# Don't want a pickle **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2006, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191 "2006-12-22T07:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/21 "2006-12-22T13:50:04Z")
[QUOTE=Who\_me?] I’m always amazed that people think that getting minimum wage is an excuse for bad service. Although I never worked in fast food, I _have_ worked minimum wage jobs in my past and I was expected to do my job properly. [/QUOTE] Not to mention, if someone has a shitty attitude and work ethic when they’re flipping burgers, they’re probably not going to have any better attitude and work ethic at a higher-paying job. Either that, or they’ll be flipping burgers the rest of their life, all the while grumbling about The Man. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/22 "2006-12-22T14:36:02Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] The pickle taste lingers… [/QUOTE] Are you sure that’s not the relish you’re tasting? It’s in the special sauce. And I order only Big Macs from Mickey D’s and take the pickles off. It’s the mustard on the other sandwiches I can’t stand. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/23 "2006-12-22T14:39:43Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Push Up Bra] . Or scream upon receiving a bepickled burger. [/QUOTE] I like this idea. But, and I’m speaking as someone who loves pickles (shut up), I also don’t really understand why the pickle can’t be removed. I’ll eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/24 "2006-12-22T14:46:11Z")
It’s clearly a conspiracy by the pickle cartel. Bunch of fookin’ gherks. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_Lurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_Lurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_Lurker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/25 "2006-12-22T14:51:50Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] Bingo. The brine that had me barfing at about three in the morning, and still has my gut cramping. [/QUOTE] I’m confused. Did you eat the burger that had the pickles picked off? ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/26 "2006-12-22T14:54:05Z")
“Have it Your Way” was Burger King’s slogan - not McDonald’s. There’s got to be more pickle flavor in the special sauce than the pickle juice left over after removing offending pickle since actual pickles are one of the ingredients of the sauce. Happy for you that this is the most pittable thing going on with you right now. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/27 "2006-12-22T15:22:50Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] I also don’t really understand why the pickle can’t be removed. I’ll eat it. [/QUOTE] You don’t understand why the pickle can’t be removed. I don’t understand why a company that should be set up to provide some level of food customization is unable to process the simplest of requests. Have our expectations gotten so low that we accept complete incompetence from service providers? I will also note that relish pickles are not necessarily the same flavor as sliced pickles. The flavor of a relish pickle when included in a heavy dressing is going to be very different than the flavor of a sliced pickle or the flavor of the leftover brine, even if the base pickle is identical. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/28 "2006-12-22T15:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak] You don’t understand why the pickle can’t be removed. I don’t understand why a company that should be set up to provide some level of food customization is unable to process the simplest of requests. Have our expectations gotten so low that we accept complete incompetence from service providers? [/QUOTE] I dunno. I don’t eat too much at McD’s and the like, but I haven’t had too many problems like this. But my thought was more like - does the pickle really stain the burger? Why couldn’t the OP remove the pickle and toss it out the window? However, it was musing, as I’m sure I could point to a similar habit in myself. Just not with pickles. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/29 "2006-12-22T16:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] I don’t even own a motorsickle. [/QUOTE] Damn it. You beat me to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/30 "2006-12-22T16:15:04Z")
Special sauce pickles are sweet gherkins with the loose brine drained off chopped into relish. The slices are dills, and strong fucking dills at that, and they’re positively dripping in brine. Two totally different Taste Sensations. I actually like pickles, but McDonald’s (or maybe it’s Burger King, I forget which) gets a little - overzealous. I choose to pick half of them off and eat them one at a time, or they overwhelm the sandwich and I end up eating a Pickle burger. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/31 "2006-12-22T16:21:27Z")
[QUOTE=Long Time Lurker] I’m confused. Did you eat the burger that had the pickles picked off? [/QUOTE] **Muffin** , I second this question. Why were you sicked if you got a refund on both burgers? Did you actually bite into them before discovering they still contained pickles? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/32 "2006-12-22T16:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] **Muffin** , I second this question. Why were you sicked if you got a refund on both burgers? Did you actually bite into them before discovering they still contained pickles? [/QUOTE] The one friggin’ time I don’t use preview… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/33 "2006-12-22T16:23:01Z")
I don’t like pickles, and I always just take them off my burgers, at Mickey D’s and you know what? I don’t taste any lingering pickle essence. ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/34 "2006-12-22T16:28:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Next time I’m down south, we’ll have to go to Pancer’s on Bathurst. Would that be Red or Moe’s? Is Moe’s still there? ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/35 "2006-12-22T16:32:13Z")
My friend (as an obnoxious teenager) used to pull the pickles out of his burger and fling them at the wall. They would stick quite firmly if he flicked his wrist just right. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/36 "2006-12-22T16:35:04Z")
[QUOTE=Long Time Lurker] I’m confused. Did you eat the burger that had the pickles picked off? [/QUOTE] After being it by the car, my mind was elsewhere, so after making the final order for a big Mac without pickle at the second McD’s, and then reminding the kid to please ensure that it was without pickle, I then failed to open up the burger to check, and swallowed my first bite without realizing that it contained part of a slice of pickle and brine. Anyone can make mistakes, myself included in not opening up the burger that final time, but going 0 for 4 on such a simple order with repeated instructions is quite an accomlishment. [QUOTE=Anaamika] But my thought was more like - does the pickle really stain the burger? Why couldn’t the OP remove the pickle and toss it out the window? [/QUOTE] A stain of sin and perdition. A stain on the souls of pimple-faced McD professionals everywhere. A stain of brine and brimstone. A pickle without brine is nothing more than a bland cucumber. The brine is liquid, which seeps/dribbles down into the sandwich once the pickle slices are placed there. Picking off the pickle does not remove the brine. Unfortunately, pickle brine and my gut are at odds. ---
**Author:** ![Wallet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e99b99/32.png) [@Wallet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallet)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/37 "2006-12-22T16:38:12Z")
Driving my son home from the doctor last night (series of shots and blood tests), decided to give him a treat and get McD’s. We went through the drive through, where I ordered: 1 kid’s burger meal, no pickles, apple slices instead of fries, juice box instead of soda, a boy’s toy. Repeated order _many_ times through the tinny speaker. Paid (where I again repeated the order), then drove up to second window. Surly Teen-aged Worker: Here Me: Umm…there’s fries here, and I asked for apples. STW: Here’s the soda M: No, it’s supposed to be a juice box \ STW: Next! M: Now wait a sec, please just change the fries and the soda for me! STW: You gotta come inside. Parked the car, dragged my son inside (his arm already beginning to swell from the shots), go to the counter and explain the problem. Another Surly Teen-aged Worker: Grunt \ Me: And a juice box, please ASTW: Grunt \ Me: \ Of course, the burger had pickles, the toy was for a girl (Pretty Pet shop something or other), and the juice box leaked all over my car seat. This doesn’t top the time I asked for a burger with nothing on it (no onions, pickles, etc), and received an empty bun. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/38 "2006-12-22T16:38:25Z")
Hey, I worked at McD’s, years ago, and I was not pimple-faced. I washed my face on every break and after every shift. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/39 "2006-12-22T16:43:55Z")
[QUOTE=Heckity] Would that be Red or Moe’s? Is Moe’s still there? [/QUOTE] Moe’s. I have not been down to TO for several years years, so I can’t say for certain that it is still there, but it’s website is still active: [http://pancers.sites.toronto.com/](http://pancers.sites.toronto.com/) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191/40 "2006-12-22T16:46:55Z")
Pickle brine is just vinegar or salt water. Are you “allergic” to vinegar? It’s in ketchup, mustard, and relish too. And you can’t be “allergict” to salt, since you’re eating burgers. So what caused the cramps? A tiny residual trace of vinegar? You sure the stomach cramps aren’t from being whacked by a car? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-want-a-pickle/385191.md?page=3)