It happened again.

What is wrong with the people who are manning the registers at stores and fast-food establishments? The other day I went to the McDonald's at the mall Food Court.*

"I'll have Extra Value Meal #2, and could you Super-Size just the fries?"

Confused stare. He looked at me as if I had just ripped a hole in the Space-Time continuum, or asked him to conjugate a verb.

"I can't do that. I have to Super-Size the drink too."

"No, it's OK, I'll pay for it. I just don't want to get one of those giant cups of soda I won't drink. Just give me a regular cup."

More confused stares. He summons the manager.

"He ordered an Extra Value Meal, Super-Sized, but he doesn't want me to Super-Size the drink."

"I just don't want that much soda. I'll pay for the extra Super-Sizing, no problem."

(Repeat tediously until order is complete.)

And this wasn't just a case of not knowing which buttons to push on the cash register to make sure the register knew I wanted a regular size drink and what the right cost was going to be. I still think that even hours after I left, he was still trying to figure out why I got my order the way I did, and why anyone wouldn't want an entire vat of sugar water if they had the chance to get it. I feel sorry for this kid when he gets married. If he can't figure things out in a free manner and read between the lines and figure things out on the spur of the moment, he's NEVER going to understand his wife.

Saw The X-Men. Good movie. They finally got a comic-book movie right. Though I read somewhere that the filmmakers actually took out 30-45 min. of character development so it would move faster. I'd like to see that extra footage. There were so many characters (and more to come in sequels - the X-Men number over 100, I believe) that you could tell that much of the backstory was pushed aside in favor of effects and momentum. But, for some reason, I didn't mind. The cast was first-rate, the effects actually complimented the story, and the movie somehow had depth and meaning, and wasn't just a colorful, shallow summer flick. And Wolverine says one of the funniest lines in movie history too. Two sequels are coming up, and I know I'll be in line.

George Lucas, are you listening? GOOD movie. First-rate cast. The effects actually complimented the story. It had depth and meaning. It was funny. Right now you're filming SW2. It would be nice if it actually contained some of these things.

It's Sunday night and I have three articles due, so I'll keep this rather short. While you're here, check out Big Survivor World! That and The TV Studio should keep you busy until next week.

*No, I don't make a habit of this. Now that I'm in my 30s, I can't get that fast food weight off as easy as I used to. But this day I just had a hankering for fries that taste like no other, and those McDonald's cheeseburgers that taste like...well...they don't really taste like cheeseburgers. They have all the colors right. The cheese is yellow, the burger is kinda brownish, the ketchup and pickle are red and green, respectively. But it still doesn't come out to taste like any conventional burger, rather it tastes like some sort of mushy, round, burger-like "product." Like some alien civilization that came down, wanted to recreate a cheeseburger, got all the ingredients, but didn't quite know what to do with them. But they're OK. I like Wendy's much better though.

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