What The Jorge?

You just said Jorge’s magic word…FREE BURRITOS!

In an effort to offset the high cost of gasoline, the Mexican restaurant chain is offering customers free burritos, tacos or bowls from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Columbus-area stores — one per person, no fax orders accepted.

The company said it wants customers to be able to spend the money they’d usually spend on dinner on gasoline instead.

“Columbus is a great market for us,” said Crickett Karson, spokeswoman for Chipotle. “Our customers, many who are younger, are suffering at the pump. We thought, ‘We have a little extra in the kitty, and let’s give back.’ ”

At $5.25 to $5.75 per burrito, that’s more than a gallon of gasoline per customer.

Unlike May’s Papa John’s 23-cent pizza debacle, which stopped traffic and shut down stores, Chipotle doesn’t expect to get burned. “We’re famous for giving away food,” Karson said.

When Chipotle opened a store near Ohio University in Athens in April, it gave away more than 7,000 burritos in an all-day event, according to Karson.

“It was just pure awesomeness,” said David Chrisman, who handles Columbus-area store marketing and worked at the Athens store that day. “We maintained a line of about 150 to 400 people. We did that for nine hours.”

He said at the busiest time of the day, customers had to wait about 50 minutes, but most people waited about 30 minutes for a free burrito.

The company expects to give away more than 10,000 burritos citywide in today’s three-hour event, Karson said.

“We’re fast. If at 8 p.m. there are people still in line, we’ll hand them a free burrito card. We’re not going to shut stores down,” she said.

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MCCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure — right from Day One! — that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me…….

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on ‘THIS’ side of the road before it goes after the problem on the ‘OTHER SIDE’ of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his ‘CURRENT’ problems before adding ‘NEW’ problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road…

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s GUILTY! Yo u can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can’t you people see the plain truth?’ That’s why they call it the ‘other side.’ Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like ‘the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It’s as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra…#@&&^(C% ……… reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.