Did You Say Cheese?

A court has ruled that a Dutch branch of McDonald's unjustifiably sacked a worker for dishing out to a colleague an extra piece of cheese on a hamburger.

The cheesy worker who worked at a McDonald's branch in the northern town of Lemmer was accused of giving a friend an expensive cheeseburger instead of the hamburger she had paid for. McDonald's insisted she had violated the company rules, which prohibit any free gifts to family, friends or colleagues.

When I read such news, I always wonder why so many Asians love living in countries where they go to court over who gave whom which eatables and in what manner. Although not many Asians consume cheese in their own homelands, they know how to pronounce the word each time they face a camera.

The district court in Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands said in a written judgment, "It is just a slice of cheese. The dismissal was too severe a measure. A written warning would have been a more appropriate punishment.”

The court ordered McDonald's to pay the worker the salary for the remaining five months of her contract—a total of 4,265.47 Euros (6,006.69 Dollars)—and to also pay court costs.

Europe today is fearful of aliens and their cultures; it has lost its virtue of generosity and is undergoing yet another renaissance. The secret of the success of multinational companies, such as McDonald’s, is that they never dish out free cheese to cheesy people who do not even know how bad fast food is for good health. In fact, McDonald’s needs to pay all consumers compensation for having consumed junk food.

Netherlands is a place where a man cannot even favour friends without being caught and punished. Asian societies are much freer societies where they forgive even large-scale misappropriation of public money and perversion of democracy through military dictatorships. It would be wise for the Netherlands to learn a thing or two from Asian countries about giving it all away free—no questions asked.