Chick Fil A publicly backing away from politics

[DGayle]

So how many of you don't shop at Target? They basically did the same thing (gave to a gay hate group) but since liberals *like* Target, all was forgiven. Target made a mistake and the *company* talks about supporting gay rights, but has given no money towards gay rights, only money to a group against gay rights. So there ya go.

My point is neither Chik-fil-a nor Target is giving money to hate groups anymore, but they both did in the past. Both have said they no longer will. Why does Target (who has also done nothing, really, to HELP gay rights other than show up at heavily commercialized pride parades with Walmart and everyone else) get a pass and Chik-fil-a does not?

As I understand it, Target donated to a politician who had some platforms favorable to businesses, and the guy happened to be anti-gay, which is different than donating to specifically anti-gay groups. Still not cool, but not the same.

[nokidsmom]

If they're going to try to compete in NYC then I can't imagine they'd close on Sunday. Why give up a day's income each week when you've just made a big investment and are competing with places that are open on Sunday?

When I was in college I worked for a store chain that closed on Sundays and yes, they were owned by fundies from the Bible Belt. This was in the '80s so the Sunday closed thing wasn't as much as of an issue as it would be now though we had plenty of customers in our Midwestern city who complained about it. There was a push to open on Sundays but the owners held firm. Also, no internet then so no one could really research what the owners were about and act accordingly. It would be way different now.

[ShadowyOne]

When I was in college I worked for a store chain that closed on Sundays and yes, they were owned by fundies from the Bible Belt. This was in the '80s so the Sunday closed thing wasn't as much as of an issue as it would be now though we had plenty of customers in our Midwestern city who complained about it. There was a push to open on Sundays but the owners held firm. Also, no internet then so no one could really research what the owners were about and act accordingly. It would be way different now.

Re: the bolded: Don't be so sure. There is a large store (which now has a very large online arm serving the whole country) in my Midwestern city that still proudly advertises that they are closed on Sunday "in honor of the Lord's day." It is possible that we are thinking of the same chain, though I'm pretty sure that the owners of the one that I'm thinking of are Catholic, and I didn't really find much personal dirt on the owners in the first six pages of Google results. So I say let 'em do what they want. I myself probably wouldn't shop there because in my Googling, I found that they have a "C" rating from the Better Business Bureau (and it used to be worse!), and a lot of people complaining that items arrived damaged and were not fully refunded.

Also, their TV ads are like nails on a chalkboard to me because when the owner says "in honor of the Lord's day" in his really strong version of the local accent it sounds like "lard's day" and it makes my skin crawl.

But what I really meant to add was that not all places that are closed on Sundays are for religious reasons. In my experience, many locally- or family-owned restaurants are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays to give the owners some time off (or time to do inventory, prep, or other stuff). They tend to be the slowest nights (I'm mostly thinking of restaurants that aren't open for lunch/brunch), so they aren't losing a lot of money anyway.

[RosyDaisy]

Fuck Chick-fil-a! If I want good chicken, I make it myself. It tastes much better and it's more healthy. I admit, I caved in and ate there for breakfast. But no more! I learned how to make those little breakfast chicken nuggets thingies.

[RosyDaisy]

So how many of you don't shop at Target? They basically did the same thing (gave to a gay hate group) but since liberals *like* Target, all was forgiven. Target made a mistake and the *company* talks about supporting gay rights, but has given no money towards gay rights, only money to a group against gay rights. So there ya go.

My point is neither Chik-fil-a nor Target is giving money to hate groups anymore, but they both did in the past. Both have said they no longer will. Why does Target (who has also done nothing, really, to HELP gay rights other than show up at heavily commercialized pride parades with Walmart and everyone else) get a pass and Chik-fil-a does not?

I don't shop at Target. There's not one in Tiny Town. However, in many small towns, Walmart has a stranglehold. Poor and working class people can't afford to shop at the more expensive stores. So, it's not a matter of not wanting to pay more. They just can't afford to pay more.

[Queen Of Hearts]

I can't believe some here are actually criticizing a company for choosing not to be open seven days a week. Really? If someone working at Chick-fil-a is concerned about not getting enough hours they always have the option to not work there. It isn't as if the cathy family is requiring their employees to attend church on their day off, for goodness sakes. Remember, it wasn't that long ago in our history that retail and restaurant establishments had a lot more restricted hours instead of the 24/7 nonsense we are dealing with now.

One of the things I always admired about Chick-fil-a is that they didn't require their workers to work on Sunday. When I was in college and worked retail it was always frustrating to rarely get a weekend day off. When my family and friends typically had Saturday and Sunday off (with 9-5 office type jobs) I was stuck working and rarely got to interact with them and had to miss a lot of family events. I would have loved to have had a weekend day off each week. Instead I was generally stuck with a weekday off when everyone else i knew was working.

[JenniferJuniper]

I can't believe some here are actually criticizing a company for choosing not to be open seven days a week. Really? If someone working at Chick-fil-a is concerned about not getting enough hours they always have the option to not work there. It isn't as if the cathy family is requiring their employees to attend church on their day off, for goodness sakes. Remember, it wasn't that long ago in our history that retail and restaurant establishments had a lot more restricted hours instead of the 24/7 nonsense we are dealing with now.

One of the things I always admired about Chick-fil-a is that they didn't require their workers to work on Sunday. When I was in college and worked retail it was always frustrating to rarely get a weekend day off. When my family and friends typically had Saturday and Sunday off (with 9-5 office type jobs) I was stuck working and rarely got to interact with them and had to miss a lot of family events. I would have loved to have had a weekend day off each week. Instead I was generally stuck with a weekday off when everyone else i knew was working.

They aren’t being criticized for being closed on Sunday. That’s their business. But it was pointed out that in more urban/non-religious parts of the country, being closed on Sunday would probably cause them to stick out as being fundamentalist, because hardly any place closes on Sunday anymore as most blue laws have been repealed. Sticking out as fundie and being perceived as anti-gay isn’t a good thing in more progressive areas.

When I was in college and worked fast food, I, like most of the people I worked with, needed as many hours as I could get and it was the weekends when I had the most time available to work. But I wasn’t alone in needing those hours, and was lucky to get a full 8 hours on even one weekend day.

It’s simply a fact that most non-management people with fast food jobs have to work at multiple places just to cobble together a 40 hour week. In this regard, Chick Fil A is no different than any other place, it’s just that they have one less available day for people who need or want to work weekends.