What a Week!!

This past week has witnessed a “show of forces” regarding the statement made by the CEO of Chick-Fil-A, proclaiming his company’s stance regarding same sex marriage.  I am sure that, by now, we are all aware of this issue.  After doing some research, and gathering what information I could find, I am encouraged by the results.

On Wednesday, people were given the opportunity to show their support for Chick-Fil-A as that was the day set aside for us to show our appreciation of the company and their values.  Although I could not find any information regarding actual sales numbers, the company did report that it was an “unprecedented day.”  I, personally, can attest to this as I visited a local Chick-Fil-A restaurant myself.  I also witnessed, as many of us did, the videos shown on news stations and the internet of the enormous amount of traffic that this generated – the enormous numbers of people showing support for the company.

Now, on Friday, certain gay rights activists planned a “Kiss-In” – apparently in protest of Wednesday – or at least to have their own day to show their support for their views.  I think that is probably fair – now each side has had their day.  The results I found regarding Friday were very encouraging.

I found numbers for the Chick-Fil-A in Decatur, Georgia.   Decatur is approximately 7 or 8 miles from downtown Atlanta and is actually inside the I-285 perimeter.  I have no actual population numbers for this area, but I think most people are familiar with the fact that this is a highly populated area.  However, the number of people who showed up for the “Kiss-In” at the restaurant in Decatur, Georgia was twenty (20).  Yes – only 20.    

While, I did not find any hard and fast numbers for the New York City area, I did see where organizers were “hoping for 150 – 200 people.”  Yes – they were at least expecting a much larger crowd than showed up in Georgia.  However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, who just released population statistics for 2011 on June 28^th of this year, the population of New York City, NY is 8,244,910.  This means that the organizers were “hoping for” a mere 0.0000242% of the population to show up in their support. 

Again, as far as I could find no actual sales numbers have been released by Chick-Fil-A, but they were quoted as having said that Friday was an average day.  In a way, I find it sad that any “one” company had to take the heat for taking a stance on this issue, but if it makes us stop and think and get off our couches and actually stand for what we believe – GREAT!  I think this is exactly what this has accomplished.  However, perhaps we should do this more often that simply on any one specified day.  We should show our support for what we believe in every day – as a normal part of our daily lives.

Also, a shout out to the Wendy’s restaurants in North Carolina who posted signs in their establishments on Wednesday showing support for Chick-Fil-A.

Where do you stand?  And, do you support your stand or simply sit back and take no action at all?