# Restaurant discounts with church flyers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439 "2011-05-02T02:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/161 "2011-05-04T03:52:28Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Are you blind? The “random thing” IS the church flyer! (We really, REALLY need a “facepalm” smiley) First off take the insults to the pit, or at least stop being wrong before insulting me. Second, not every church posts their bulletin on the Web. Third, read the fucking OP. It says bring in “your church bulletin”. Pretty hard to do if you don’t have a “your church”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/162 "2011-05-04T03:53:59Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Yep, now I am talking about feeling uncomfortable, not legality. It still seems to skirt illegality to me, but IANAL. > > Just wanted to make the point that to me (and maybe only me) handing a bulletin over is akin to lying, and lying about something important to me. I get it that it isn’t like that for you, **Joey P** , or for **Boyo Jim** , but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me. Glad it doesn’t bother you. Maybe you can pay for the pancakes next time, cheapskate. I was having a good argument with you, but that was rude. I’m not going to be called a liar and a cheapskate. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/163 "2011-05-04T03:58:48Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I was having a good argument with you, but that was rude. I’m not going to be called a liar and a cheapskate. I was kidding about the cheapskate part. Honest. and I said to me–not to you–it is akin to lying. Really, I didn’t mean offense. Sorry if that came across wrong. I get that it isn’t lying to you and I am not saying it is. I know that I have pretty strict standards about my own behavior sometime. Re-reading my post above, I can see it might have come across wrong. Where is that smiley when you need it? I was totally kidding about buying the pancakes. I can eat a lot of them. You don’t want to pay, really. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/164 "2011-05-04T04:26:16Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Third, read the fucking OP. It says bring in “your church bulletin”. Pretty hard to do if you don’t have a “your church”. But it’s not referring to your church. It’s referring to your bulletin, said bulletin being a church-type bulletin – which once printed or grabbed and in your possession, is indeed yours. Not hard to do at all. You know, folks, the restaurant doesn’t give a rat’s butt whether you go to church or not. They’re just looking for some identifier to act as a _de facto_ coupon. If someone gave all the non-church-goers an “I didn’t go to church today” sticker every Sunday, they’d say bring your sticker in for a discount. As has been brought up upthread somewhere, you be sure to let me know when some court actually makes a ruling that clearly shows someone has indeed violated a law with this practice. In the meantime, I’ll be sitting here breathing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/165 "2011-05-04T04:28:40Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > I was totally kidding about buying the pancakes. Oh, sure, that’s what you say _now_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/166 "2011-05-04T04:30:10Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > In the meantime, I’ll be sitting here breathing. 😃 I’ll be sitting here eating pancakes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/167 "2011-05-04T04:45:14Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > be sure to let me know when some court actually makes a ruling that clearly shows someone has indeed violated a law with this practice. In the meantime, I’ll be sitting here breathing. 😃 > [@Bearflag70](#): > > [here is a real case](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-10-13/news/9910130179_1_church-bulletin-hagerstown-suns-promotion). What am I, chopped liver? ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/168 "2011-05-04T04:48:16Z")
> [@treis](#): > > No, you have the legal right to “the full and equal enjoyment of the goods”. Paying more for the same product is not full and equal enjoyment. Since the discount is based on a religious class, even if it is a proxy for a religious class, it violates the law. > > As has been noted, the big chains will give the discount to anyone who asks, and thus are not in violation of the law. (As demonstrated by a cited case). Your still entitled to full and equal enjoyment of the pancake. How much you pay for a pancake doesn’t change how good, or bad it tastes, or consequently how much you enjoy it. If it did then your saying that the most enjoyable meal you ever had was the one you paid the most for. I doubt that to be true for the vast majority of people. The chain has an obligation to set a standard price for everyone. They cannot discriminate and charge more than their standard price, but in a free market economy they should be allowed to charge as little as they want to whomever they want. You have the right to refuse to purchase their product, purchase at the standard rate, or get a flyer and receive the discount. No one is stopping you from getting it. If it’s too much trouble for you that is your choice, live with the consequences of your decisions. But your not entitled to a marketplace’s best price just because your you. It’s out there, the onus is on you to get it, not society to bring it to you. I think your mixing up discrimination with alienation. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/169 "2011-05-04T04:54:17Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > What am I, chopped liver? Um, did you even READ that article? It said that such practice did NOT violate any law. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > But in her 35-page ruling, Administrative Law Judge Georgia Brady said the Suns’ promotion was perfectly legal because not only were Jews, Catholics and other religious people admitted at a discount but agnostics and atheists could get the deal as well. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/170 "2011-05-04T04:55:14Z")
Skald has said that he’s gotten the discount merely by asking for it which means that even by whoever it was that said the discount is only legal if they offer it anyway, what the IHOP does is legal so we can stop arguing about this now. Joe Q Public has just as easy access to the bulletin as Mary Sue Christian; he just can’t be bothered to avail himself of it. That doesn’t make it illegal any more than if coupon books were located in a public space 20 miles away from me but only 50 yards from someone else. My lack of motivation to get the coupon books does not magically make them illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/171 "2011-05-04T05:17:45Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Sigh. It’s not people who need to go out of their way. It’s “people who need to go out of their way BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT OF A PARTICULAR RELIGION”. > > Jesus it’s not that hard. So now you’re attaching “church flyer” to a particular religion? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/172 "2011-05-04T05:21:28Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Skald has said that he’s gotten the discount merely by asking for it which means that even by whoever it was that said the discount is only legal if they offer it anyway, what the IHOP does is legal so we can stop arguing about this now.. But **Sticks** , don’t you get that it is NOXIOUS for someone to even have their name related to the word church? To accept the discount (even if given just for asking without having to _gasp_ download a church bulletin) would surely cause emotional distress to someone who didn’t want to even be thought of in the same universe as the word church. Such a thing would surely require therapy and you think IHOP would pay for that? DO YOU? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/173 "2011-05-04T05:25:18Z")
Look, I just want my cinna-stack and for that, I’ll tell you I eat babies. edit: GODDAMN YOU FLOOD CONTROL ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/174 "2011-05-04T05:26:58Z")
In this case, wouldn’t it be _S_inna-stack? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/175 "2011-05-04T05:37:39Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Um, did you even READ that article? It said that such practice did NOT violate any law. :rolleyes: Methinks it is YOU who failed to read the article and it’s relationship to this discussion (as provided upthread). It’s there. Go get it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/176 "2011-05-04T05:41:11Z")
I see this penchant towards laziness extends to more than bulletins. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/177 "2011-05-04T06:00:47Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I see this penchant towards laziness extends to more than bulletins. I know .. some folks are too lazy to read all the previous posts before commenting. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/178 "2011-05-04T06:13:14Z")
Be snarky all you want, as long as the IHOP gives everyone the discount if they ask for it, they’ve done nothing wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/179 "2011-05-04T06:24:31Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Be snarky all you want, as long as the IHOP gives everyone the discount if they ask for it, they’ve done nothing wrong. Tongue-in-cheek ribbing… and I think everyone agrees, _repeatedly_, that if IHOP gives everyone the discount if they ask for it, they’ve done nothing wrong. The issue we are discussing is the legalities if IHOP gives the discount if and only if the customer provides his or her own church bulletin. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/180 "2011-05-04T10:32:23Z")
Eating a Fluffy stack of Flapjacks at 20% off is a Cthullian sacrament… the syrup as libation. Sticky tentacles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439.md?page=10)