Inside Edition's Rat Patrol Pays D.C. a Visit
Run for your lives, Washington. Rats have taken over our fair city, and there is no hope of escaping their evil, rat-like ways. We shall flee to the suburbs and their clean, plastic, rat-free lifestyle. But wait! Inside Edition, long-time bastion of quality broadcast news, is here to save us. Thank God for Inside Edition's Rat Patrol.
Let me start out by saying that Inside Edition is possibly the greatest news show on television. Not only do they get the news to you early—4:30!—but they bring us the stories that matter. Waiting for their story on D.C.'s rat problem, I was treated to not only coverage of Anna Nicole's baby's paternity suit and the sad end to an American Idol fan's 16-day hunger strike over Sanjaya, but they also brought me news of a woman who ate dog food in an attempt to get her dog to eat some, and ended up poisoned! I'm thankful that story came on when I was halfway through opening a can of "rice and liver bits;" crisis averted. What would we do if Inside Edition wasn't here to tell us not to put Alpo in our mouths?
What brought me to this glorious program in the first place yesterday was its promise of some hot rat action, and boy did it deliver. Matt Meagher and his team of reporters hit the streets of Washington on their beat, the Rat Patrol, and they found rats and mice everywhere! Capitol Hill, "trendy Adams Morgan," even the "posh streets" of Georgetown. They found rats in the streets, crawling under cars, and fighting for food. "They're even dancing in the alleyways!" Meagher exclaimed with all the excitement of watching Heather Mills perform fake-legged acrobatics, which, coincidentally, was a story that preceded this one.
But, the Rat Patrol didn't stop in the streets. No, they went for television gold: rats in restaurants. By roving around town at 2 a.m. and shining flashlights in various eateries (didn't find this suspicious, MPD?), they hit the jackpot three times. Mixtec in Adams Morgan, Baja Fresh in Dupont Circle, and the Popeye's in Logan Circle all had rodents cavorting around in the midnight hours. Inside Edition confronted the owners of the businesses, all of whom were horrified to learn that they had a rat problem. No one was more horrified than the Inside Edition crew, though. When the Rat Patrol stopped two men outside Popeye's to show them the mice running around on the counters, the guys barely sounded concerned. I imagine they were ready for pretty much anything, though, as I have a sneaking suspicion they were leaving the Crew Club.
All three restaurants were closed for health code violations, but are trying to mend their ways. Baja Fresh has reopened, Mixtec is renovating its dining room to clean things up, and Popeye's home office is reviewing the Logan Circle location. In a follow up story on WUSA, Jeff Napshin interviewed several customers coming out of Baja Fresh to confront them with the news of the rats, and a few folks found it "disgusting" or "troubling," but I'm inclined to agree with the woman who wasn't surprised, "I imagine that happens periodically in restaurants," she said, deflating Meagher's theatrics.
What do you think? Rusty at why.i.hate.dc adds to the rat party with a picture of Manny & Olga's. Commenters on our L'Enfant Café post chimed in as well. Does it bother you that this city has rats all over the place? Are you suffering from the delusion that this doesn't happen in every D.C. restaurant? If you don't like rats, should you move back to Fairfax? Let us know, even if it's just something about Heather Mills' leg.