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Putting the “p” in Rice Krispies

By Gloria Diaz

Check out Gloria's Blog — Edge of Gloria!

Fort Wayne Reader

2016-03-17

I still use AOL for my main email, and I clicked on a story that promised an employee performing an unspeakable act on an assembly line. I found out a disgruntled employee peed into various Rice Krispies products, including those wonderfully buttery, sweet Rice Krispie Treats.

Maybe it’s the meds I’m on, but I burst out laughing at this. I don’t know why I thought it was funny, but here’s what a Kellogg’s spokesperson had to say: "rice cake products" may have been affected, though everything affected would now be expired.”

Or eaten.

Apparently, someone loaded a video up to worldstarhiphop.com. and it’s gone viral. The video pans from the man’s penis, with a strong stream of urine going onto some sort of assembly line. The camerawork is rather wobbly, and the video is grainy. I didn’t see any actual Rice Krispies, and I couldn’t see what was on the assembly line. It could be just a belt. But the camera pans up to show that it is a Kellogg’s facility.

This happened two years ago, but the video was uploaded around March 11 of this year.

From the article, the incident happened during a labor dispute. I couldn’t figure out if the worker was a scab employee or union. Plenty of comments on this aspect, but it doesn’t really matter. If a worker is angry, he or she is going to do something.

Years ago, I bought a great book called Sabotage in the American Workplace. It was one of those books that was so interesting, you wanted more. The person who edited it heard stories from all sorts of workers: bus drivers, retail workers, waitresses, health care workers, bank tellers, stock brokers, postal workers, the military, clerical employees and sex workers. Each and every one of them had stories of revenge, goofing off on the job, or lying in order to keep their jobs or improve their situations. Some of the stories were horrifying, like the waitresses who deliberately left salads unrefrigerated in order to get back at their boss, who had promised them a raise, but never delivered. Several customers got food poisoning.

One worker at Toys R Us talked about repackaging a Barbie doll with a wooden leg and selling it as Peg Leg Barbie. He also tied a Barbie doll to a dollhouse balcony and had Ken whipping her.

I don’t think it’s okay for employees to contaminate food. But I think it’s inevitable, unfortunately. The workplace is a lot like grade school, with higher consequences. You get bored, you get frustrated with the assignments, which are sometimes impossible (hey, put these four pallets of freight away and make sure you take care of the customers too) and your stress level rises. It’s understandable. Most people blow off steam with practical jokes, drinking, or writing about it in a column.

But with technology so readily available, recording those acts of rebellion might be okay for personal posterity, but sharing it on the Internet? That’s a special level of stupid. As well as peeing on the Rice Krispies.

Funny, before I found out about this, I was at the grocery store, tempted to buy Rice Krispie Treats. I usually buy them out of vending machines. I could save money if I bought them in bulk at the store, but I also know if I have a box of them in the house, I’ll eat all of them. If I buy them at the vending machines, there’s a limit. I thought about it and passed—my appetite has been way down, plus, they are not exactly health food.

However, if do buy them, and they don’t snap, crackle or pop, I’ll know what’s wrong.