Giving the Public the Finger (as in Wendy's chili)

I noted here a few weeks back that I have some real problems with how California sheriff officials and Wendy's handled the whole "finger in the chili" story. As noted, I've got zero sympathy or tolerance for anyone who concocts such a story to get money, no matter how financially desperate they are. But the sheriff's office and Wendy's went on the attack against the plaintiff long before they had any proof the story was BS, with a view toward intimidating the woman in the press. Character destruction is a frequent tool of corporations - and the US government, especially in the Bush years - to keep people "shut up".

I recognize, too, that Wendy's was indeed damaged by the whole situation and in a way that was not insignificant.

But let's put all that aside right now. Instead, recall the original stories of the finger. We heard several times that the finger was small, feminine, and appeared almost professionally manicured. The press reported this several times when the story was new.

Now notice that the finger supposedly came from a "machinery" accident involving a man who was doing paving work or something similar. He caught his finger in some machinery and the digit was severed.

What's the chance that a burly guy doing paving work would have a small finger that looked very feminine and well manicured?

Oh, this is apropos of almost nothing, but it sure seems curious. I remain far more concerned about what the sheriff types, the corporations, and the press will do to people who do find crap in their food that shouldn't be there.

Since the Wendy's case, there was another in which a fellow on the east coast found a severed finger, this time in a container of frozen yogurt. In this case, sure enough, the finger wasn't planted but the result of an employee accident.

But the press and the court of public opinion essentially convicted the customer who found the finger. Yeah, the guy seemed to be a bit of a jerk, not offering to return the severed finger in case it could be reattached to the employee who lost it; instead, he kept it in his home freezer to pull out to show friends and the media. Few of us can quite appreciate that. But the store selling the yogurt also had done nothing to try to recover the finger before the customer found it. Instead, they relied on the media to "do its job" of embarrassing the unwitting - and albeit dim-witted - customer who discovered it.

The media's role is NOT to serve the corporate masters. The police also should not assume that role.