Okay, I have had enough.
I just spent five minutes or so trying to get a title for this post that
could have been better spent watching the opening credits of an episode of “My
Name is Earl.” The topic for today’s diatribe
is the recent furor over the musings of the president, CEO, Dictator, or otherwise
ill-advised leader of a fast food chain who thought it germane to announce what
seemed to be his personal opinion about the sanctity of marriage or the lack of
sanctity in the case of folks marrying who he thinks should not. There is hysteria in the realm of the Dark one
(the news media) over this pronouncement and a great call to arms which, if
heeded, would bring about the demise of this business. There are over 1600 restaurants in this
chain, and with corporate employees, the closing of this business could
disenfranchise several thousand people. My
question is; who gets to go? Will it be
the fool who opened his mouth in the first place with reckless disregard for corporate
image, or is it going to be the single mother who hangs out the drive through
window whose main purpose and belief in life is the care, and upbringing of her
children who probably would not ever eat at a Chick Fil A if it weren’t for
their mothers discount?
I am a normally outspoken proponent of human rights issues
and rail against social injustice, inequity, and ignorance. I have to confess that in this situation with
an overpriced fast food restaurant scoffing at, and inflaming a major societal
issue through derogatory comments on a person’s emotional rights…I DO NOT
CARE!!!
We are faced in our everyday lives with many realities that
are far worse than what some rich, tax dodging, idiot (I do not actually know
if he is a tax dodger, but it adds some spice to the insult J) has to say about gay marriage. What about those who have suffered and persevered
through decades, even centuries of discrimination, disillusionment, degradation
at the hands of others, violence, and indignity? What about black people? What about Mexicans? What about Asians? What about Moslems? What about CHILDREN?
How many children does this idiot feed? How much of his bottom line goes to nutrition
programs? A goodly amount. Last year the Colorado regional section of
the restaurant chain donated 10,000 pounds of food for the needy. LGBT groups called for the food bank to
cancel the Chick Fil A food drive because of their stance on gay marriage. Got news for you, folks, the hungry children
of Colorado that this food drive benefited probably don’t give a damn about who
gets to marry who. They care about if there
is going to be something for dinner other than the Ramen Noodles that they have
been eating for a week because it is the only thing available. Does the issue of gay marriage trump the
health and well-being of poor children? Can
we get some chicken in the house before we engage in social and institutional intolerance!
It is not like as if there is going to be one damn thing that
can be done about it. The reaction from those
who oppose gay marriage is overwhelming.
For everybody that protests the actions and beliefs against stance of
the company on the issue of the matrimonial proclivities of the homosexual
population of the world, there are probably 100 who think it is the right thing
to do. All the naysayers have done is
help Chick Fil A sell more sandwiches. There
are lines to get into the local franchises in my hometown, and my inbox is full
of requests to join them. One guy is handing
out coupons for free meals with the signing of a petition to ban gay marriage.
I find
myself in the enviable position of wishing I was the Kipling character Daniel
Dravot
in “The Man Who Would
Be King.” Dravot and his sidekick, Peachey
Carnehan, decide that the country they were in was “not big enough for them”
and set out for a strange land. They ultimately
find that strange place where Dravot gets himself crowned both king and Deity and
imbued with omnipotent power over a society of ancient beliefs. He looses everything when he gets bitten and
his subjects see their invulnerable God bleed.
I look around at the world around me and wish I could find
someplace where that could happen to me.
A place where control the news media, where I decide who marries and who
doesn’t, where I am the unquestioned authority.
I could fix a few things. Hmmmm. Maybe I could do some good and stop the junk
that fills the airwave. Fill it with my ultra-liberal
beliefs and the world will be a better place. Everyone could eat whatever
overpriced pressed chicken they want to and not have to take a political
stance, either way, on something that is NOT ANYONES BUSINESS!!!
Therein lays the real problem today. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE! It is not
going to cure cancer, solve the problem of global warming, or feed any starving
children in America. By virtue of the fact
that I grew weary of watching it, reading it, and having it forced down my throat,
I have found myself engaged in the debate.
Proof of this is the fact that I have other works to finish…three or
four short stories, two books, and a course syllabus for a series of workshops
on spiritual awakenings, all being neglected while I write this blog about some
ridiculous news item about some ridiculous chicken shack that is way too
expensive for this starving artist to eat at.
I have found muse in this subject and must now finish. After all, you are reading this for free, and
that means I get to have my two cents.
In truth, if I did find some literary magical land, I would
not last as long as Drayton. The people
in this enchanted existence would easily see me as the bleeding heart liberal I am, and
shove me off the bridge instead of just cutting it out from under me.
Peace
