Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Aren't you happy that the ec team is back from vacation and compiling "Snippets and Soundbites" again? OK, maybe not, but this is the first online edition of “Snippets and Soundbites" for 2010, and we're ready to get the show on the road. Ready?

Here's the strange news that made this week special. And if this isn't enough, just check out page 38 in the January (and every) issue of ec.

No Nuggets, No Nice Guy
It appears a woman in Toledo, Ohio, really, really, really likes her Chicken McNuggets from McDonald's. Last Friday, AKA New Year's Day and the first day of 2010, Melodi Dushane ordered Chicken McNuggets at a local fast food restaurant, when the staff replied that they were out of nuggets at the moment, Dushane responded by punching through the drive-through window. Let that sink in: she punched THROUGH the drive-through window. Police were called to the scene and Dushane was treated for her injuries, then jailed. She later pleaded not guilty to a vandalism charge and was released on bond and told not to have any contact with the restaurant. Read more here. And if this response seems appropriate to you, read about dealing with anger better here.

For the love of words!
We here at ec have a healthy respect and love for words. They're what we do! But Lake Superior State University in Michigan recently had some strong words about phrases they wish would just go away. Yesterday, the school released is 2010 List of Words to Be Banished. Words and phrases that made the infamous list include:
• The Obama administration's preferred adjective to use when discussing the federal stimulus bill, "shovel ready"
• "tweet"
• "app" (a reference to iPhone apps)
• "teachable moment”
But don't be afraid! Just because the university put the word on the list doesn't mean it will go away. Because they put "LOL" on the their list in 2004 and we can all weigh in on how well that banishment has gone. To read more about this, go here. To read the entire list, go here.

Emergency!
We all know 911 is for emergencies, right? The question for some of us though is what constitutes an emergency. For one Boston mom, when her 14-year-old son wouldn't stop playing a video game and go to bed, it was an emergency. So, she called 911. Apparently, the woman called 911 around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday morning to report that her teen son had walked around the house, turned on all the lights, and was then playing video games and refusing to go to bed. Two officers were actually dispatched to the house and persuaded the teen to obey his mother. Read more here.