After seeing a number of vague references to Chick-fil-A in the last few days, with none offering clear details, curiosity got the best of me this morning and I asked a collegue. The TV at home is rarely on, and most times just for background noise, so the word got to me late about the backlash from the gay community about the Chick-fil-A owner's thoughts on gay marriage. That backlash clearly had the opposite affect intended after today's show of support by customers.
I drove down to 83rd Avenue and snapped a few shots of the overflow traffic at that location, and I saw e-mails from other locations int he Valley talking of Chick-fil-A locations being overwhelmed by paying customers as a show of support. Whether they were all showing support for the owner's sentiment or his right to operate a business without his personal views causing him problems is known only by those who showed up.
I didn't buy anything during that trip today to Chick-fil-A. I had just came back from a large bowl of homemade split pea soup, so there was no room at the inn for more food. If I had purchased anything, it would have been to show support for a business owner rather than his personal or political views. I believe a person's personal and political views and their business are separate issues. I have refused to return to a business if their customer service or product is not up to par. But that's a choice I make, not any form of protest.
Today's lines at Chick-fil-A gave me cause for frustration, but not over the gay marriage debate. Seeing those long lines made me even more disappointed in the apathy in this country. There are so many other more important issues at hand, but this is what draws people out? Instead of lining up at food joints, maybe we should be lining up at our state and national capitols calling on our elected representatives to govern and spend our tax dollars responsibily. Perhaps we should be lining up to insist they stop pandering to lobbyists and those who throw money at their election campaigns.
Better yet, perhaps we should be lining up at the ballot box during open elections. Voter turnout has become a joke in this country that was founded on government by the people. I'll get more excited when I see these Chick-fil-A lines reopeated at the ballot box, or the mailbox to send in that early ballot.
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