Thanks, Kathy A.
Woman Cited in Pa. for Flinging Lettuce
Monday, January 23, 2006
(01-23) 13:15 PST Easton, Pa. (AP) –
A woman fined $173.50 for throwing salad greens out of her car says, lettuce not be too quick to judge her.
Dawn Higgins, 47, was cited Oct. 18 while parked outside a Wal-Mart in Lower Nazareth Township in eastern Pennsylvania.
“Lettuce comes from the ground, therefore it can go back into the ground,” she said. “It’s biodegradable. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”
Higgins said she took her daughters and a friend to the store, and they stopped at a McDonald’s along the way. She said she pulled into a parking space to finish her meal but decided not to eat the half-dozen or so leaves atop her salad.
After failing to appear in court Dec. 22, Higgins discovered she had been convicted in absentia and owed the state $173.50. She has appealed to Northampton County Court, where she said she will call her children and their friend as witnesses.
She also plans to bring along a salad to show leaves to the judge.
11 comments
wheelomatic
January 24, 2006 at 10:45 am (UTC -6)
What is it about McDs and stupid interactions with the law/”justice” system?
Or is it just the law of averages that 80-kazillion people go there so a certain pecentage of them will eventully get their 15 seconds off of it?
Oh and I went to a place and got a plate full of mixed spring greens (“insalata mixsta” in the menu if memories serves) that came with clods of dirt! Yeah, ye olde souschef for got to RINSE. MMM gritty tongue.
NASTY.
Ron Sullivan
January 24, 2006 at 11:11 am (UTC -6)
Wheelomatic, please. That’s “au naturelle mineralle.” And they sell by weight.
kathy a
January 24, 2006 at 11:47 am (UTC -6)
hey, i have some minerals right in my yard!
this story has it all. the leaf-flinging occurred at a wal-mart [an even bigger corp. than mc d's]. it was a little bit of organic stuff — less than an apple core. she was convicted in absentia! they had a trial and she wasn’t there, so she lost — does this court system have too much time on its hands, or what?
at least we know the homeland is secure against lettuce-flingers, though.
Sylvanite
January 24, 2006 at 12:27 pm (UTC -6)
Biodegradable, hell. I’m sure some macroscopic critters would get to eating it forthwith. Maybe she should say she was feeding the bunnies.
Summer
January 24, 2006 at 1:17 pm (UTC -6)
I’m glad to add lettuce-flinging to my list of anti-system behaviors.
Not that anyone will really notice out here in the sticks. People leave trash in their yards all the time.
kcb
January 24, 2006 at 1:39 pm (UTC -6)
The article doesn’t say what kind of lettuce she flung. Frisee, perhaps?
anne
January 24, 2006 at 2:38 pm (UTC -6)
Well… the dorkiness of going after someone who has thrown leaves into the wind (so to speak) might be overshadowed by a person who would seek salad at a McDonald’s.
I’m just saying.
Ms Kate
January 24, 2006 at 3:01 pm (UTC -6)
Lettuce spray.
Ledasmom
January 25, 2006 at 7:22 am (UTC -6)
There have been rabbits outside our local McDonald’s, so I would definitely go with the rabbit-feeding excuse, although next time it might be nice to include the drink and toy.
Frumious B.
January 25, 2006 at 4:51 pm (UTC -6)
The little bunnies who came out to eat it got run over by the cars. Seriously, don’t toss vegetable matter thinking it will decompose or be eaten by the local fauna. It will decompose, in few months. Meanwhile the rest of us get to look at a pile of detritus which is not nearly big enough to get a good compost going. Animals go get killed when they venture out into car laden areas. Maybe it’s the bunny eating the lettuce who gets hit, maybe it’s the red tailed hawk diving down to eat the bunny. Use trashcans. Carry it home to throw it away if you must. Teach your children to do the same.
lindsey
January 25, 2006 at 9:33 pm (UTC -6)
This whole thread reminds me of this time I saw this deer right near a McDonalds/Super K-mart that had gotten hit by a car seconds earlier, breaking both of it’s front legs. Apparently the deer wandered into very busy mid-afternoon traffic by this McDonalds to go eat something in the road.
I’m not saying what’s right either way! It just reminded me of that experience. I think McDonald’s lettuce isn’t really lettuce at all though, because it comes from McDonalds, where nothing is truly food hahahaha!