Chick Fil A chicken isn't anything special

[Labrador Deceiver]

They were always closed in any mall I visited in the 70s and 80s.

[Hentor the Barbarian]

Originally Posted by ElvisL1ves

You mean "down our throats".

Quit chipmunking us with your gay agenda!

[Peremensoe]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers this. I'm pretty sure I ate at a Chik-Fil-A at a mall in Houston one Sunday. I wonder if malls contractually force them to be open 7 days a week in order to keep the food court traffic at a critical mass.

Nope. This was mentioned in the same interview that started the current round of fuss.

When questioned about Chick-Fil-A's "Closed on Sunday" policy [COO Dan] Cathy responded, "It was not an issue in 1946 when we opened up our first restaurant. But as living standards changed and lifestyles changed, people came to be more active on Sundays."

The policy has not changed over the years as malls began changing their policies by opening on Sundays.

"We've always put in our lease that we will be closed on Sundays," Cathy said. "We've had a track record that we were generating more business in six days than the other tenants were generating in seven."

"While developers had no identity whatsoever with our corporate purpose to 'glorify God and be a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and have a positive influence on all that come in contact with Chick-fil-A,' they did identify with the rent checks that we wrote to the mall, that were based on our sales.

"So, they would make an exception for Chick-fil-A when they wouldn't make an exception for anybody else, simply because they knew we would pay them more in rent than any other tenant would that was open even seven days a week."

[El_Kabong]

Originally Posted by gazpacho

The homosexual agenda is out there for every one to see. They would like to be treated as normal members of society. It is referred to as the homosexual agenda because it sounds scary and you sound like a dick if you say you are against treating people like normal members of society.

That's fine, but I was asking Clothahump, specifically. Perhaps he has something slightly different in mind.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Originally Posted by gamerunknown

The greater proportion of the profit from the transactions you engage in there will go to the CEOs of the company, which'll then be funnelled into organisations like Focus on the Family. Should the majority of people choose not to visit such an institution, then the money spent in other institutions will stimulate them enough for them to open another franchise to employ the former employees of Chick-Fil-A, or, when their profitability declines as a result, Chick-Fil-A will decide to reverse their executive decisions. I really dislike protectionist "job creator" arguments since they don't jibe with libertarian (natural collapse of industry) or socialist (worker control of means of production) economics.

I'm sure there are lots of things I spend my money on that funds something that would offend me. I pay taxes, after all; I drive a vehicle that burns petrochemicals that come from countries which have abysmal human rights records and I use natural gas likely fracked from some poor schmuck's backyard who's drinking tapwater that ignites while he gets raped by the energy corporations; I buy clothes made in third-world countries and electronics that result in pollution at both ends of their life cycles; I buy food that originates at corporate farms that ignore sustainability. I'm under no illusion that I can avoid funding things I don't believe in, although I do try. I don't control the flow of money once it leaves my pocket. But damn it, when I'm hungry for a delicious chicken sandwich, I'm going to go to the people who serve a very good one to me with a smile and familiar greeting. When I find an alternative that can provide me with a comparable product and service, I'll probably take my business elsewhere. But they better be within walking distance of my work.

Since when it is only okay to mention a company's contribution to the labor market if they don't support organizations you don't like? I happen to like the people who work at Chick-fil-A (some of whom know me by name) and they seem to be pretty happy to be working there. I've been told their pay scale and benefits are slightly better than many fast-food employers though I cannot confirm that. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it were true, though. IME, their turnover is significantly lower in my area.

I am sorry that Cathy is a dick, though, but I'm pretty confident that time will have a way of compensating for his dickishness, no matter how much he throws at those who share his hateful Christian convictions. I can only hope the chicken doesn't suffer much.

[palacheck]

The best part about fast food threads on the SDMB is that nearly every poster has a disclaimer about how little fast food they eat. That's if they admit to eating any fast food at all.

Personally, I don't know what this "Chick Fil A" stuff is.

But then I haven't had fast food in nearly 47 years. In fact, I've only been to one fast food joint in my entire life, and that was because I was forced to go at gun point.

Had a side salad and a glass of water. Ran home too.

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by palacheck

The best part about fast food threads on the SDMB is that nearly every poster has a disclaimer about how little fast food they eat. That's if they admit to eating any fast food at all.

Personally, I don't know what this "Chick Fil A" stuff is.

But then I haven't had fast food in nearly 47 years. In fact, I've only been to one fast food joint in my entire life, and that was because I was forced to go at gun point.

Had a side salad and a glass of water. Ran home too.

Well, we don't have Chick-fil-A over here. Too many heathens for them, no doubt.

[Gatopescado]

If it turned out that Co. (because I can't spell "kernel") Sanders was the chief Nazi and archeritect of the Holocaust, or maybe even Hitler himself, somehow smuggled out of Argentina and morphed into the bow-tie wearing chef, I'd still eat the fuck out of that chicken! Goddammit, its good! And don't get me started on the coleslaw! Just don't bogart it, or there will be trouble!

Tastebuds don't give a shit about no politics.

[Miller]

Originally Posted by XT

Well, I've already changed my stance on this, but I suppose 'actively and actually persecuting homosexuals' would be something akin to trying to spy out homosexuals in their organization and persecuting them (probably by firing and possibly black listing them). AFAIK (and I admit, my knowledge of this is fairly limited) they aren't doing that. Instead, again afaik, they are expending their money in fighting The Homosexual(tm) on the political front, which I find unsavory enough on reflection. However, if they are doing more then that feel free to fight my ignorance on this...it will only serve to up the anger factor.

I'd missed the post where you backed off your position a bit, so my apologies there. I do think it's interesting that you feel unfair hiring practices are a more legitimate reason for someone to boycott a company than their political stances or donations. I mean, assuming that Chik-Fil-A is discriminating in their hiring practices (and I do make that assumption), it's still pretty easy for me to avoid that. I just don't apply for a job at Chik-Fil-A. If Chik-Fil-A discriminates against gay customers, I can avoid that, too. I just don't go to their restaurants. Hell, I've never even seen a Chik-Fil-A in person, so that part's real easy. Their political influence, however, is not limited by my proximity to one of their chicken stands. Dan Cathy is directly fucking with my life, and the only way for me to completely escape his influence is to literally flee the country.

[gamerunknown]

Originally Posted by XT

That's the beauty of a market capitalist system...you vote with your wallet.

That's exactly the analogy I was going to bring up, so I'm glad you've already alighted on it. As I pointed out, a lower percentage of profits are going to be used for the wages of the friendly local workers and a greater will go to Focus on the Family. Once fixed costs are excluded, the percentage of one's own purchase going to fund such organisations is marginal. However, it's in the aggregate that such actions have an effect, just as with voting (see Sorites paradox).

[Bridget Burke]

Sarah Palin & her hubbie dropped by the Chick-Fil-A in The Woodlands--a planned community just north of town. The Houston Press food editor posted this....

For politicians like Palin, aligning themselves with a cause under the auspices of simply enjoying a restaurant's food is perhaps the most insipid way to campaign for or against a cause. And whether you're in Chick-Fil-A's camp or not, this transparent shilling is incredibly insulting to the restaurant too -- although that's still primarily Cathy's fault for turning his father's business (and the businesses of hundreds of hard-working, independent franchise owners) into an inflammatory political stance in the course of one dumb interview.

[Really Not All That Bright]

This is why food editors shouldn't dabble in politics. There are no Chick-fil-A franchisees, just "managers" that Chick-fil-A calls franchisees.

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by XT

In retrospect, and thinking about this more fully (which, honestly I hadn't done before), I may have to rethink my own patronage of Chick-Fil-A over this. I really don't like their stance on this issue, and while they have the right and means to push through their own agenda using our system as it was intended, I don't LIKE their stance, and, honestly that should make a difference in this case to my own purchasing patronage.

Huh. Well. Thank you for thinking about it, even if I was kind of being a dick.

I still think the chicken is good though.

Oh yeah, totally. I think everyone can agree the OP is a jackass.

[Bridget Burke]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

This is why food editors shouldn't dabble in politics. There are no Chick-fil-A franchisees, just "managers" that Chick-fil-A calls franchisees.

Go over to Forbes & set them straight, too! This article uses the words "franchise" & "franchisee" quite liberally. Although the franchisees are also called "operators"--& are hardly independent.

The parent company asks people who apply for an operator license to disclose marital status, number of dependents and involvement in "community, civic, social, church and/or professional organizations."....

Is it legal? There are no federal laws that prohibit companies from asking nosy questions about religion and marital status during interviews. Most companies don't because it can open them up to discrimination claims, says James Ryan, a spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chick-fil-A has more freedom to ask whatever it wants of franchisees because they are independent contractors and not necessarily subject to federal employment discrimination laws. (Employees, however, may sue under those laws.)

Chick-fil-A, the corporate parent, has been sued at least 12 times since 1988 on charges of employment discrimination, according to records in U.S. District Courts. Aziz Latif, a former Chick-fil-A restaurant manager in Houston, sued the company in 2002 after Latif, a Muslim, says he was fired a day after he didn't participate in a group prayer to Jesus Christ at a company training program in 2000. The suit was settled on undisclosed terms.

The company might face more suits if it didn't screen potential hires and operators so carefully. Many Chick-fil-A job candidates must endure a yearlong vetting process that includes dozens of interviews.

They can run their company any way they like. I'll stop picking up the occasional chicken & biscuit for breakfast.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Bridget Burke

Go over to Forbes & set them straight, too! This article uses the words "franchise" & "franchisee" quite liberally. Although the franchisees are also called "operators"--& are hardly independent.

Yeah, it's not really their fault. Chick-fil-A uses misleading terminology.