It really shows you how stupid Americans can be when they swoon for a Krispy Kreme donut shop, while Chipotle is the restaurant worth obsessing over. Seriously, you get a massive burrito for $5, but it is almost worth it. When I am in a town with a Chipotle, I do usually stop and pay the price because with burritos nothing else will suffice. I must admit that I have stopped eating at Taco Bell now that I have had Chipotle.

Then again, do not take me for a fanboy. Strangely enough, Chipotle is owned by none other than the company people love to rip on: McDonald's. I am not sure, but I believe that Chipotle was absorbed by McDonald's early on in the Colorado days. This has left a weird influence upon the Chipotle chain. Whereas McDonald's thrives on being the same everywhere, Chipotle seems to want to be individualistic. However, when every floor is a concrete red, has the same glorified trash cans (a steel barrel with a bag in it in front of a tall steel half-oval), has the same lights shining on photographs of the inside of other Chipotles and the same menu you know you are in a McOperation. To answer what the fuck kind of McOperation they have been runnin', it is an operation that seeks to only find the more affluent places to crop up. Chipotle seeks to only take pictures in black and white to not only save on printing costs but also to have the air of superiority about it to take money from their affluent customers. As Ian said, "How is that art?" It is not. I suppose the art of selling gourmet burritos requires the cultivation of a more sophisticated audience. However, we all have to eat.

Donor Tom failed to complete his first Chipotle. Jami and I, who were veterans at that point, laughed as Tom learned his lesson.

Donor Tom is an avid reader of the free shirt archive and he had wanted his name alone to be credited as a donor since John and he are rightly credited with the donation of the Sracic shirt. Tom presented me with this shirt en route to a hockey game as part of a birthday present. The story that was told to me then that I tell to the reader now is that Tom knew Jane who knew Ben who knew someone that worked at a Chipotle. The high freedom quotient comes from the extended trip the shirt took to get to me and the fact that the end user did not have to pay for the shirt at any time. The little splotches attest to the fact that someone was paid to wear this shirt. So in many respects, this is a type of ideal free shirt, because the freedom quotient is way up, but it is also of a unique heritage. This particular shirt is an outdated work shirt, and for a product that I actually do like.

Jesse, the girl not the boy, saw me wear this at my work and asked if ever worked at Chipotle. She knew of them because she grew up in another part of the state. I may not agree with everything Chipotle does, but I do not wear this shirt in disgrace nor will I ever use it as rag or anything. After all, any donation to the free shirt archive is really a gift. You ought not disgrace gifts.

In addition to the shirt, I also got Morly Grey's The Only Truth on cd (the reissue through Akarma). One would think that there would be more sites for such an amazing album, but sadly there is not. For those who enjoy good power trios, Morly Grey fucking roars. They only released the one album, but few albums by any popular musician are of the caliber of The Only Truth. The only truth is that we need people. That, and you are in the first row to take away my youth.

At the Chipotle I am most familiar with, there is this one worker who is constantly working there. Every time I come in she is working is what I mean by "constantly there." She is rather hot and I will take this paragraph to salute her. The one that was "vigorously cleaning the floor," as Donor Nick commented. Feel saluted, fair Chipotle worker! I have actually talked to the fair maiden a number of times now. In fact, she thought we were neighbors at one point. Yes, I know her name. No, I'm not telling the reader of the free shirt archive. Yes, I was going to ask her out. No, I did not. I chickened out. It would not have worked out as I put her on a pedastool and she ended up moving anyway. No regretskys.

I would also have to give a shout-out to the one dude with a beard who used to always cut the chicken in the back and to whom we nodded to each other in respect. He was the one, if I remember correctly, who determined that my chicken burrito with just rice and lettuce be charged as a salsa for $2.80. He wasn't cute but he knew how much I appreciated the gift of thrift. Donor Jane informed me that he was promoted. I am surprised that McDonald's would know those under their employ well enough to know that they have a good dude.