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Tell Me About Your Time at Chick-fil-A Yesterday

  • Jim Daly Jim Daly is president and chief executive officer of Focus on the Family, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families thrive.
  • Updated Aug 21, 2012

 

Posted by Jim_Daly Aug 2, 2012

As most of you know, yesterday was Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, organized by our friend, former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. Because they’re a privately owned corporation, Chick-fil-A isn’t expected to release sales figures from yesterday’s events, but from what I’ve seen and heard, it was a record-setting day for the organization.

Don’t you like it when good folks do well?

I visited one of the Chick-fil-A restaurants near Focus yesterday morning and bought 20 sandwiches for some members of my team. I tried to order 650 more for our entire staff to take home for dinner, but they just didn’t have the capacity to fulfill such a large order. A Chick-fil-A employee at that location told a person in my office they usually have about three catering orders in a day. Yesterday they had 40.

We heard from one operator that his Chick-fil-A store saw more than three times as much business as usual and twice as much as his busiest day ever. He said the line began forming at 6 a.m. and didn’t die down until 10 p.m. He encountered lots of smiles and good-natured customers. He also encountered a few protestors as well as a few other protestors protesting the protestors. A manager from a neighboring fast food competitor called the fire marshal on him, not because he was violating any code, but because Chick-fil-A customers were parking in his parking lot.

The funny thing, though, is that the fire marshal’s mother works for Chick-fil-A.

Clearly, people were excited yesterday to show their support for an honorable company that supports the biblical definition of the family. They were eager to support the company’s freedom of speech because they realize that without that freedom, all the other freedoms are compromised and eventually nullified. In light of recent statements by various politicians seemingly threatening the company’s ability to do business because of its biblical values, even the liberal editorial board of the New York Times acknowledged that government has no place trying to control private enterprise. 

If you went out to Chick-fil-A yesterday, I’m curious to hear of your experience. Please tell me what you saw and what is was like.

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