Posted on 08/01/2012 3:10:41 PM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON, August 1, 2012 (LifeSitenews.com) - Countless lunchgoers posted pictures on their Facebook pages and Twitter showing their Chick-Fil-A stores and drive-thrus stuffed to the gills on Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, a show of support for CEO Dan Cathy’s Biblical stance on marriage.
Conservative leaders from across America described the chicken-crazed chaos.
Jim Sedlak of the American Life League said that “our little Chick-Fil-A in Stafford, Virginia was absolutely mobbed at lunch time,” forcing hungry families to journey over from nearby parking lots.
“They have a very little parking lot, but it was just absolutely mobbed today. It was terrific,” Sedlak told LifeSiteNews.com over the telephone. He said the drive through line “snaked almost twice around the building” and, “from the size of the bags people were carrying out, purchasing LOTS of food.”
“Drive thru 1/4 mile long and an epic crowd outside waiting. No parking for 1/4 mile,” Troy Newman of Pro-Life Nation, which is based in Wichita, Kan., told LSN in an email from his mobile phone. “And it’s 106 degrees! Get me a peach shake.”
Both mainstream media and local media are taking notice. NPR noted with photos that the Appreciation Day brought out “supportive crowds,” while the Huffington Post posted a liveblog streaming news of luncheoning marriage supporters, contrasted with sentiment from opponents. ABC and CNN noted the “throngs” of “thousands” supporting the event, while the U.K.‘s Guardian newspaper catalogued the chicken-fest from afar with a collection of Twitter updates.
Another marriage supporter said she was “a little disappointed” when she saw no crowd in the morning, but the quarter-mile drive through backup at lunch made up for it.
“Once I got into the place, you could hardly move. It was rockin’! And no one seemed to mind the wait. Everyone was smiling and high-fiving each other,” she said. A friend said the nearby restaurant in a shopping mall was also packed.
Blogger Jill Stanek told LSN simply, “overcrowded” - with a picture of a sign directing Chick-Fil-A parking to the home improvement megastore Lowe’s.
Cassie Dignam, marketing manager of the Chick-Fil-A in Orland Park, IL, told Stanek the business was “crazy since 9 am” despite having been barely aware of the event themselves. “We heard about the Chick-Fil-A appreciation day through the media. It isn’t sponsored by us,” she said. “We’ve had more customers today than we had at our grand opening.”
As fans line up for a hot chicken lunch at Chick-Fil-A Wednesday to support the company’s stance for traditional marriage, one family leader is calling on participants to snap photos of the event at their local restaurant and send them in for publishing on his Facebook page.
Over 600,000 people joined the Facebook event for Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, vowing to “Eat More Chikin” at their local restaurant.
Bryan Fischer, Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association (AFA) and host of talk radio program Focal Point, is calling on all involved in the August 1 “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day” to help him collect proof of participation of those who decided to “eat mor chikin” than usual that day. Photos can be sent to focalpoint (at) afr.net, along with information on the location, what was ordered and when.
“Be Creative and your picture will be more likely posted,” said a post on the Focal Point Facebook page Wednesday.
The attacks against Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy for defending traditional marriage has made unlikely allies, with the likes of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and former Sen. Rick Santorum siding with the American Civil Liberties Union to decry discrimination against Cathy’s right to his religious beliefs.
The mayors of Boston, Chicago and D.C. have meanwhile joined a chorus of liberal personalities calling for the famously Christian restaurant to be banished, declaring belief in traditional marriage tantamount to bigotry against homosexuals: D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray in a tweet Friday dubbed the chain “hate chicken.”
The crusade against traditional marriage supporters marks a new epoch unleashed after President Obama walked back his own long-held position in favor of traditional marriage, finally declaring support for redefining the institution in May after months of speculation.
“At 4:30 PM in Gulfport, Mississippi,”
It was crazy in Mobile. It took me about an hour and a half from arrival to getting my food. No complaint about CFA, the were totally overwhelmed and were doing the absolute best they could. The staff, despite the crowds and stress, were extremely cheerful and helpful. The customers had outstanding attitudes with no complaints or signs of impatience. It was incredible.
Not much busier than usual in Knoxville TN.
That’s kind of strange considering what it looks like happened every where else around the country.
I was involved with the youth ministry at my old church, where we had weekly attendance of 600-700 kids plus 100 leaders.
Easily 600 people OUTSIDE CFA, with more arriving.
Personally, I'd like to see the gays do a kiss in. The way I see it, the more the gays make this an issue, the more normal people will rebel against them.
Sooner or later the gays may figure out that their shenanigans are actually BOOSTING CFA's sales.
I was involved with the youth ministry at my old church, where we had weekly attendance of 600-700 kids plus 100 leaders.
Easily 600 people OUTSIDE CFA, with more arriving.
Personally, I'd like to see the gays do a kiss in. The way I see it, the more the gays make this an issue, the more normal people will rebel against them.
Sooner or later the gays may figure out that their shenanigans are actually BOOSTING CFA's sales.
I left for work 30 mins early thinking that at 2pm the CFA at Grand and Bell in Surprise wouldn’t be that busy. Place was swamped with people! Couldn’t wait in line as I had to get to work. The wait had to be at least an hour or more.
Even people who are for homosexual marriage supported Chic-Fil-A today.
This is also a tremendous opportunity to support the First Amendment. The mayors who are trying to bully Chic-Fil-A will find themselves in a world of hurt because as hard as they try, We still have FREE SPEECH in America.
Somebody called Huckabee’s radio show and said people were standing in line in the rain.
Posted this in another related thread:
I stopped by after work today, around 5:30, and the drive through had a line wrapped around twice, and the parking lot was full. I took some pictures, but they are on my phone, which apparently has a terrible camera. Anyways, it was completely packed inside, but I thought I’d share some things I heard while there.
They had set up a section of the restaurant to be a sit down area with a small wait staff to help organize seating and a man got up and went to pay for an iced tea. The manager was behind the counter, and said it was on the house. The man refused and said, “I insist on paying.” (And I also saw that he paid more than the cost of the tea) I also heard two other people tell the manager that if they had run out of food, they would have given Chick Fil A money anyway.
Also, I heard several people say they came in for two or more meals, and one man said that for lunch he was at the original restaurant, and Newt Gingrich was there (don’t know if that’s true, but it is what I heard). I also heard about several traffic delays on the radio because lines from Chick Fil A’s by the highway exit were backing up onto the exit ramp.
The manager also mentioned that they were just as busy as when I arrived for most of the day. And..there were so many orders backed up (due to sheer volume of people, not slow service), that they had to temporarily stop taking orders because their computers couldn’t handle any more backlog.
All in all, it was really great to see so many of the silent majority stand up against liberals’ attacks on marriage.
When I went down, I figured I’d have to wait about 20 minutes to get lunch for myself and my husband. With a 2 hour estimated wait, I took pictures, did some visiting and left. A guy trying to get in said he only had an hour for lunch and couldn’t stay, but he was thrilled to see the outcome. I think this was an affirmation. It’s the TEA Party in action. Grassroots rule!
NO punching? NO stabbing? NO shooting? NO looting?
I’m SHOCKED! SHOCKED, I tell you! (just kidding;)
Dumb Ass Romney missed a massive opportunity today by not going to a chick filet w the bus.
We were old, young, black, white and Hispanic - and all of us were there for the same reason: to support traditional marriage. My little one went off to get straws for us - (she just turned seven) and I wasn't the least concerned about her safety. There were two police offices standing in line with the rest of us - all of us with big smiles... all of us 'family'...
Good - we need to call them what they are: 'anti-Christians'...
You just made tears come to my eyes. This is an absolute wonderful day!
Very nice, null. Thanks.
Mr. Cathy gave us Chick-fil-A - and jobs for all the people who work there - and he’s a role model for standing up to the left - and for shutting down on Sunday. I think that’s enough.
The CFA here is in a mall (West Ridge Mall, Topeka, Kansas)and the entire food court was jam packed even at 7:00PM. The restaurant was nearly out of food and there were easily 100 people in front of me so I left. I’ll try again tomorrow. There were far more people in the mall for the Chik Fil A than shopping.
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