General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOur Local Chick-fil-A
As many of you have seen and/or heard, Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A Incorporated, shared his views regarding marriage during a recently published interview. I, personally, as the owner of this Chick-fil-A in Wichita and my team that loves to come in every day to serve our guests embrace diversity and all people. We are not political, nor do we hold any social agenda other than helping our community. This location is franchised and locally owned. We employ over 100 Wichitans of all ages, gender, religious affiliations, and backgrounds. There are hurt feelings both locally and nationally and I understand. My team and I can only focus on what we do best and that is simply serving everyone in our community to the best of our abilities. We have donated food and hours to countless charities, events, and disaster efforts in our first 4 months and have committed to many more upcoming. If you would like to share your thoughts with the corporate office or with Mr. Cathy, please post them on that page. Let's leave this page for what it is- a place to celebrate our community, spread information regarding our events, and to allow others to share their own personal experiences in our store. I have loved every minute of meeting new people and serving our guests since we have opened and I truly hope that all our guests have felt genuine appreciation and service in our restaurant and through our drive-thru. That hasn't changed. I count it a blessing and an honor to serve you all every day, and I sincerely mean you all.
Thank you,
Brad Fuller
Owner/Operator
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)don't you
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)... who use that money to undermine civil rights.
This makes the individual franchise owner's views pretty much irrelevant.
marlakay
(11,514 posts)If the owner really believed in civil rights and everyone the same they should not have bought a franchise without looking into the types of donations they give and what the companies beliefs are.
Newsjock
(11,733 posts)A quick overnight shipment of signage, food, and paint, and it'll reopen the next week as Chipotle.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)I think it will stick around
It has only been in operation less than a year
freshwest
(53,661 posts)marlakay
(11,514 posts)They have to sign to agree with company policies...
lpbk2713
(42,769 posts)Sambo's management thought they were right and public perception was all wrong about them.
Right up until they went bankrupt and ceased to exist. Go ahead Chick-fil-A. It may have been
a nice ride but it is about to come to an abrupt end.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Just seeing the name sent me to Wiki cuz I remember reading about how Sambo turned the tiger into butter by getting it to chase him around the tree. At least that's how I THINK I remember the story... God I must have been all of 9 years old! I found the ORIGINAL one in Santa Barbara, CA is still open.
I took this off of Google Maps:
Atman
(31,464 posts)"Little Black Sambo."
Yes, it was a standard-issue story book when I was a kid. But then, so were "Colored" water fountains.
You recall the story correctly; Little Black Sambo turned the tiger into butter by getting him to chase him around the tree.
Marooned
(79 posts)It isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
But the end of Chick-Fil-A will not come about because they don't support gay marriage.
dogman
(6,073 posts)On the other hand, all boycotts do not succeed. As I read recently, I will eat there Sundays.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)I like it.
xmas74
(29,676 posts)demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)thats what he meant...
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)speech. Brad "Please keep my profits and those of Mr Cathy high, and allow me to use a pile of rhetoric about community to plead for my own bottom line."
Poor Brad. Worried about his wallet. He does not even say that he hires LGBT people or state that he respects us, he just says 'shut up and pay me'.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)Maven
(10,533 posts)by Mr. Fuller.
I wonder why.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)the previously-openly-gay manager of one of the local CfA felt the need to go back in the closet after being hired by them. I find it disappointing but I can't blame him, it's a tough job market and retail fast-food management is not the most job-skills-portable field.
Maven
(10,533 posts)Never does he even mention the word "gay." He doesn't even include "sexual orientation" in the list of categories he so magnanimously claims to employ.
What this message amounts to is: The CEO of the company I'm associated with has attracted negative attention to my business, and without saying where I stand on this issue (wink wink haters), I hope you don't stop giving me your money.
You choose to profit from an organization that promotes hate, Mr. Fuller. Now share in the consequences.
Lex
(34,108 posts)without saying anything about lesbian and gay customers.
wendylaroux
(2,925 posts)that's what i got out of this also.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)slampoet
(5,032 posts)Note he never says he employs people of all marital statuses.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)did I misread your post?
sP
Mimosa
(9,131 posts)And black people, and even gay people. Maybe not gay people who are flamers.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)and was making sure that i wasn't reading something that wasn't there. i am pretty tired from a long shift and COULD have been hallucinating.
sP
PS : love your avatar
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)What a fucked up thing to post, and with that emoticon as well. You should be banned for this, this is a slur.
disgusting.
MineralMan
(146,338 posts)And the laughing face makes it even worse. You should self-delete the post, even though a jury voted 3-3 to leave it. It's offensive.
yardwork
(61,715 posts)What other groups of people don't deserve to work, in your opinion?
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)DemocratsForProgress
(545 posts)You should be ashamed of yourself.
cali
(114,904 posts)slampoet
(5,032 posts)Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy.
Cathy, 86, credits the company's success to 975 franchisees and 600 employees who are unusually dedicated in an industry known for grumpy operators and high turnover among hourly workers. The turnover among Chick-fil-A operators is a low 5% a year. Among hourly workers turnover is 60%, compared with 107% for the industry. "We tell applicants, 'If you don't intend to be here for life, you needn't apply,'" says Cathy, who opened his first restaurant in 1946.
Loyalty to the company isn't the only thing that matters to Cathy, who wants married workers, believing they are more industrious and productive.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0723/080.html
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)are already married? odd...
sP
slampoet
(5,032 posts)The article talks about the people hired by the central company which is operators and HQ staff and assuming also truck and warehouse staff.
Your Burger flippers might be one way or the other up to a franchise operator, but i have seen at least 2 locations where all the staff were over 30 and one other where there was only one younger person.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)but that's ok. never mind the fact that there ARE single people who work there...yes, even at HQ. you keep believing that they only hire married folks...you'll be wrong...but that probably isn't all that unusual.
sP
slampoet
(5,032 posts)Forbes article to be written about them?
And the proof you offer is.......nothing.
rucky
(35,211 posts)I thought he handled it quite well, and the statement - taken at face value - is how business should be done.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)from corproate
Maven
(10,533 posts)and your post shows it.
I suppose that is the audience to whom Mr. Fuller directed his statement. People who are not directly affected by his company's hate, but who might feel guilty for subsidizing it.
Nothing about Chick Fil A's position on or handling of this matter is "how business should be done."
Joe the Revelator
(14,915 posts)I agree with you 100%. Chickfila is a non- entity to me, no matter how many local managers apologize. My money will not be used to support bigotry if I can help it.
rucky
(35,211 posts)and yes, I often am directly unaffected by issues I speak out about. It doesn't mean I'm not qualified to analyze a situation and offer an opinion.
What would you do if you were a franchise owner, and the jackasses in the home office start shooting off their mouths without regard for your customers or for your livelihood?
This franchise owner is obviously upset with corporate. He's encouraging direct action against corporate and trying to protect his damaged business in the process. Other locations may not be doing anything, but what if they all spoke out? What else should they do?
mitchtv
(17,718 posts)William769
(55,148 posts)Just saying.
rucky
(35,211 posts)I support direct action against corporate, and doing it in a way that doesn't fuck up the lives of innocent people.
William769
(55,148 posts)As I have said in another post here, massive massive fail.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)No sympathy here. If he's really concerned he should sue corporate, but I think it is perfectly clear that he is just another capitalist exploiter that sees potential losses on the horizon.
Mimosa
(9,131 posts)Bad journalism gripes me, especially when it leads people to believe somebody, anybody, said something he or she did not say.
But why let facts get in the way of outrage?
http://www.getreligion.org/2012/07/wheres-the-beef-what-the-chick-fil-a-boss-really-said/
In this case, one cannot assume that.
While the story contains tons of material defending traditional Christian teachings on sexuality, the controversial entrepreneur never talks about gay rights or gay marriage. Why? Because he wasnt asked about those issues in the interview.
This raises an interesting journalistic question: Is a defense of one doctrine automatically the same thing as an on-the-record attack on the opposite doctrine? In this case, is it accurate for CNN (and others) to say that Cathy made comments about gay marriage when, in fact, he did not speak words addressing that issue?
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)Lex
(34,108 posts)that you are. No one was confused by what he meant. I think it's funny and pathetic people are now trying to figure out how walk it back for him.
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)Mimosa
(9,131 posts)CNN is guilty of journalistic malpractice.
Lex
(34,108 posts)Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)This is the 2nd thread I've observed you doing it even after you've been corrected.
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)That's obvious.
Read an article from Forbes Magazine where Cathy says she prefers to hire only married people and then balance that against the fact she is against gay people being allowed to marry.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0723/080.html
PassingFair
(22,434 posts)Dan Cathy
slampoet
(5,032 posts)Joe the Revelator
(14,915 posts)2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)LooseWilly
(4,477 posts)... only between a man and a woman." (Daily Post out of Palo Alto/Mid-Peninsula) in an article about a local same sex couple, who had the foresight to get married during the brief window when it was legal here in CA, who are suing to block issuing a zoning permit for a new Chick-fil-A in Mountain View.
The article relates that the couple filing to block the permit were spurred into action by shock at what Cathy had said.
Unfortunately, this independent paper makes a point of not posting anything online (the owner/editor is one of those who believe you should have to pay/look at the ads if you want the product of his hired reporters). There is, apparently, a site to help pay for court costs (which the story says have been covered... but there may be more?): www.wepay.com/donations/no2chik
Funny though, that you should be citing getreligion.org regarding the "facts" ... sounds like a Jesus PR site to me. Alas I haven't any more minutes to research that... just saying.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)instead of trying to deny what he said using some other source?
Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.
"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.
http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38271
Oh and from a different article:
http://www.advocate.com/business/2012/07/17/chick-fil-coo-dan-cathy-officially-comes-out-antigay
So, defining marriage by biblical standards isn't "anti-gay" to you? Giving millions of dollars to organizations that fight openly against marriage equality isn't anti-gay to you? If that's the case, you need to educate yourself on what is and isn't anti-gay.
Spazito
(50,514 posts)could you explain what you meant when you referenced "gay people who are flamers". I interpret your comment as quite derogatory and disgusting especially with the use of the smiley at the end of the post. Here is your post in this very thread:
Mimosa (9,002 posts)
28. No, they do hire single people.
And black people, and even gay people. Maybe not gay people who are flamers.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.
"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit.
Source: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38271
(Combined with 2009 donations to anti-gay groups: Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199, Focus On The Family: $12,500, Exodus International: $1,000, and Family Research Council: $1,000, to name a few, the assertion that just because he is "pro" one kind of family doesn't mean he is "anti" another just doesn't pass the laugh test. Source: http://equalitymatters.org/factcheck/201111010001 )
And - to counter another argument - remember the Supreme Court has ruled that contributions of cash are speech, so I'd say $100,000+ in opposition to marriage equality is saying quite a lot.
William769
(55,148 posts)Sorry massive massive fail.
William769
(55,148 posts)So all of you recording this thread, look at the company you keep.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... goes way beyond "hurt feelings."
I'll make a special note to avoid your store along with all the other Chick-fil-Hates.
datasuspect
(26,591 posts)wow, just wow.
{pause} Really??????
rightwinghunter666
(12 posts)I love Chick-fil-A food and service but this issue leaves me with only one choice to make. As a Dad how can take my sons to a place that thinks its OK to discriminate against people while at the same time teaching my sons its bad to discriminate against people? Yes I love your food Chick-fil-A but you will not be seeing a dime of my money anymore. Someone posted a recipe of how to make Chick-fil-A sandwiches up here so when I get the urge for one of your sandwiches that's the route I take.
I never understood why a business would make moves to alienate a certain, race, group, ect. It makes absolutely no business sense at all. You might gain a few gay hating customers but most likely they were already eating at your establishment. All you did was just loose a huge base of customers. I recall the quote from Micheal Jordan when asked about why he wouldn't support Democratic candidate Harvey Gantt. Republicans buy shoes, too,. Not that I totally agree with this philosophy it does indeed make great business sense something the management of Chick-fil-A have no clue of.
Whiskeytide
(4,463 posts)Where?!!! I agree. The food is very good as fast food goes (faint praise, I know), and the service was ALWAYS excellent. We used to eat there at least 2 or 3 times a month, and went out of our way to do it. But I think this is the final straw. I can't rationalize my way around it anymore. I do think its mostly Cathy and his ideology at work, but still. I plan to tell my kids we're standing in solidarity with the Muppets!
Now, how about that recipe.
ismnotwasm
(42,020 posts)Via Buzzfeed with a video ( I haven't watched it but I assume it's a how to video)
Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup pickle juice (sour dill is my favorite)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Optional: up to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper for a spicy sandwich
Oil for frying (about a cup)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/wedontgiveafrak/chick-fil-gay-sandwich-chick-fil-a-copycat-recipe-2t1y
Whiskeytide
(4,463 posts)I'll try it this weekend.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)his and borrowed money to open a franchise and shortly after the big boss makes the news with an anti-gay marriage message he risks his business posting a message of peace, love, and goodwill to everyone.
But that's not good enough for some people?
When Dan Cathy makes some mention of traditional families, "we all know what he means" but when Brad Fuller says he's open for business, hiring, and whatever for everyone, he has to spell it out? FWIW, if I owned a food franchise, or any retail business, I would be chary of the response if I were to be public about most controversial issues-- no matter what side you're on you're just asking for demonstrations and the business taking a huge hit. It would have to be something really big to risk that.
Stay away from CFA for whatever reason you want, or eat there for whatever reason, but it is disingenuous to put the sins of the godfather on a minion who's trying to do the right thing.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)I will still eat there
I also drink pepsi...
William769
(55,148 posts)Anyone who has any knowledge at all knows chik fil a has been like this for a long time and also people have been boycotting chik fil a just as long.
You make it sound like this is a new revelation. Talk about disingenuous.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)gays! Wow! How did THAT happen? Oh, maybe, just maybe the guy in charge of the company thought he would say what he really thought since he felt safe to do so, along the lines of "I hate the gays". Gee, what environment would let that happen? Oh, maybe, just maybe a clientele oblivious to his thoughts on gays and he could say it without any blowback.
But like fashion and other items, us gays have been on this little tidbit for YEARS! But do not get in the way of a chicken lovin' straight person and where they may procure their overpriced never on Sunday shicken sandwich.
Oh, and edit. Let's test this little "community" thing he has going and ask if he would donate to a gay based charity. Eat those shicken sammies slow, or you may choke on his response.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)and he seems to be bucking the boss.
You wanna boycott the place-- knock yourself out, but why spill that crock over one little guy instead of recognizing he's trying to do the right thing.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Which donates a ton of money to anti-gay groups.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)my point is about trashing one little guy who's bucking management to do the right thing but that's not good enough for some people.
Trash CFA all you want, but taking a dump on one guy in Wichita, where I doubt few of the complainers could find on a map, is just wrong.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)William769
(55,148 posts)Have a nice day.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)I'm not the bad guy here-- I'm just a few electrons on a discussion board without a Chick-Fil-A within a thousand miles that I know of.
All I'm saying is I don't agree with dumping on one little guy who's trying to do the right thing. If that ruins your day, it's not my problem.
William769
(55,148 posts)mitchtv
(17,718 posts)is operating a hate restaurant, I would not purchase there on the weight of some self serving , privleged merchant. some positve contribution to our effort might go along way to get back some business, but as it is, no. I particularly liked nis request to post on another page.
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)what if that company funneled money to...
unapatriciated
(5,390 posts)It is a fundy corporation and they are very involved in making sure that their employees are of the same cloth.
When they state they want you for life they mean it. Last month we had a young man who had been a manager for a local Chick fil A for years. He was passed over for promotion so he started in the management training program at the grocery store where I work. I spoke to him often during his short employment with us. He was nice but very fundy in his views. He was with us for four days and lo and behold Chick fil A offered him a job at corporate level. He phoned in his resignation. I think we were a little too bohemian for him
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Why don't you write this letter to Mr.Cathy? At the end of the day, he is the one who makes the most money. Don't blame us for his bigotry.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)Don't tell us. Tell Cathy. I'm not supporting bigotry, and even if it is a franchise, you still hand over profits that are then used in causes that further bigotry.
I don't have to eat from Chick-Fil-A. I like food from there, but I can survive without it. What I cannot overlook is a business that has practices that are completely against what I believe in. See if you can live off of RW nuts business, rather than the business of people of all political stripes.
GObamaGO
(665 posts)that Mr. Fuller, by virtue of the fact that he owns a Chik-Fil-A franchise, is complicit in the funding of the anti-gay hate groups including the Family Research Council. Every franchisee pays fees to the corporation, and those fees are what the corporation bases its profits on, and it is through those profits that they help fund FRC and other anti-gay organizations.
Feel free to continue to patronize Mr. Fuller's franchise, but be aware that you are indirectly causing harm to our GLBTQ brothers and sisters.