Support.
I believe it’s our personal responsibility, maybe even our duty, to do all that we can to contribute more than we take from society. Encouraging positive energy, working hard to build our own lives, or even just doing our best to be a great role model; this is all very important to me. It’s a piece of my moral foundation.
Folks working in places like Walmart, The Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, or Chick-Fil-A are working. They’re trying to earn money to pay their bills, support their family, whatever, and I appreciate that. I appreciate every worker out there, whether they’re cranky or pleasant, for at least making an effort to give more than they take. As my dad once told me, “you’re working. That’s what’s important”. I was working in the layaway department of a department store chain at the time, and I felt like I had made some missteps along the way. I felt like I was failing a little bit. And when my Dad said, “you’re working. That’s what’s important”, I knew that I’d find my way through the rough patch I was navigating through at the time and I was doing it on my own.
My mother called me this morning just after 06:00 AM and left a voicemail, asking if it was OK for her to eat at Chick-Fil-A. My cousin and her husband are in town, and they were talking about Chick-Fil-A, and how they don’t support Chick-Fil-A because of their stance of same-sex marriage. I told my mother that as far as I was concerned it was fine if she wanted to eat at Chick-Fil-A. My husband and I eat at Chick-Fil-A on occasion. I know this raises the hackles of some members of the LGBTQ+ community, and who knows, perhaps I’ll be ostracized for this admission, but here’s the thing.
I could probably find something at 95% of the companies out there that I deal with and something somewhere that could inspire a boycott. More importantly, there are people working at Chick-Fil-A, quite possibly as their only job, and they’re just trying to earn money to do whatever they need to do: pay for college, feed the kids, support grandparents… it could be whole myriad of reasons. Am I fan of Chick-Fil-A’s stance on same sex marriage? No, of course not. But the company is growing in leaps and bounds, is employing more and more people, and in a country that is becoming completely reliant on service and consumption to keep the economy flowing, I will support folks that are working at Chick-Fil-A.
And, there’s been plenty o’ occasions where my gaydar has pinged like a neon light when interacting with Chick-Fil-A employees. There’s plenty of family in those walls.
And one more thing, I kind of respect Chick-Fil-A’s decision to remain closed on Sunday in this culture of everything, everywhere, all the time. Everybody needs a break at least one day a week, and them sticking to their guns like that is kind of admirable in my book.
People need to slow down a little bit.
Who knows, maybe I’m one of the evil gays that will get canceled. Perhaps I’m too old fashioned in my own ways for my own good.
I just know that I respect people that work and I support people that work, and if they’re not collecting public assistance and instead spending hours working over a vat of fry grease, I’ve got their back.
#ohgod
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