuracy of the account. But a story nonetheless that must be told, if anything, for information’s sake.
My Personal Ordeal with the Arrogant
Managers of McDonald’s
5 seconds
My name is Gary Granada, I am a
Kaalagad volunteer, and I need 5 seconds of your
time to help reduce the use of styrofoam in fast
food chains.
What was meant to be a nice and
simple Saint Francis Day motorcade-march to
McDonald’s yesterday turned out to be a nightmare.
We were rudely treated by McDonald’s, to put it
mildly. Weeks before, we already sought a dialogue
with them to reiterate our concern for their
reluctance to reduce their use of styrofoam, despite
their pledge to seriously attend to it during our
dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the same thing,
and while we are not satisfied with their response,
at least they made some effort to shift to other
packaging and serving materials.)
We sent them a letter, went to
their office, made follow ups, waited for a
response. The most we got from them was ‘you wait
for our call’. They never called, never wrote
back, but verbally said they will assign
representatives to receive our motorcade’s
representatives.
When we got there, their
representatives turned out to be the Citibank
Building’s security detail. Ill-mannered and
impolite, they told us that they were told by
McDonald’s that they were not expecting us. One of
our staff went up to their 17th floor office to find
out whether they were willing to sit down and talk
matters. Told to tell us to wait, we waited. The
giant that it is, the bosses of McDonald’s
apparently regard little children, nuns, mothers,
priests and concerned consumers as their employees.
We asked how long we were supposed to wait and got
no straight answer. Finally they sent word for me
to come up, just me, no one else. I thought these
people must have seen too many spaghetti movies,
perhaps they thought they had a hostage crisis. I
was led to a conference room that could easily sit
six or seven people and was greeted by two bright
boys.
Think about it.
Naglakad kami papuntang McDonald’s, at pagdating
namin doon, wala man lang bumaba para kausapin kami
ng maayos. At pinatawag ako nitong dalawang batang
managers! [We walked all the way to McDonald's, and when
we get there, there wasn't even a single person who came down
from the offices to talk to us properly. And two very young
managers had the nerve to call me up! ED.]
It occurred to me that
there were far more basic issues that plague
McDonald’s than styrofoam. Like common courtesy.
So I explained to these rich young rulers that the
courteous thing to do was to go down, greet the
delegation and ask how they may be of help. I even
asked them where they were schooled, because in the
public school in an obscure town where I came from,
they manage to teach such things in Grade One.
Their bloated bright brains must have taken up the
space that was meant for their ears. It felt like
talking to an electric fan.
Meanwhile I insisted that
somebody from Greenpeace, the Ecowaste Coalition,
Franciscan Movement for Justice, Peace and Integrity
of Creation, and the JPICC of the Association of
Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (our
partners in the activity) be present as well. They
said they can only accommodate three people at most.
Fine. So I said I and our staff will go down and
we will send three people up. But at the lobby,
the three representatives we sent were barred by
security people from proceeding, again upon
McDonald’s instructions they said.
It looked hopeless.
We decided to wrap up the
program when out of nowhere a condescending woman
materialized and introduced herself as the media
relations officer of McDonald’s. She said, ‘Why
don’t you go to Jollibee instead, they’re number
One.’ To which Father Ben Moraleda replied, ‘We
did, and at least they are doing something.’
On the side, irked by her
audacity, Fr. Ben quipped, ‘And please take that
hand of yours off my shoulder, I don’t like you.’
And all that commotion for a
very simple and very reasonable plan: that
McDonald’s reduce the use of styrofoam by 50% within
one year. McDonald’s has once again demonstrated
its arrogance and incapacity to appreciate the
sincere and constructive efforts of common folks to
protect our environment. Unlike them, we do not
make money doing what little we can to help make
things a little better for everybody.
5 seconds, that’s all I
ask of you to help reduce the use of styrofoam.
Sa mundo ng mga mayayabang, papansinin lang
nila tayo kung tayo ay maninindigan. [In the world of
obnoxious people, they'll only pay attention to us if
we stand up for our beliefs. ED.] Take
5 seconds to think twice before choosing where to
dine or order food.
WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DON’T
CHOOSE MCDONALD’S
I feel sad for that woman and
those two young managers. So young, so successful,
so ahead of their game, so privileged; so rude, so
arrogant, so lacking in character, so bland. And I
have since stopped wondering why their burgers
taste the way they do.
It will take a bit longer than
5 seconds, but it will go a long way if you can
email this page to friends. Thank you for your
time~
Gary Granada
7 October, 2006
