Contemplating the brouhaha surrounding Chick-fil-A, I am reminded of the following retort from season two of the “Buffy” spinoff series “Angel”: “And yet somehow, I just can’t seem to care.” My apathy appears to stem from the following reasons:
- First, I find myself increasingly reluctant to pay attention to the gay marriage issue. As with abortion, I’m just tired of hearing about it. I might listen respectfully, and even offer some thoughts, if the topic is raised by someone I actually know, like a friend or family member. Chick-fil-A’s president is neither.
- Second, as a rule, I pay about as much attention to the public statements of prominent businessmen as I do to those of politicians or celebrities – i.e., very little. I will occasionally make exceptions, if a given businessman discusses a topic of interest to me. But, as noted above, that’s not true of this situation.
- Third, I’m one of those pragmatic/apathetic/cold-hearted/amoral individuals who doesn’t generally let politics enter into my purchasing decisions. Far more important to me are mundane factors like price, quality, service, reliability, etc. So even if I did care about gay marriage, and what Chick-fil-A’s president said about it, I doubt I’d let it affect my buying decision.
- Fourth, although statements by certain politicians did raise First Amendment issues, my initial inclination was to view such statements not as a canary in the coal mine, but rather as evidence for Niven’s Laws #16. Additionally, because the details of First Amendment law don’t much interest me, I really don’t feel qualified to regularly comment on the topic. Moreover, even if I was a First Amendment expert, I still might not bother, because Eugene Volokh – whose opinion I respect – has already done so.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
” individuals who doesn’t generally let politics enter into my purchasing decisions.”
Agreed. I simply dont understand the allure of fried chicken that is not at all crispy, so I still wont buy their stuff. OTOH, one o fhte places at which I work buys CFA chicken for lunch for everyone once every couple of weeks. If it is there, and I dont have to pay, I will certainly eat it, especially since I usually have just 5 minutes to eat.
Steve
You sound like a typical, OK person. I admit to one politically inspired purchasing practice, I don’t buy anything made by Levi’s because they withdrew support of the Boy Scouts. You can get into whether that is anti-gay or not. My motivation is that we have a big tent in this country. If you’re going to try t force everyone to meet your standards, I won’t support you. At the time I made that decision, I hadn’t been associated with the Boy Scouts for over 20 years but had fond memories of many activities I did with the Scouts. (Scouts don’t allow atheists either. It is a religious organization with every troop sponsored by a church.)
Plus, Levi’s are grossly over priced and I’ve found Dickie’s carpenter’s jeans to be extremely comfortable. A lighter weight denim, just loose enough and bigger rear pockets.
That’s the limit of it for me.
Oh, I like Niven’s laws.#16 is particularly funny.
Yes, I think Niven’s law #16 is the one that I most often find myself having occasion to cite :-).
I wish I could have just ignored the whole thing but somehow it sucked me in. I’ve never even been to a Chick-FilA.
Steve2 & Mustang Sally – IIRC, I’ve only been to CFA once. I was neither overly-impressed nor repulsed; so while I probably wouldn’t go there again on my own, nor would I object if others around me wanted to dine there.
DADvocate – Thanks. I don’t generally object to politically-inspired purchasing by others; if someone else feels the need or desire to do so, that’s their business. It’s just not my cup of tea. I rarely buy jeans, but I don’t think I’ve ever owned any Levis. I’ve been disassociated with the Scouts for about as long as you, but I too have fond memories of my time there.
I have developed a taste for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, mainly because it’s just really good ice cream. And during the UFW boycott, I got out of the habit of using iceberg lettuce in salads, but that was mainly because it’s so boring compared to such alternatives as spinach, cabbage, and watercress. As Berthold Brecht says “erst kommt die fressen, dann kommt die Moral” (sorry about any misspellings, I have never seen it written down, just remember it from my German instructor’s recording of the Dreigroschenoper.)