Stuffed

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Authors: Eric Walters
Tags: JUV000000
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It’s Frankie’s and it’s Mr. Evans. Actually, they think I’m a stupid loser too. They think we’re all stupid. How do I know that? They say they’re leaders in recycling, but we all know that a major source of garbage on the streets and in landfills is Frankie’s. They say they care for you, but instead of feeding you good food they serve the unhealthiest food in the industry. They say they care for the people who work for them, but they give them no benefits and pay minimum wages. Why do they do that? Because all they really care about is money. They can make more money selling soda than they can selling orangejuice. They can make more money selling burgers and fries than they can selling salads and fruits. They care about themselves, about the money they make.” I took a breath.
    â€œFor years they’ve been tricking you into eating at their restaurants. They’ve been offering you plastic toys and contests and play places to get you in and eating their food. And today they want to trick you again.” I paused. “Maybe trick isn’t the right word.
Bribe
is better. They figure because we’re a bunch of teenagers we don’t have any brains or integrity. They figure that if they offer us a Frankie’s lunch we’ll do what they want us to do and not what we should do. They figure we think with our stomachs and not with our brains.
    â€œNext Friday I’m not going to eat at Frankie’s. That’s my choice. But I’m not here to make
your
choice. I’m not here to try to trick you or make your decision for you. That’s up to you. I’m here to let you have the power to make the decision. You’ve heard Mr. Evans speak and you’ve heard me speak. Now it’s up to you.”
    Mr. Phillips walked back up to the podium.
    â€œCould we please turn up the house lights,” he said.
    The auditorium became visible as row after row of the ceiling lights came to life. I scanned the crowd. I saw lots of people I knew—my entire computer science class was sitting together, and the principal was standing beside them, and there were Julia and Oswald sitting together! Julia waved her arms at me and I waved back. She flashed me a big smile. She looked so happy. Was that because she and Oswald had resolved their latest fight or because of what I’d said…was she proud of me?
    My goodness, here I was standing in front of the whole school, doing probably the most important thing in my whole life, and I was thinking about what Julia was thinking. Maybe I
did
have a crush on her.
    â€œToday,” Mr. Phillips began, “you are being given a unique opportunity. You are bright, well-informed young adults. Today you will be the judges, or more correctly, the jury. Youare going to vote. You have two choices. You can either support the boycott or vote for the free Frankie’s lunch. Simple rules. One person, one vote. The majority rules. If you vote for the lunch, then Ian has agreed to try to cancel the boycott.”
    I nodded my head.
    â€œHere’s how you will vote. When I ask if you support the boycott you will rise to your feet and stand. If you want the meal you will remain seated.” He turned to me. “Anything else, Ian?”
    â€œNothing.”
    â€œOkay, on the count of three we want you to either stand or stay seated. One…”
    I felt my whole body tingle.
    â€œTwo…”
    I took a deep breath.
    â€œThree!”
    Julia practically jumped to her feet, as did dozens and dozens of other people. Then a whole row, and pockets and patches around the whole room stood up. I quickly tried to estimate…were there more people standing or sitting down? As I tried to figure it out,more and more and more people got to their feet, and then a bunch of them started to climb up onto their seats, cheering and whistling and clapping. The noise was deafening. I looked around the entire room…more and

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