Good Times at 7-11

[RentalRacer]

So last night I stopped into a 7-11 at around 12:30am. This particular one is somewhat close to several bars in the area, that close at 1. In my state you can't sell alcohol past 1am, so many people "plan ahead" and leave the bars early so they can get to stores to buy more beer and such.

So I was enjoying myself being the only sober person in the store (besides the clerk) by doing a little people watching. I see this one group of people over by the typical "ready serve" section of the store, where they have a microwave to use should you want to buy a frozen meal or whatever. They put *something* in the microwave, then walk away laughing, they then pay for their other items, and leave. Me being curious, I walk over to the microwave to see what they put in it. The answer? A Magazine and a Newspaper....and I am guessing they had put it in to "cook" for 30minutes since the timer was a few minutes short of that when I got there, it already stunk.
It must happen somewhat often, because the poor cashier said "oh no, not again".

What Idiots!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Morons. That's the kind of thing they can do with a microwave they are not personally responsible for, and don't have to clean.

How long until they graduate to putting foil in that damn thing?

[Becks]

How long until they graduate to putting foil in that damn thing?

It depends on how easily they're distracted by anything shiny.

[Kilamon]

Forgive my squirrelly ignorance, but microwaves function by bouncing waves and exciting the particles of sugar, water and fats in an object, usually food, and creating dielectric heating which, in turn, cooks your food. Magazines? Newspapers? What water content do they have? What's the point? Maybe there's some perfume in the magazine, if it's vogue or something, but other than that, I'm lost.

I suppose if they wanted to create a real hazard, they could put in a bottle of champagne or drano. *shrug*

[0oAmericanGirl]

It must happen somewhat often, because the poor cashier said "oh no, not again".

What Idiots!

Poor cashier!

My friend worked the night shift at the only gas station open on one side of town and I would come in and spend time with her at night when I got off my job or on my way home. The things dunk/high people do at the gas pump (most were passengers) and with the squeedgie really made us laugh. We would call the cops on obviously drunk drivers, but we couldn't help buy play with them via the intercom systeml The worst thing about her job was having to clean up the bathroom after those durk idiots.

[RentalRacer]

[QUOTE=Kilamon;79347]Forgive my squirrelly ignorance, but microwaves function by bouncing waves and exciting the particles of sugar, water and fats in an object, usually food, and creating dielectric heating which, in turn, cooks your food. Magazines? Newspapers? What water content do they have? [QUOTE]

Dunno about all that...but if you put an empty glass in the microwave, it still gets hot....

I'll have to go to 7-11 again and do an experiment of my own!

[mscrybaby]

I worked graveyard at a convenience store for a year and after the first three nights of having to unclog the toilet I locked the door and put up an out of order sign. You can not imagine the number of people who ask to use a broken toilet.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My ex used to get drunk at the bar and then want to stop at 711 for snacks at 2 in the morning. I'm sure the guy who worked there thought we were nuts.

[Spiffy McMoron]

Forgive my squirrelly ignorance, but microwaves function by bouncing waves and exciting the particles of sugar, water and fats in an object, usually food, and creating dielectric heating which, in turn, cooks your food. Magazines? Newspapers? What water content do they have? What's the point?

I'm not sure of the exact answer, but I was led to believe that microwaves excite all the molecules, and not just the particles of sugar, water, and fat. Besides, even if that were not the case, and microwaees are designed to heat only water, isn't there trace amounts of water in pretty much everything?

[Witch of Endor]

Microwave radiation is energy, just like heat or light. It excites whatever molecules it comes in contact with. It's just that water, fats, and sugars are the most susceptible to it.

The ideal microwave cooking situation is that you'll have food (which contains those compounds easily excited) in a microwave-safe bowl (which is made of material that's not easily excited). The result is that most of the energy goes into heating the food, and the bowl only gets hot because of conduction -- i.e., it's touching food that is now hot, and simply absorbing heat from it.

Any material that you put in a microwave oven has the potential to have its molecules excited to the point where it cooks or burns, or at least gets hot. (When there's nothing else in there like food to absorb some of the energy as well as the heat that the material is trying to re-emit, it would probably be worse for the material.) If someone put a magazine in there for a half an hour, I'm sure it would burn, especially since it contains plant material (paper, and vegetable-based inks these days) but very little water.

[Geek King]

Forgive my squirrelly ignorance, but microwaves function by bouncing waves and exciting the particles of sugar, water and fats in an object, usually food, and creating dielectric heating which, in turn, cooks your food. Magazines? Newspapers? What water content do they have? What's the point? Maybe there's some perfume in the magazine, if it's vogue or something, but other than that, I'm lost.

I suppose if they wanted to create a real hazard, they could put in a bottle of champagne or drano. *shrug*

WARNING: Potental for Science Abuse

Inks used in magazines and newspapers contain oil, and are usually not completely dry by the time they hit the stands due to the nature of the ink used in high-speed printing. The microwave would cause the inks to bake, and trust me, hot ink stinks. I worked in a print factory, and the ovens were awful if they happened to be turned up too high. In addition, some high-quality inks are made with micro-metalics in them. You could see the magazine catch fire if you gave it enough time.

Those drunks deserve to be told thier shoes are fireproof and be given a free lighter.

[Kilamon]

Ok. Learn something new every day I suppose. Still... it seems an odd, slow way to create mischief.

[Dreamstalker]

Exactly--slow so that by the time it's discovered, the culprits are long gone.

[chainedbarista]

isn't there a security camera in the store that would have them on it? this comes across as vandalism (damage to property and goods), which should be taken more seriously, just like theft.

maybe a date in court would change their sense of humor? i fail to see how that's funny, but then again, i'm not a drunken idiot who thinks grade school pranks are the height of funny.