I have not eaten at a Chick-Fil-A since the firm's anti-gay stance became known and people began interpreting its sales chart as a referendum on Gay Marriage. In my case, I haven't been not dining there because of that. It's because the only Chick-Fil-A where I venture is at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.
I usually drive through there on my way to or from meeting someone for lunch or dinner so I don't need to stop off en route and grab a sandwich. And if I did, that intersection is such a nightmare — and the Chick-Fil-A parking lot and drive-thru line always look so crowded — that I'd decide to go elsewhere.
If and when I'm hungry some day and near an accessible Chick-Fil-A, I'll consider the close-by alternatives and decide how I feel about contributing to the profits of a company that took the position it did. I'll probably remember that despite a surge in sales when the chain became a symbol of opposition to Gay Marriage, Chick-Fil-A backed off its position and either ceased or drastically cut its support of such causes. And then if there isn't a Five Guys across the street, I'll probably patronize Chick-Fil-A.
I'm thinking of them more favorably today because I just learned that they've done a truly wonderful, decent thing. They've decided to drop cole slaw from their menu. This kind of thing must be encouraged.
True, they're doing it to make room on their menu for other items I can't eat like kale and broccolini but my anti-slaw stance has never been about the fact that someone offers food that I find repulsive or to which I am allergic. Way more than half the foods in this world are on that list. My campaign against cole slaw has always been about how hard it is to not get it on your dish, oozing into the chow you actually want to eat when you're in a restaurant; how they so often ignore the phrase "No cole slaw, please" or interpret it to mean "Extra cole slaw, please!"
Actually, this post is to announce that as the first (and maybe last) of my New Year's Resolutions, I've decided to stop picking on cole slaw. It seems to really upset some people that I don't like some food that they do. I think a couple of folks who've written me on this topic have a genuine concern that the guy who puts words in the mouth of Groo the Wanderer has the power to get cole slaw banned.
Of greater import is that I'm starting to get really weary of folks on the Internet who hate certain TV shows or comic books or fashions the way you'd hate someone who murdered a beloved housepet. I'll write some posts in the weeks to come about this…but I see so many people getting hysterical because there are movies out that they don't like or that someone likes recording artists they find ghastly.
I can understand being angry because there are folks out there who love Donald Trump. If Donald Trump gets elected or even if the mindset of some of his supporters catches on, it could cause some changes in this country that some of us think would harm lives. I don't understand getting enraged because Jimmy Fallon is successful or because Dancing With the Stars is still on.
I don't care for Dancing With the Stars but I find it quite easy to avoid…unlike, say, cole slaw. Of the two, I find cole slaw the more entertaining but I'm no longer going to crusade against either. At least until someone tries to make either or both mandatory.