"Extra" ketchup means "more than could possibly be necessary"?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

In Ontario, where I spent most of my life, the default condiment for fries is vinegar. In most restaurants, there is either a bottle of vinegar on the table, or the first thing a server asks when he or she brings your fries is, “Do you need vinegar?” Fast-food joints have thousands of vinegar packets accessible with the straws and napkins. Vinegar is what I, and likely most of the Canadian population east of Manitoba, believe Og Himself has ordained belongs on fries.

I’ve been here in Alberta for some years now, and the dearth of vinegar in all kinds of restaurants is something I deal with. And after a number of times of being looked like I just asked for an oven-baked tractor when I ask for vinegar, I shut up and have plenty of vinegar at home for when I get fast-food. But the pushing of ketchup is starting to grate. Tonight, for example, I hit the Burger King drive-thru. I placed my order, and pulled up to the window. Then the conversation went like this:

Burger King Drone: Okay that’s the Whopper Combo. You want extra ketchup? [Note the assumption is that I want ketchup, and the lack of reference to vinegar or salt.]
Me: No, thank you. No extra ketchup. [Actually, I don’t want any at all. Remember, I have vinegar at home–no need for any ketchup. But stupid me; I should have said “No ketchup.”]
BKD: 'Kay.

A moment later, Coke in hand, I see BKD stuff a bag with Whopper and fries.

BKD: 'Kay, here you go. Oh, wait…

I see BKD grab something and stuff it in the bag before handing it to me.

Now, I’m behind the wheel, driving away, and concentrating on traffic. But I’m wondering what she put in there at the last. The week’s toy? More fries? A complimentary pie or something similar? I get back home and open my bag to find…

…five packets of ketchup on top of everything! Ketchup that I didn’t ask for was what she had to stuff in the bag before it could be passed to me. And of course, no vinegar.

Of course, the problem was partly mine, since I didn’t specifically ask for no ketchup at all. But if the five-packet default is enough to supply, oh, three or four typical containers of Burger King fries, how much would I get if I agreed to the extra packets? I’m picturing enough to make up a half-bottle of Heinz or something.

Why, oh why, western Canadians, do you insist that a normal amount of ketchup is what others consider to be enough to float a battleship? And (although it didn’t apply in tonight’s Burger King visit) why do you react so strangely when I ask for vinegar?

2

Here in BC we use vinegar too. But I have noticed that, in drive-throughs, when you ask for “no X”, you get “X”.

3

Five ketchups for three, let alone four, orders of fries? Five is just about enough for one medium order. Your phrasing in the title led me to think you’d been in one of those restaurants where they pour it for you and walk off. I can understand thinking that’s too much. But a packet of ketchup has just about enough for ten individual fries.

(IMO, of course. But that’s how it is. You believe in vinegar; I believe in ketchup.)

4

5 packets of ketchup is not enough for an order of fries. you need about 8 or so.

5

You just wrote ten paragraphs about getting extra ketchup at the drive through.

Why on Earth would you care? Just throw it in the trash.

6

At least. I prefer going to places that have actual bottles on the tables, though. That way I don’t have to fiddle with finding the tear notch on 10 or so little tiny packets of ketchup.

7

I’ve found that if you line the packets up together, you can open at least three, sometimes four, with one tear.

8

There seems to be some confusion here.

Some french fries are so good, they are best eaten with nothing but a little salt.

Potatoes cut thick enough to be called ‘steak fries’ are best with vinegar. And, with some meals, fries should be eaten with vinegar… fish and chips springs to mind (sadly conceding here that the ‘chips’ one receives when ordering fish and chips out are often conventional french fries).

However, we are talking about Burger King’s “Whopper Combo” here. None of the above applies. The fries should be eaten with ketchup. Lots of ketchup. Lots and lots of ketchup.

Glad to be of help.

9

Now I want fast food!

No vinegar.

10

For the record, the “Burger King Drone” is a person working for a living, doing a thankless job for close to minimum wage.

I get annoyed when people speak so dismissively of people lower in the socio-economic strata.

11

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are, indeed, as Borborygmi notes, situations in which vinegar is a fine, fine addition to the potato-based side dish in question. And I LOVE vinegar on fries in the appropriate situation (one of which involves a great big tub of Boardwalk fries). But I just can’t grasp the concept of, first of all, there being “more {ketchup} than can possibly be necessary”. There is no upper limit on “necessary” ketchup, my friend. None.

Second, I can’t grasp the concept of five {5} packets being considered “anywhere near enough”, let alone “too much”. That’s just crazy talk!

12

Really, ‘no extra ketchup’ means one handful of packets. ‘A little more’ is another handful. ‘I want lots of ketchup’ means continuing handfuls till I nod and say ‘ok, that should do.’ Now, what I really want to complain about is the fries. Would it kill them, or ruin their profit margins to cook the fries till they’re actually done?!? I only get fries a couple times a year, and shouldn’t even do that. I’m not in that much of a hurry, leave 'em in the grease till they’re done.

13

Holy crap you guys like ketchup! IF I eat my fries with ketchup, (which is rarely), one packet is usually enough for a fast food order. I lightly dunk, I don’t dredge. I like my steak fries with Ranch dressing.

14

Well, there’s not always fries to put ketchup on. There are, occasionally, scrambled eggs and/or hash browns as well.

And meatloaf. And sometimes just plain bread…mmm…fluffy white bread and ketchup for dipping…

15

Hey, if they want to give me more ketchup than I need, it’s no skin off my nose.

This is where I reveal I’m one of those hoarders, like your great grandmother who grew up during the Depression and, as a consequence, saved every straight pin that ever came with a new article of clothing. I’ve got a whole bin full of plastic-wrapped fast-food utensils, which actually came in handy when the power was off following Hurricane Ike and I couldn’t run the dishwasher. Likewise, I haven’t had to buy sugar in years due to McDonald’s insistence that I take ten packets of the stuff whenever I get a coffee from them.

Thus, I’ve got a big container in my fridge full of fast-food ketchup packets, and when the apocalypse comes and we’re all forced to start eating our pets to survive, I’m gonna be able to dip my leg ‘o’ Fluffy in flavorful tomato-based sauce and you won’t. Ha HA.

16

Unless I’m someplace that has the little tubs of fry sauce, there is no such thing as “too much ketchup.” The only time I eat fries without it is when I’m driving.
eta: Like El Kabong, I too am a hoarder of condimental goods. I take them to school, where my students enjoy the alternatives to school condiments, which are inevitably the cheapest packets produced in Kafiristan. Real ketchup at school is a treat.

17

:p:p:p

When the apolocalypse comes, can I have dinner with you? I’ll bring my cats?

18

It’s just another example of how that south-western Ontario (Leamington, we know you’re out there) ketchup producer has brainwashed Albertans into purchasing its product, rather than let Albetans develop their own condiment industry based on cow piss or whatever else constitutes a fruit or vegetable out there.

19

I’d guess it’s probably petroleum-based…

20

Whoops, I forgot that one is not supposed to use the term “fruit” in Alberta.