Classic Rant #886 (January 18, 2013): Size Matters

Sure, there are plenty of things to get upset about today.

Our paychecks are smaller, but our costs are going up.

We have a gun crisis, and people are still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

But now we have something else to contend with.

Subway sandwich shops may be short-changing us on their foot-longs.

That's right, those 12-inch sandwiches might only be 11 inches!

It seems someone started to measure the sandwiches, and found that they were coming up an inch short.

They put their photos up on the Internet, they went viral, and then others started doing the same thing--and finding the same thing.

More importantly to me, at least, is that they were also finding out that Subway has lessened the meat that they are putting on the sandwich, too.

The few times I have gone to Subway during the past several months, I have noticed that.

It seems to be that we are eating more of a bread sandwich rather than, let's say, a roast beef sandwich.

And I have long noticed that he sandwiches that they show in the commercials don't even nearly resemble the ones that they make in the shops.

Subway says that yes, they have lessened the meat on their sandwiches, but that is not the reason that some of the foot-longs are coming up short.

It's because there are variances in size when the bread is baked fresh in the local stores daily.

Evidently, there is some shrinkage involved when you take a prepared product and cook it.

OK, I can buy that, and I guess many people have.

It's like when you buy the bag of chips, and it says right on the bag that the bag may not appear full, but it was until everything in it settled.

OK ...

Buy the premise, buy the flick, as they say.

But then again, your dollar's worth is shrinking again if you aren't getting the advertised foot-longs on top of the fact that you now also aren't getting the same amount of meat that you had gotten previously.

Somebody is double-talking here, and it isn't the consumer.

Subway had better do something about this mess, or people will start to not only bring their wallets into their shops, they will also start to bring tape measures.

Now, competing shops can claim that their sub sandwiches are actually 12 inches.

This could create a sandwich war, second only maybe to the War of 1812, but held strictly in shops like this.

Call it the Sandwich War of 2013.

Maybe the Sandwich Islands can get involved in this battle too.

Oy vey! What a predicament!

I guess size does count--in particular when you are talking about a sandwich.

Speak to you again on Monday.