Why I am glad that I do not work at Chick-fil-A

Maybe I should quit feeding the cats Chick-fil-A.

As some of my readers may know, I spent twenty years working in food service before graduating from college and becoming a full-time writer and general publishing jack-of-all-trades. Because of this, I have thoughts about the whole Chick-fil-A mess.

The first of which is that if I was still attending the University of Colorado on the Denver campus, and still going to classes in the North classroom, I would probably still be eating Chick-fil-A...merely because it would be a matter of convenience and because I know who is going to be hurt most by the protests.

The people who are going to get hurt most by the protests are the lowest paid employees. It is not going to be the managers and executives who suffer; it is going to be the poor people who make the food and serve the customers. I was a mamanger of a fast food restaurant, and I know exactly what happens when sales go down--you cut the hours of your employees to save on labor costs. Therefore, I am not sure if I would be completely comfortable protesting and boycotting the local Chick-fil-A.

The second thing I know is once you toss the convenience of a certain location (which employs college students) out the window is that I am not eating Chick-fil-A. Recently I had a couple of opportunities to eat at Chick-fil-A...and I didn't. Now, I am only one person, but I am sure that I am not alone.

But here is the deal: while I ate at other places, I do not know the political opinions of the owners of the places that I chose to eat at instead. For all I know, I may have been eating at a place ran by a bigger menace. Do you know the political opinion of the people who own the restaurant you eat the most at? It is not like it is generally known by your average customer.

The third thing I know is that I would be fired by Chick-fil-A if I worked for them. I am a supporter of gay marriage. I do not believe that gay people are the biggest hazard to marriage. Furthermore, I had a gay roommate for several years, and I had gay neighbors the entire time I have been living in Denver. Gay people are just a natural part of the world, and they deserve the same economic and emotionally benefits that straight people are entitled to. And yes, I would be vocal about my support of gay rights...therefore, I would be rapidly fired.

And the final thing I know is that the owner of Chick-fil-A is a fool. It is one thing to be a bigot, and proud of it. But it is another thing to let your customers learn that you are a bigot. It is bad business practice to let your customers know that you are a bigot. Anything that a corporation would fire a manager or executive over should not be openly done by the owner. And trust me if a store manager would have been outed as a bigot, and the owner was a closet bigot, the manager would have been fired in a heartbeat to soothe the rage of the customers, despite the fact that the owner was a closet bigot. The only reason that Chick-fil-A still has a problem is that it is the owner and not one of the employees.