Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day

Like hundreds of thousands of other people today, I went to a Chick-Fil-A to support the owner's freedom to say what he wants to say, whether or not I agree with him. It just so happens that I fully support the definition of marriage as being between a man and woman. (The days of polygamy are over, so that's a non-issue anymore.)

So as I drove to the store, I knew that there would be a large parking lot next to the Chick-Fil-A on Westport Rd for the Cheddar's restaurant, and I figured I would park there. I ended up parking across the street at The Home Depot. The Cheddar's and Chick-Fil-A's parking lot were full, no vacancy. The line of cars were 4 lanes wide, with a traffic cop directing which cars would be next in the line. Later, I remembered there was a fifth lane into the lot. That line, when I left the store, went down the road quite a way.

 It didn't take me long to get inside the store, about 5 minutes. I got near the front of the line and then stopped. The store had to catch up with the rush of orders they had. Unfortunately, some orders were lost and had to be remade. Those customers had been there for an hour.
After about 35 minutes of waiting, I placed my order (a simple #5 with fresh squeezed lemonade) and waited. I expected to be standing for another 20 minutes, but they had it ready in less than 5. I suppose their trick of getting the system and crew caught up was effective.

While I was waiting, people were having a good time and patiently waiting. The crowd was definitely like a Black Friday crowd in relation to the number of people and size of the store, but the feeling was much different and better. The people who had been waiting for an hour were having their patience tested, but on the whole everyone was cheerful. When an order came up and the teen at the counter called out a name, the rest of the crowd helped by calling out the name as well. If the customer couldn't reach the counter, their food was passed back.

I used a unique, easily pronounced name when I ordered. The person behind me made sure that when his order came up, the host shouted loud and clear... RAHM EMMANUAL! He definitely got a cheer from that one for its irony. Through all of this, the staff remained very cheerful. They were having as much fun as everyone else. Mostly, I think they were fairly bemused by the whole thing. The manager of the store was there, as well as the assistant manager. It was all hand on deck. I imagine that they were there since first thing this morning. I'm sure they will be the last ones out the door well after midnight.

I made sure to wear my Brooks Wicker t-shirt and was able to talk to some people about him.

People are definitely fired up about this situation. They are frustrated at being told what to believe, how to act, and where they can speak out. They are tired of the Liberals dictating what is right and wrong. The traditional values that many in this country hold are under attack, and we're finally making our voices heard. If the Democrats think they're going to have a turnout for Obama like they did in 2008, they are wrong. (But the polling companies are treating their numbers that way.) Be ready to act and do so on Nov. 6th. Bring along a friend or two.

Feel free to share your experiences in the comments

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This is cross-posted between http://www.rightspeak.net and http://louisvillekypolitics.blogspot.com

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went to chick-fil-a yesterday, too. The drive through was backed up into the parking lot and starting to interfere in street traffic. I went inside, which took about 10 min. The order line was probably about another 10 min. It took me 30 min to get my order, though.

It was crowded, but people were being patient and courteous to each other. The people I talked to seemed more concerned about the issue of freedom of speech than anything. People are ticked off at the liberals being able to define what is okay and what isn't in our society. We were happy to be able to make a statement of our own.

A couple of my daughter's friends went to chick-fil-a last night and couldn't get food, because it was all gone. The rumor today is that a new world record was set, although that hasn't been verified.

AZ

Anonymous said...

By the way, polygamy is still an issue in Arizona. Another reason to define marriage by law. The talk of "marriage equality" always brings them out, too. After all, their unions produce children without doctors or adoption agencies, which is part of their argument for legal rights.

AZ