by Kevin Coupe
Normally, Chick fil A is closed on Sundays. Always has been. It is a key corporate value, reflecting founder Truett Cathy's belief that employees should have one day a week to spend with family and worship, if they chose to do so.
But not last Sunday. Not in Orlando, Florida.
Orlando, of course, was the site of last Sunday's mass shooting at a gay nightclub in which 49 people were killed and dozens were injured, at the hands of a lone gunman. USA Today reports that a Chick fil A nearby opened up on Sunday to provide food for first responders and the hundreds of people who showed up to give blood. The store wasn't open to the general public, but rather focused its attentions and donations on people affected by the largest mass shooting in the history of the country.
Chick fil A didn't announce the decision with a press release. It just did it. And people noticed.
It is, the paper writes, "another sign of how far the company has come in re-crafting its image after CEO Dan Cathy incited customers when he spoke out against gay marriage in 2012, leading to protests at stores." Subsequently, Cathy walked back those statements, saying that he would leave it to others to discuss social policy.
It also, to my way of thinking, is a demonstration of basic human kindness and generosity ... demonstrating that in hard times, most people will do the right thing, regardless of what they believe or what they look like or who they happen to love.
It was and is an Eye-Opener. Good for them.
Normally, Chick fil A is closed on Sundays. Always has been. It is a key corporate value, reflecting founder Truett Cathy's belief that employees should have one day a week to spend with family and worship, if they chose to do so.
But not last Sunday. Not in Orlando, Florida.
Orlando, of course, was the site of last Sunday's mass shooting at a gay nightclub in which 49 people were killed and dozens were injured, at the hands of a lone gunman. USA Today reports that a Chick fil A nearby opened up on Sunday to provide food for first responders and the hundreds of people who showed up to give blood. The store wasn't open to the general public, but rather focused its attentions and donations on people affected by the largest mass shooting in the history of the country.
Chick fil A didn't announce the decision with a press release. It just did it. And people noticed.
It is, the paper writes, "another sign of how far the company has come in re-crafting its image after CEO Dan Cathy incited customers when he spoke out against gay marriage in 2012, leading to protests at stores." Subsequently, Cathy walked back those statements, saying that he would leave it to others to discuss social policy.
It also, to my way of thinking, is a demonstration of basic human kindness and generosity ... demonstrating that in hard times, most people will do the right thing, regardless of what they believe or what they look like or who they happen to love.
It was and is an Eye-Opener. Good for them.
- KC's View:
