Updated: ‘Absolutely mobbed’ - Chick-Fil-A restaurants deluged
Life Site News ^ | August 1, 2012 | KATHLEEN GILBERT
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012 6:10:41
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.
