Want a Potato? Don't go to Wendy's

Wendy's is not responsible for your dietary issues, so your gluten
intolerance is irrelevant.

By the way, gluten intolerance is an intolerance to a protein found in
grains such as wheat, oats, rye and barley...it's not just wheat or
'something like that'. Gluten is often extracted from these grains and
is frequently used as thickening agent in various condiments. It often
times ends up all over the grills, counters and kitchen utensils found
in fast food kitchens. You should NOT be eating food from fast food
restaurants....PERIOD.

And yes, I know a lot about gluten intolerance (also known as celiac
disease)

Bring your own potato to work. Cook it in the microwave. Problem
solved.

Sure, I'm sure someone will call you. Now, promise me that you will
sit at home & wait by the phone. Don't leave your house until you get
the call!

all that time with ocd and potato waiting and rage

This letter is hysterical. But not in a funy way. In an insane way.
You have glutten allergies and can't eat anything with wheat "OR
SOMETHING LIKE THAT?". Your words? I'd think with an allergy,
especially one associated with dietary issues, you'd know everything
about it. I think you just wanted to write a letter to show off your
lack of muscle! And you want them to call you? Are you serious?
God...I sure hope you don't work for the company I do HR for. Are you
here? Please tell me you're not!

Here's a tip. Bring a frigging potato from home and zap in in the
friggin microwave at work. It takes a whopping 5 minutes to cook.
And then you have your glutten free lunch for about 25 cents. Life
doesn't get any better than that.

You need some therapy. Or something. Pretty pathetic stuff here.

You need to go on a diet. You weigh 108 and are 5'4? Wow, you
fatass! No potatoes for you. Hopefully you lose your weight before
you get fatter eating junk.

I work for a large retailer, and when people dont get there way and
say that we are going to lose them as a customer, I laugh and tell
them to have a nice day. GUESS WHAT I DONT CARE YOUR THREE DOLLARS A
DAY ISNT GOING TO HURT OUR BUISNESS. I would probably rather you go
somewhere else than have to deal with people like you.

If you own a oven you could probably bake a weeks worth of potatoes in
a few hours. All individually wrapped and stored in the refrigerator.
Before you go to work you can grab a potato and on your break heat it
up. The best thing is you are in control, not the people being paid $7
and hour to make burgers. There is your money saving, gas saving, time
saving, sanity saving tip.

I wish. They are $1.29 in the city. :(

First, WHO CARES how much you weigh? Do you think Wendys corporate
cares that you weigh 108?? Second, your lunch isa dollar and you
daughter and her BF eat $14.00 worth of food? I have a Wendys across
the street from me, and I am very familiar with their menu, so your
kids must be eating 2 complete meals. Heres a thought - buy one of
those ready to microwave potatoes and take it with you to work. Same
price, 7 minutes to fix, and you will NEVER " have to wait 4 hours to
eat" again.

Gar! I am NOT cheap! I am not eating in protest. I am 6'4" and 200
pounds. Thanks a lot Wendy's - you just starved three customers.

Call me or you lost a customer. I will not go to Wendy's again. I
can trip on $15 other ways.

It is at times like this where one must look to history and its
lessons. I hereby consult the foremost on accurate information. .
.Wikipedia. It turns out that there was a similiar occurence in
Ireland over 150 years ago.

The following was accessed 11/10/2007 from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Potato_Famine_(1845-1849)#Claims_of
_potato_dependency


CLAIMS OF POTATO DEPENDANCY
Jeremy Rifkin, in his book Beyond Beef, writes "The Celtic grazing
lands of...Ireland had been used to pasture cows for centuries. The
British colonized...the Irish, transforming much of their countryside
into an extended grazing land to raise cattle for a hungry consumer
market at home.... The British taste for beef had a devastating impact
on the impoverished and disenfranchised people of...Ireland.... Pushed
off the best pasture land and forced to farm smaller plots of marginal
land, the Irish turned to the potato, a crop that could be grown
abundantly in less favorable soil. Eventually, cows took over much of
Ireland, leaving the native population virtually dependent on the
potato for survival (pp. 56,57)."


DEATH TOLL
No one knows how many people died during the period of the Famine,
although more died from diseases than from starvation.[18] State
registration of births, marriages or deaths had not yet begun, while
records kept by the Roman Catholic Church are incomplete.[19] Eye
witness accounts have helped medical historians to identify both the
ailments and effects of famine, and have helped to evaluate and
explain in greater detail features of the famine. Quaker, William
Bennett in Mayo wrote of

" three children huddled together, lying there because they were too
weak to rise, pale and ghastly, their little limbs ... perfectly
emaciated, eyes sunk, voice gone, and evidently in the last stages of
actual starvation. [20] "

Revd Dr Traill Hall, a Church of Ireland rector in Schull, described

" the aged, who, with the young are almost without exception swollen
and ripening for the grave.[21] "

Marasmic children also left a permanent image on Quaker Joseph
Crosfield who in 1846 witnessed a [22]

" heartrending scene [of] poor wretches in the last stages of famine
imploring to be received into the [work]house...Some of the children
were worn to skeletons, their features sharpened with hunger, and
their limbs wasted almost to the bone... "

William Forster wrote in Carrick-on-Shannon that

" the children exhibit the effects of famine in a remarkable degree,
their faces looking wan and haggard with hunger, and seeming like old
men and women. [23] "

and furthermore. . .

'As early as 1844, John Mitchel, one of the leading political writers
of Young Ireland, raised the issue of the "Potato Disease" in The
Nation; he noted how powerful an agent hunger had been in certain
revolutions.[51] Mitchel again in The Nation on 14 February 1846, put
forward his views on "the wretched way in which the famine was being
trifled with", and asked, had not the Government even yet any
conception that there might be soon "millions of human beings in
Ireland having nothing to eat."'



Clearly, potato epidemics were:

1. Outrageously overlooked by the masses and not taken seriously

2. Pushed aside for more "beef oriented" options



After much consideration about the Wendy's "out-of-potato" conundrum,
several historians and scientists have recommended the following
solution to this problem:


IF EATING AT A WENDY'S THAT HAPPENS TO BE OUT OF POTATOES ON TUESDAYS
AND DIAGNOSED WITH CELIAC SPRUE, THEN ORDER A HAMBURGER AND REMOVE
BUN.

Well... if you look at the top profile list, you'll see there are
plenty of potatoes here!

This reminds me of the fact that McDonalds' ice cream is always down
when I really want a cone???

Maybe they were playing one potato, two potato no potato for you.

Did you know that if you microwave a potato before you leave for work
in the morning, double wrap it in foil and leave it in a small paper
bag it will stay warm for up to 3hrs or longer sometimes.
You can bring your toppings with you too.

And I stop at Wendy's at least once a week for my baked potato and
chili so they always have them.

I really hope this emails a joke.

Gluten is found in more sources than just wheat, so her "or something
like that" is not an indication that she is unsure of her allergy;
rather, it is a statement that things like wheat can cause a reaction.
Gluten allergies often are manifested in the way the brain functions
and are very serious.

It is very frustrating when a restaurant repeatedly runs out of an
item. It shows the management is not watching sales and is not
anticipating the demand for products.

Having said all that, I still am in agreement with those who have
stated a packed lunch is a safer thing to do.

The sarcastic comments from the OP about her weight and ability to
lose more need to be removed from the letter. Fasting just because one
restaurant does not have one menu item is not a good alternative.

If Wendy's has nothing else that the OP can eat, she should have
alternatives at other nearby restaurants or simply bring something
from home that she can eat.

Choosing not to eat on Tuesdays just because a baked potato isn't
available is not Wendy's fault. That being said, if the menu item is
not available multiples times, that does constitute a problem.

The letter seems to have been written in anger and probably shortly
after a disappointing visit. It's always a good idea to wait and calm
down before writing a letter in order to avoid too much emotion and
unnecessary details.

Would it be a little easier for you to take a potato to work and put
it in the microwave then having to drive all over town for one.?

are you sure you are not 4'5" WIDE and 801 pounds? Maybe you have
dyslexia instead of a gluten allergy.

The Wendy's near my house has recently been on a kick of running out
of chicken nuggets, my son's favorite.

Guess what I do?

Are you ready????



I order something else!!!!

*GASP*

It's a complete and utter crisis, I know - but I even looked out the
window just now and, guess what? The world hasn't stopped, despite no
chicken nuggets.

I think perhaps an adjustment of your attitude is in order. An
annoyance? Yes. Worth the drama-filled diatribe you posted here?
Hardly.

You say you usually go eat at Wendy's TWO-FIVE TIMES A WEEK? Good
thing you're now "boycotting" them or you're going to be in the floor
having a heart attack pretty soon...

wehhhhhhhhhh wehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I think your point is somewhat valid, I've noticed this a few times at
the Wendy's here, with both chile and baked potatoes, however, when
you're right you're right, and there really is no need to blame
Wendy's for your choice to fast on tuesdays simply because ONE
possible option isn't available. You made that choice on your own. And
even a person who spends 99 cents and has a valid complaint has the
right to let their voice be heard as well as someone who spends a lot
more.

Some places will give me a discount for taking off meat, some places
will apologetically tell me they can't adjust the prices, a couple of
places really have charged extra, the Wendys said it was because they
would have to throw out the meat that would have gone on the burger
and it was a "waste fee". ????

http://www.wendys.com/food/NutritionLanding.jsp

Wendy's has more gluten-fee foods than just the baked potatoes.
There's even a link on their website about it.

A call to the manager or a NICE letter about them always being out of
potatoes would have been appropriate. However, this letter is full of
nasty attitude. I doubt they care how much you weigh, how much money
you spend there, or even that they lost you as a customer.

Honestly, I think you have a valid complaint, but much of it gets lost
in your overdramatization of the issue. You're going to have to give
up eating on Tuesdays? C'mon! You actually have to - gasp - heat
something up at work? The horror!

By the way, can I trade jobs with you? My boss won't even let us have
a microwave. At least you have the option.

I have been informed that my previous potato-centered posting on my
blog (which you can visit by clicking on my username "Indifferent
Erik," currently located at Number 14 on the Top 25 Profiles to the
left), designed to manipulate Google Ads into posting advertisements
for potato-related enterprises, was a gross misuse of the Google Ads
software. I am sorry for this. No matter how much I enjoy potatoes
(and believe me, I am a man who enjoys his potatoes), it was still
wrong of me to channel that love for potatoes into a potato posting
where I repeated the word potato over and over again.

I am sorry that I attempted to horde perfectly good advertising space
from non-potato-related products in order to hog the spotlight for all
things potato. In the process, I made a mockery of the "most
revolutionary new development in commerce of the last 200 years" by
repeating the word potato, and potato, and potato again. Potato. I am
deeply potato and all I can potato to potato my potato is potato to
the entire PlanetFeedback potato. I am deeply potato.

Potato.

So you aren't even SURE what exactly it is that you're allergic to?
First of all, if you are that severely allergic to wheat, you should
get a salad or a broiled/grilled chicken breast without the bun.
Fresh fruits and veggies are always a good idea and comepletely wheat
free.

Additionally, if what you say about the potatoes always being sold out
is trur, then you aren't ACTUALLY spending $15 per trip at Wendy's
because you aren't indicating that you bought anything else.

Potatoes sell out - they only make so many per day because produce is
expensive and it makes no sense to bake dozens of potatoes that might
go to waste.

And you ARE a cheap customer. You are whining because someone else
didn't do what you could have done for yourself. Bake your own stupid
potatoes on Tuesdays and stop threatenting that you aren't going to
eat there anymore.

If you need to tell them you aren't coming back, then you aren't that
important to them!

This is a pretty good reason to write a letter, although I am not sure
what they can really do about it - it seems that the potatoes are just
REALLY popular. I have seen this complaint before, so I guess they
could start stocking more potatoes.

I do have a peeve here though: I hate when people mention how much the
usually spend. So, since you spend more then I do at wendys, you
deserve better treatment then I do? A customer is a customer, no
matter how much they spend, and they deserve to get the same
treatment.

Also, "No big deal I am 5'4" and weigh 108 lbs. I could lose some
more." has no place in this letter. It comes off as bitter and
childish as opposed to reasonable and professional.

Oh, and eating fast food 2-5 times a week is EXTREMELY unhealthy, even
if you are eating "salads" (fast food salads have a TON of calories.
especially the "taco salad" from wendys)

"...you have lost it is a customer that usually spends $15 a trip. I
usually go between 2-5 times a week..."

So, you spend about $2500 per year at Wendy's.

Their 2006 revenue was $2.439 billion. That makes your purchases
about 0.0001% of their revenue.

Doesn't excuse them always being out of potatoes. But I wish people
would stop claiming that their contribution to the company's bottom
line matters. One, two, or even a hundred people do not affect the
business of a multi-billion dollar company.

If they can't stock potatoes, then don't go there. But don't pretend
that Wendy's is going to go out of their way for someone that makes up
a trivial portion of their business.

Oh, and getting snotty about waiting 4 hours to eat... not necessary.

I wonder what the chances are that the Wendy's restaurants in your
area get food shipments on Tuesday afternoons or Wednesday mornings.

Maybe you're going on the wrong day. Could you rearrange your
schedule so that you are going to Wendy's on a day when they are more
likely to have potatoes?

I suppose that's moot since you're never going to any Wendy's again,
but in future if 1 or 2 restaurants in a chain don't have what you're
trying to buy on a specific weekday 3 times in a row, it might be
worth not going to those restaurants on that weekday before you get so
frustrated you swear off the whole chain.

For the money and gas money you'd save not taking a trip to Wendy's
during your lunch hour for that potato, you could buy a compact
microwave and make it yourself at work.

This isn't the first letter complaining about Wendy's being out of
potatos. Apparently they do have a problem with keeping them in stock.

Here's a thought. Pack a lunch! Wendy's has other items that you
could eat so therefore, it's your choice to go hungry.

"I have glutten allergies which means I can't have any thing with
wheat or something like that."

Don't you think you should find out exactly what allergies you have,
before you do serious harm to yourself?

You have a way to warm up food at work but you run around to multiple
fast food places looking for a potato?

How hard is it to nuke a potato at work? It would save you tons of
money in gas alone.

Exactly why is it you assume it's Wendy's fault or even their concern
what you weigh?

And lastly..."I have glutten allergies which means I can't have any
thing with wheat or something like that."

Or something like that? You arent sure about your own food allergy?

Something seems a bit fishy.