Column: No popcorn chicken? Time to riot

You can’t log onto social media these days without seeing some vitriol spewing in the comments sections. It really is unfortunate, and I miss the days when all I would see were pictures of people’s families. At this point, I’d even settle for watching videos of fireworks on the Fourth of July that never turn out well but get posted anyway.

I do my best to navigate through the cesspool associated with an online experience, but sometimes I go down a rabbit hole I wish I would never have entered. This was certainly the case the other day, and it started with something as simple as Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I’ve been eating Kentucky Fried Chicken since I was a little kid and used to eat it a lot when I had the paper in Whitehall and could make a short drive from my office to pick up a $5 Fill Up for Lunch. You always know what you’ll get, and sometimes it is so greasy it might be best to skip a step and eat it while on the toilet, but the 11 herbs and spices are quite tasty.

I was scrolling through social media recently when I read that KFC was discontinuing “Popcorn Nuggets, a menu item I had probably ordered less than 10 times.

I didn’t think much of this, but the comments section was on fire, with people freaking out about the item’s removal. I almost felt like I needed a bath after the filth that was being spewed. There was so much hatred over popcorn chicken, and I could not stop reading.

On a side note, whenever someone posts about fast food, there is always one commenter who lets everyone know she has a relative who works at one of the franchises. Thanks, Mam. I’m going to sleep better knowing your nephew in Rochester operates the register at the KFC.

I could not believe people would get mad over something so stupid. If you enjoy the popcorn nuggets so much, I really need to introduce you to some little mom-and-pop restaurants that serve incredible food. I’m not sure how KFC simplifying its menu could make anyone mad, but it did. This is just one example of the comments section on one day on one story. It happens every day and sometimes for some of the most insane reasons.

Last week on President’s Day, I could not pull myself away from reading how mad people were getting about different posts honoring the day. One post that gave a shout-out to President Biden was met with some nasty comments, and another about former President Trump had the same number of naughty comments.

Maybe if I went a couple of centuries back and gave a shout out to President Grover Cleveland, it might settle some people down, but I’m sure someone would have gotten nasty about how he failed to promote the Nicaraguan Canal Treaty.

I eventually had to log out because I could not find too many posts with nice things to say that day.

I genuinely miss the days when people were kind online; maybe that can return someday. And it might, as long as KFC quits dropping menu items.