Blog details senator's pizza run-in

A posting this week at "Cartoon Brick Wall," the personal blog of a 24-year-old pizza delivery driver in Utah County, delivers a blow-by-blow account of her run-in with Bramble, R-Provo, after she told him the pizza company did not accept personal checks.

In the posting, she describes his reaction to the pizza place's "cash or credit" policy. He initially told her to "take the pizza back," then proceeded to explain why, exactly, she should take the check.

"Look, I'm the majority leader of the state Senate, I've lived in this house for 30 years, and I've never bounced a check," he said, according to her posting. "Do you know that that means? I'm a public figure. If I bounced a check, it would be all over the papers. I'd lose my reputation!"

From there, she also details a phone call to her manager, who also explained "cash or credit" as the only options and that Bramble's wife was told that when she ordered. Still, she said he persisted, explaining that he's a certified public accountant and knows that "a check is the same as cash."

When asked about the posting Wednesday, Bramble said he was baffled that night because "the last thing I would do is write a rubber check" for a pizza order.

"To order a pizza with no cash and to try to pay by check was a first-time experience for me," he said.

He eventually paid with his American Express card, a move he questioned the logic of doing.

The manager "wouldn't trust me to write a check, but he wants me to trust him to give him my American Express with the security code and expiration date, which has a very high limit," he said. "There is a philosophical disconnect in all of that."

As for the delivery woman, he was complimentary.

"The pizza girl was a very nice young lady," he said.

He did tip her $2, which he had to get from his daughter.

Subsequent posts by the pizza driver include a letter of apology — without excusing Bramble — about posting the incident in a public forum as well as her surprise at the attention her posting received. It can all be found at cartoonbrickwall.blogspot.com.

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com; ldethman@desnews.com

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