life & style // no. 16

Trolling people for a cause

» Internet hilarity ensues when one man decides to defend the Rainbow Dorito

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor

f your Internet experience

has suddenly become more
colourful, you were probably
surfing the Frito-Lay website.
Recently the snack food giant
decided to do a little charity
work, and created the limited
edition Rainbow Doritos in
support of the It Gets Better
Project, a charity organization
devoted to preventing suicide
in the young LGBT community.
The product is only available
online, and all proceeds go to the
cause. So, examining the facts
so far: rainbows?—super fun,
Doritos?—delicious, preventing
suicide?—super awesome, so why
then are people on the Internet
so mad?

Recently there has been an
influx of major brand names
donning rainbow colours to show
their support of gay and lesbian
rights in the United States. I
see this as a good thing, but not
everyone agrees. Many people
find it personally offensive that
part of the $4.99 they spend on
their favorite snacks is supporting
communities they wish didn't
exist. Leaving aside my personal
belief that those kinds of people
are insensitive idiots, that isn’t

: what Frito-Lay is doing with their
: little project. They are supporting
: teens and pre-teens not killing

: themselves, which I think is

: something everyone should be

: able to get behind. Obviously I’m
: not the only one, because one

: man, Mike Melgaard, decided

: to create a fake, but very official

: looking, Doritos Facebook

: account to hear and respond to

: complaints regarding Frito-Lay’s
: colourful new creation.

The comments section on

: the page is huge, and displays

: some of the best and worst that
: humanity has to offer. But one

: thing it isn’t is boring. Melgaard
: responds to the majority

: of comments in a witty yet

: educating way. One such example :
: is an individual who commented

: on how major corporations “..

: have no business promoting

: political agendas.” Melgaard

: responded with “..with the

: ruling of Citizens United in 2010,

: corporations very much DO have
: business in promoting political

: agendas,” referencing a supreme

: court case in the United States

: where a law banning corporations
: from creating politically centred

: products was overturned, as long
: as the product was independent

: of specific candidate campaigns.

: Melgaard also goes on to point

: out that the Frito-Lay Rainbow

: Doritos actually aren't a political
: product, ending his reply by

: asking how preventing suicide is
; “..taking a political stance?”

Other times, when the

: comment in question doesn’t

: really provide any arguable

: stance, Melgaard simply turns

: to being funny. In one such case,
: when an individual claimed he

: was no longer buying Doritos

: because he doesn’t support

: “perverts and child molesters,”

: Melgaard accused him of

: confusing Doritos with Subway.

In an interview with the

Huffington Post, Melgaard
: explained his actions, saying
: “At the end of the day, I want

everyone to see the whole

: picture... Frito-Lay decided on an
: idea that would allow for anyone
: to voluntarily donate to a charity
: which specializes in suicide

: amongst the LGBT youth. Why

: is this important? It’s important
: because suicide is one of the

: leading causes of death for these
: young people. They’e literally

: killing themselves because they
: feel rejected and unwanted. The
: only ‘agenda’ taking place here

: is to prevent people from taking
: their own lives. When I break

: it down like this, I get this sick

: feeling in my stomach. I find it

: absolutely heartbreaking that

: these people are so narrow-

: minded and unaccepting of

: others’ views that they mistake
: everything as a personal attack
: on how they feel the world

: should be. I like to believe that
: what I am doing is productive

: partly because it sheds light on
: this type of thinking and how

theotherpress.ca

 

foolish it is. If I get even just one
of these people to re-think their
position, then in my eyes, I have

: done something good for the

: world”

: Whether you support LGBT

: rights or not, when you think of

: this in terms of keeping people

: alive, it’s pretty hard to argue

: with,

Image via Doritos Twitter

 

Tinder dating and modern romance

» My experience using an app to find love

Paige Smith
The Peak

}

arlier this summer I had

my first and only Tinder
experience. After swiping left and
right for days, and having boring
conversations with countless
people, I eventually matched
with him. Age? 27. Name? We'll
call him “unicycle-guy” for this
story. Appearance? His picture

next to his face with his blonde
dreadlocks tied up to resemble
the juicy fruit next to him. That’s
basically all the information
Tinder provides.

He messaged me and right
away asked me out. Without even

having one conversation with him, :
: five minutes of us driving to the

: restaurant I asked him what his
: actual age was. He responded
: with, “Oh, well, ’m turning 18.’

lagreed to meet up. His plan for
our first date? Unicycling.

We planned to meet at the
seawall, where I'd rollerblade and
he'd unicycle. I was sitting ona
bench waiting when I saw him
ride up on his unicycle. He was
wearing a spandex biking outfit,
was quite tall, and still had the
blonde dreadlocks. He stood out
a bit.

The first date went well. We

rode around and talked a bit about

ourselves. He told me about his

: plans to either visit India or go to
: UBC in the fall. We smiled a lot,
: and he was a nice enough guy.

: After the short date, he rode me
: back to my volunteer job.

He then messaged me again

: the next day suggesting we go

: out to dinner. I was impressed

: by unicycle-guy’s planning skills;
: he seemed to be playing no

: games and just wanted to have

: a good time. The plan was for
displayed him holding a pineapple : him to pick me up from work,

: so obviously everyone in the

: office soon found out about my

: Tinder date. While showing my

: coworkers his Facebook profile I

: noticed something odd written at
: the bottom—his stated age was

: incorrect.

I got in his car, and within

Now, I’m not opposed to

: people dating people of different
: ages (and I especially don’t like

: the stigma regarding older women :
: dating younger men), but this guy
: was just too young for me. When

: your date is still not considered

: an adult in the eyes of the law, it

makes you reconsider things.
I felt bad because I knew this

: relationship wasn’t going to work

: out, but we still had plans to go to
: this semi-fancy restaurant. Once

> [knew his actual age, more of his
: immaturities began to surface.

: Though I still thought he was a

: real nice guy, I noticed he really

: didn’t have much of anything to

: say. At least the food was really

: good!

He drove me home, and

somewhere out of my crazy
: singlehood mind I just wanted to
: be sure, so I kissed unicycle-guy.

I went in for just a peck, and

: gota lot more than I asked for.

: [jerked back, gave his blonde

: dreadlocks one last pat and went
: inside.

I knew this wasn’t for me

: and wanted to make that clear.

: I messaged him with the honest

: truth: that I thought he wasa

: nice guy, but that I just didn’t

: think we'd work together. He

: then replied with a very long

: message explaining how that isn’t
> how! truly felt, and that kissing

: him meant I really did like him.

He implied that I was a nervous

: person that was too scared to try

: new things, or get what I wanted.

: Needless to say, | never saw

: unicycle-guy again.

: After all, some guy telling me how
: I feel? Not the biggest turn on.

\ J #DOUGLIFE

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