To Eat, Or Not To Eat, The Delicious Hate Chicken, That Is The Question

[Tywin et al.]

This thread asks a simple question; would you support a company or institution that you find to be morally reprehensible, but has a product that you desperately want? I ask this because they just opened a Chick-fil-A by my house, and while I believe the owner of the company is an awful person, I really want their chicken sandwich and waffle fries. Have you ever had to ask yourself this, and in that situation what did you end up doing?

[Bronn Stone]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

This thread asks a simple question; would you support a company or institution that you find to be morally reprehensible, but has a product that you desperately want? I ask this because they just opened a Chick-fil-A by my house, and while I believe the owner of the company is an awful person, I really want their chicken sandwich and waffle fries. Have you ever had to ask yourself this, and in that situation what did you end up doing?

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie.  I'll never know because I won't eat the filthy mother f***ers.

My nieces are hooked on Chick-Fil-A.  It saddens me.

[Tywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Bronn Stone said:

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie.  I'll never know because I won't eat the filthy mother f***ers.

My nieces are hooked on Chick-Fil-A.  It saddens me.

It's so good and yet so evil. Stupid UofMN for putting one in it's cafeteria! I don't eat much fast food, but that stuff was amazing. 

[Dr. Pepper]

Yes, I've had to ask myself this.  The answer to myself was that I needed that chicken sandwich.  I hated myself a little bit, but then a few months later I got another chicken sandwich and waffle fries.  Where I lived at the time, that franchise was really popular and on nearly every corner.  It was also common to have meetings there.  So I ended up eating some more chicken sandwiches.  I don't feel great about those choices but it is what it is.  Now that I've moved, I've managed to easily avoid, but I recognize I might one day find myself desiring those stupid motherfucking fries.  

[LongRider]

Stay away from the evil that is Chik Fil A!  Even their stupid name is bad.  Find a small independent chicken shop and buy from them.  

[Eggegg]

On my recent trip to NY I had my first taste of Chicken-fil-a.. and it was horrendous! So I could easily let my morals take over and not eat it. 

However, here in the UK I do love me a Nandos! I don't know anything about their moral practices, but no company cooking that many chickens can be doing so in a loving way. 

If we were to be only paying people who we know do things ethically we'd end up having to be almost entirely self sufficient, eating grubs out of the earth!

[Tywin et al.]

14 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

Yes, I've had to ask myself this.  The answer to myself was that I needed that chicken sandwich.  I hated myself a little bit, but then a few months later I got another chicken sandwich and waffle fries.  Where I lived at the time, that franchise was really popular and on nearly every corner.  It was also common to have meetings there.  So I ended up eating some more chicken sandwiches.  I don't feel great about those choices but it is what it is.  Now that I've moved, I've managed to easily avoid, but I recognize I might one day find myself desiring those stupid motherfucking fries.  

I wouldn’t have expected the hate chicken to have defeated you. And yes, those damn waffle fries keep dragging you back, no matter how hard you try to resist.

1 hour ago, Nasty LongRider said:

Stay away from the evil that is Chik Fil A!  Even their stupid name is bad.  Find a small independent chicken shop and buy from them.  

But it’s like Sarah Palin’s Russia. I can see it from my house!

[Maithanet]

In capitalist America, there are no clean moral choices.  Virtually everything we do goes to support a corporation that does things that we probably don't like.  Turning on a light, using toilet paper, buying food, using your cell phone, all of it. 

So the question is what moral compromises you are willing to accept and which ones you are not.  Often the distinction between those is very capricious - one companies bad behavior is publicised like Chick fil A, or Barilla or Papa Johns, whereas another isn't.  For example, I still can't keep track of which toilet paper is Koch owned.  Most of them are. 

I don't want to say that voting with your dollar isn't worthwhile, I think it is.  This is virtually the only power we have against corporate malfeasance.  But don't think that one choice about Chick Fil A is making the difference between clear morality and embracing villainy.  If you feel like the chicken sandwich is worth it, don't worry about it.  You can try and find some non-Koch toilet paper instead. 

[Dr. Pepper]

53 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I wouldn’t have expected the hate chicken to have defeated you. And yes, those damn waffle fries keep dragging you back, no matter how hard you try to resist.

I have all sorts of excuses, like that the kids just really loved it or that I couldn't skip the meetings that were held there and the kids needed to eat while I was having my meeting and that not eating there is way easier without the kids or without being able to see it from my house.  But mostly it's what @Maithanet said, there are no clean moral choices.  I have never walked into a Hobby Lobby and I'll likely never have a reason to do so, but it's not like the places where I choose to purchase my crafts have a 100% good record when it comes to women and their healthcare.  It gets discouraging when you start doing the research about where to shop and learn that corporations are all shit because capitalism is total shit.  

[kairparavel]

Most of my shoes are from New Balance/Aravon because generally they are the only brand with a wide enough toe box. I hate that it has to be this way because of the NB CEO's leanings but also because it limits me to terribly unsexy shoes. I buy from them out of need and donate to causes that are in opposition to their shitty views.

[Maithanet]

4 minutes ago, kairparavel said:

Most of my shoes are from New Balance/Aravon because generally they are the only brand with a wide enough toe box. I hate that it has to be this way because of the NB CEO's leanings but also because it limits me to terribly unsexy shoes. I buy from them out of need and donate to causes that are in opposition to their shitty views.

See, I didn't even know about New Balance's political leanings.  I like that (some of) their shoes are made in America. 

[Dr. Pepper]

I also didn't know that the Koch Bros might be making toilet paper and I've made the decision to not look because I don't know what I'd do if I had to start using a different brand.  It takes forever to find what you like.  

[Liver and Onions]

Well, at least the Koch brand toilet paper is used appropriately... 

I agree that it's near impossible to only support 100% ethical business, especially if one is on a budget. And since so many smaller companies are owned by sneaky giant ones... I guess we just have to keep trying. I admit I never liked Chick-Fil-A, so that one's not a problem for me. Maybe you can figure out how to make your own waffle fries? 

[Larry of the Lawn]

Just gave up toilet paper and shoes for the new year

[Erik of Hazelfield]

This looked like a chicken, like most of the Mud People's chickens. But this was no chicken. This was evil manifest.

Sorry, someone had to say it. 

[DMC]

As a smoker (just cigarettes; although the same problem is coming to weed soon!) this is virtually impossible to avoid.  And as Maith said, it's also virtually impossible to keep up with all the odious views held by the CEOs of the major companies that sell all our products.  Focusing on Chick-fil-A though, when I was getting my first MA my closest friend/cohort was gay (and extremely politically conscious) and he would always want to go there.  Enjoyed giving him shit about that.

[drawkcabi]

Yeah, I don't know if the CEO's of McDonald's, Arby's, PizzaHut, etc. are any better than Chick-fil-a or Papa John's even if they are more outspoken or just happen to be the ones caught on record hate spewing and got media attention. My guess is they are all just as bad in practice.

Chick-fil-a chicken is the tastiest fast food chicken I've had, though I don't get it that often. I don't get the love for waffle fries though. They always taste bland to me. Need salt. And when I put salt on them it's always uneven so it's one bite nasty over salted and one bite bland.

On 12/28/2017 at 1:04 PM, Tywin et al. said:

This thread asks a simple question; would you support a company or institution that you find to be morally reprehensible, but has a product that you desperately want? I ask this because they just opened a Chick-fil-A by my house, and while I believe the owner of the company is an awful person, I really want their chicken sandwich and waffle fries. Have you ever had to ask yourself this, and in that situation what did you end up doing?

Try the Arby's Smokehouse chicken sandwich and curly fries as a substitute. It's roasted chicken on a bun and mighty, mighty tasty. Maybe a little more greasy than Chick-fil-a, but it doesn't destroy intestines like Arby's "roast beef" does.

 

I don't care, I'm not giving up my bears' tp. It's amazing stuff! You seen the commercials? When the bears started using it they were still living in the woods and would stick a roll on a tree branch, now they are living in houses, going on vacations, packing suitcases, staying in hotels. It all started with the tp. I can't give up something so powerful!

[Larry of the Lawn]

This suggests that at least Arby's still has some class

 

The link describes a feel good moment in the 'nihilist arbys' Twitter account history.

[Dr. Pepper]

My sister who is starting to realize that she’s actually very liberal bought me chick fil a this afternoon. I was very tempted to bring up the politics. Instead I used the moment when she she said she wanted to stop by hobby lobby and I casually mentioned they fight against her right to birth control and abortion, both reproductive choices she’s utilized. She raged for like ten minutes and then nervously asked if it was a liberal conspiracy. I’m having great fun teaching a couple of my family members that they are actually raging liberals.

[LongRider]

14 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

My sister who is starting to realize that she’s actually very liberal bought me chick fil a this afternoon. I was very tempted to bring up the politics. Instead I used the moment when she she said she wanted to stop by hobby lobby and I casually mentioned they fight against her right to birth control and abortion, both reproductive choices she’s utilized. She raged for like ten minutes and then nervously asked if it was a liberal conspiracy. I’m having great fun teaching a couple of my family members that they are actually raging liberals.

There is a delicious irony of helping your sister towards liberalism while eating at a Chik-Fil-A.