Chipotle…. the new fast food?

With the price of fast food rising and the fast food quality declining, Americans are in search for a new fast food alternative. Chipotle offers customers a quick alternative to Mexican food in a hurry by giving them more bite for their money.


When Chipotle opened its first restaurant in 1993, the idea was that food served fast did not have to accompany the “fast food” experience. They did a great job sticking to this motto and 830 restaurants later they are a successful chain.


I was excited to visit the Chipotle on Sunrise Blvd. in Carmichael with my two classmates, Ana and Julia. Although I have eaten at Chipotle in the past this was my first experience dining in that particular establishment. My first thought as I entered the crowded restaurant at noon on a Saturday was, this is going to take forever. There were about ten people in line in front of me and no tables available.


The line moved surprisingly fast and before I knew it I was looking down at the variety of fresh ingredients and a conveyor belt of people all there to help me customize my very own burrito bowl. The burrito bowl is a burrito without the tortilla. This was an addition to the Chipotle menu in 2003 when Americans were feeding their obsessions with a carbohydrate free diet.


As I moved down the line I had flashbacks of ordering school lunches in elementary school. Instead of asking if I would like applesauce or fruit cocktail they asked questions like black or pinto beans, corn salsa or pico-de-gallo, chicken, shredded pork or steak? Although they have a limited menu they offer enough ingredients to enable you to tailor the perfect burrito, taco or salad. I ordered the burrito bowl to eat in and a chicken fajita burrito to bring home; surprisingly I received both in less than three minutes.


As I began to enjoy my burrito bowl, it tasted as fresh and wonderful as I remember it tasting at previous Chipotle restaurants. This consistency is one of the appealing aspects of the Chipotle chain. I have fallen victim too many times of eating at “chain restaurants” and being pleased one day and utterly disappointed the next. I have yet to be let down by Chipotle.

Julia also ordered a burrito bowl and Ana ordered three tacos. The three of us were all pleased with our selection, the quick response we received after ordering and of course the overall quality of the food. The highlight of my expereince is the way that the ingredients all accompany one another providing an undescribable taste.

The contrast of the ingredients all melting together is the alluring factor that keeps my taste buds entertained. The rice is used to cover the bottom of the bowl and the beans are placed atop of the rice. If you order a fajita style burrito the grilled veggies lay in a nice line next to the beans. Your choice of salsa is added next and the portion sizes that they use are quite generous. I chose pico and hot salsa at no additional cost to me and the two combined blanketed the beans and rice. Next piles of cheese and sour cream were added to the top and guacamole for an additional $1.75.


The $1.75 did seem to be on the expensive side for guacamole but worth it to me because the guacamole is my favorite part. The total that I spent was $17.00 for two entrees, two sides of guacamole and one medium drink. Well worth it since my boyfriend enjoyed the fajita burrito and I my burrito bowl in two separate sittings. Also not too bad when compared to Carl’s Jr.; their food is on the pricier side and cannot be placed in the same category as Chipotle. From my experience it has also been known to take twice as long.


Overall it was another enjoyable experience at Chipotle and I look forward to eating there again soon.

Swinging into Suburbia

After mixing the four ingredients that comprise a lemon drop I go to the computer to add it to the appropriate tab. When customers come into the bar we start them a tab using where they are sitting at the bar and follow the tab with a name. Most tabs will usually say simple names like “man in coat”, “couple” or “Fred”. This lemon drop was placed on the tab named “swingers”. As bartenders we all know them very well, they are at the bar a few nights a week.


Are swingers a common topic at suburban bars? At my bar we label them this because people come and sit at the bar and talk and as bartenders we listen. It was not until last Christmas that I decided to do some investigating of my own. Well I am not sure you can call it investigating since this was one Christmas party I would have been happy sitting out.


Three months into my divorce the holidays came. It was Christmas night and I was determined to spend it with one person, my bottle of cabernet. I was about into my third glass when a friend intervened and persisted that I go to a Christmas party with her and her husband. Since my “one person” was close to empty I figured I had nothing to lose. I decided it would be a great opportunity for me to do some behind the scenes investigation for work purposes of course.


Just a piece of advice to anyone who has a friend that is coming out of a relationship and feels it is their place to intervene. Do not take them to a “swingers” party on Christmas! The scene was simple, a few couples (four I think) that were drinking heavily and disappearing with the wrong spouse. It was not what I had expected. There was more secrecy than I imagined but this is what was so bothersome to me. Did they try to act like their husbands and wives were not escaping with one another and for God’s sake wasn’t it Christmas!


A few days after my investigative reporting I returned to work and no one was surprised with my results. Actually I got a lot of laughs and everyone said it was not a rumor but these couples did engage in these activities. Didn’t their kids all go to school together? Is this the new era where soccer moms are sleeping with other soccer moms husbands and it was normal? Was I completely out of the loop?


Occording to NEWSWEEK this is a more common topic than we think. In a quiet suburban Dallas neighborhood swingers get together for Cherry Pit Parties. These rendezvous occur on a quiet street by a normal couple that believes open relationships keep a marriage healthy. Jim and Julie are swingers and often host themed parties such as “Naked Twister”. Julie spoke briefly with NEWSWEEK and said that swingers do not come from troubled relationships, "Many people who are swingers believe that it saved their marriage. Now it's part of their marriage and part of who they are.”


Now that I have seen first-hand what occurs behind closed doors in small town suburbia, I am more convinced that swingers are more common than we may think. Although “swinging “is not for me I remain open minded for those who use it to keep the communication in their relationship. After all I am the one with a failed marriage; I am in no position to judge.

Once a Phoenix, Always a Phoenix?

How many times have you been the person on the other end of the phone just hoping to get connected to the right person but you wait, leave messages and eventually get no-where. The frustration grows and eventually you give up because the thought of designating all your energy to a hopeless cause is draining. Is this the future of our CSU education? Can we look forward to writing a check after being “recruited” and then receiving little feedback about the online degree we are about to pursue? According to William Tierney, a professor of higher education at University of Southern California, this could be the future of the CSU system if the University of Phoenix takes over.


A Phoenix is defined as a mythical bird that burns itself on a funeral pyre, and then rises from its ashes in the freshness of youth and lives through another cycle of years. Why would the bird want to burn itself to succeed many years later?


William Tierney is a supporter for the privatizing of public education. This is proven in his book New Players-Different Game which supports “for-profit” education. His predictions are that the University of Phoenix will buy out the CSU educational system for a couple billion dollars. Interesting thought from a supporter of private education.


My first question after hearing Tierney’s resolution for California’s educational crisis was how is he connected to The University of Phoenix? I would not be surprised if we find out down the road that Tierney is compensated in some way by the University. I find it appalling that one can deem it appropriate to offer students no academic freedom and little choice in their education. I choose to get up every day and attend class. I do not want my education cut in half by part-time employees who have no regard for my educational progress.


The biggest complaint I can find from UOP students is that they could not contact their advisors or instructors and often times accepted a failing grade because they were unable to drop a class. Consumer Affairs shows complaint after complaint with students expressing their disappointments for a poor education and the lack of mentoring that they received.


I do agree that the CSU system is flawed and is in need of repair but the answer does not rely on privatizing public education. If The University of Phoenix were to take over we would see student fees rise, educational standards decline and we would be forced to rely on a staff that was “out to lunch.” California is not in a position to begin compromising education by decreasing didactic standards.


Their business degree is an M.B.A. Lite,” said Henry M. Levin, a professor of higher education at Teachers College at Columbia University. “I’ve looked at their course materials. It’s a very low level of instruction.” According to the John Garrido News Network, UOP has very low standards when it comes to education. It could be that students are only required to spend twenty hours of instruction instead of the forty that the CSU system necessitates. This could be part of the problem that one UOP California campus has a graduation rate of 6%.


We cannot take away public education from Californians. If we let UOP takeover we would see a decline in educational standards and it would eventually cause a ripple effect throughout an already damaged economy. Tierney needs to support a public system that is working and let his ties go with a system that has proven to lack accreditation. This could be summarized for Tierney if he would look at the graduation rates for CSU schools. According to The San Diego Union Tribune, 54% of CSU students are accomplishing their goals. I will agree that 54% is not a number to brag about but it is astonishingly higher than the 6% that the UOP Southern California campus could produce.


College education is in need of improvement. USC campuses are raising rates and cutting back the amount of instruction but they are succeeding. There are problems that need to be fixed but the answer does not lie in privatizing public education.


The Phoenix chose to burn itself before succeeding. I am positive that William Tierney would not cash in his degree from Michigan State and exchange it for one at The University of Phoenix just to burn himself and have the chance to rise again. After all don’t we all want to do it right the first time?

Losing your slice of the "American Dream"

While sitting in my divorce attorney’s office he looks at me with a stern look and asks, “Who kept the house?” Looking back I respond, “There is no house to keep”. His response, “Hmmm typical!”

Californians have entered an era where losing our homes is as common a topic as what dentist we go to. We all know someone who is suffering with this loss. Although we know these people we do not know how they are dealing with this loss socially.

Living through the years where house prices rose and interest rates were almost non-existent, Californians received a huge slice of the “American Dream.” Many people began to buy homes with low “teaser” rate mortgages and the outcome was homeowners upside down in their mortgage. People also seemed to be spending more than they were making. Whether they were spending $4.90 a gallon to fill up their super-duty diesel trucks or spending $100 to fill up their SUV’s and take the boat to Tahoe, society was feeding an economy that had just been ignited.

As the flame moves down the fuse you know that it is going to discharge yet you don’t walk away, instead you stand there in your five bedroom house and wait until it all explodes. When the explosion occurs you look at your husband while holding your new Gucci purse and say, “It was your fault!”

The ramifications of the economies decline effect humanity differently. Californians continue to focus on the financial loss and aspects that contributed to their fall and ignore how it has impacted their personal lives.

When we leave simplicity and begin living an extravagant life reality gets more and more distant. As enjoyable as it may seem, when it all disappears you are left completely empty. There was nothing to compare us for the disappointment that we would face after the life that was pretty much handed to us on a silver platter vanished.

I am not saying that the people who took advantage of the economies peak were to blame, I was one of those people, but it sure was easy to get swept off our feet by a blazing piece of dynamite.

What society continues to overlook is the emotional effects that the decline of the economy has had on its victims. Whether the effects are you losing your home, your job, a pay cut or everything, it has affected each and everyone one of us differently. Socially it could be divorce, alcoholism or depression that has taken a toll on the emotional well being of the people suffering this loss. When couples begin to play the blame game it is a precursor to divorce. When a man feels like he could no longer support his family he can become depressed.

Eventually the economy will improve and people will be able to recover financially. Emotionally I am not sure that will happen so easily. When you have the “American Dream” ripped away from you it is hard to want that lifestyle back. When your status drops from middle class to lower class overnight there is no way to conquer that emotionally.

My attorney says it best when he chuckles and says, “Look at the bright side at least there is nothing to fight for.” He doesn’t understand the loss that so many of us have dealt with. Divorce attorneys are financially better than ever. His fuse has not yet been lit and for his sake I hope he escapes it but I do know that things eventually turn upside down. After all karma is a bitch.