Last weekend, Karen and I made a quick beach trip.... in Indiana. Yes, it was a great lake instead of the ocean, but it has a sandy beach, water as far as you can see and waves (not really tall, though) so I'm counting it as a beach trip. On Saturday, we went to the Indiana Dunes State Park and the beach was packed, full of families enjoying a hot (90 degree+) summer day. On Sunday, we went to the adjacent Indiana Dunes National Park. We got to the National Park at about 9:00 am and beat a lot of the crowd. We walked the beach, hiked up some of the dunes, and stood in the water. Here are a couple photos from that trip:
The view from the top of one of the dunes, all the trees you see are growing in sand, which is pretty amazing considering the wind that comes off the lake. The tall dunes were over 130+ feet above the water level.
Beach level view, with a steel mill's smoke stacks visible in the distance. It looks just like the ocean!
Me enjoying the waves.
And, the CFO found a cupcake shop (her favorite), so we split a "Big Texas" chocolate cupcake with a chocolate cream in the middle, chocolate frosting with chocolate chips on top.
Unfortunately, the big city to the north of us made some news this week when a council member targeted my favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-a. Several people have brought up the topic to me and it is definitely getting me wound up a bit. Everyone knows that company is, and always has been, a Chirstian, religious based company. Hence the fact that they are closed on Sundays and many locations play Christian music inside the restaurant. Based on the fact that we know it is a southern, faith based, privately owned company, are we really surprised that the owner said what he said? I sure wasn't. I'm pretty surprised that it is creating such a stir.
Do I agree with his opinion? No. I have many gay friends and I totally support them being able to get married, adopt kids, share benefits, etc. What ever makes them happy. While I do disagree with his position, I'm still going to eat there. Why? Because they sell a great product, they put a lot of their young employees through college with scholarships and they allow their employees to be off on Sunday for church and/or family time. They could make a ton of money if they were open on Sundays (I, for one, always seemed to crave it the most on Sundays), but they are following their values and are sticking to them. I am not sure when believing in your religion suddenly became such a negative thing and makes you a huge target. I don't think this is a good thing.
If you disagree with him and feel like you need to make a statement, then don't eat there. Go get a crappy chicken sandwich at McDonalds instead.
Do I think his statement is something that a city can use as a reason not to grant a business a permit? Absolutely not. It is totally, 100% anti-religious, against our right to free speech and it isn't the American way. Allowing them to reject a permit based on this would be a huge step backwards and would open the door to other opinions becoming factors. If they do reject a permit, I expect that it would get overturned in a court of law.
If you disagree with him and feel like you need to make a statement, then don't eat there. Go get a crappy chicken sandwich at McDonalds instead.
Do I think his statement is something that a city can use as a reason not to grant a business a permit? Absolutely not. It is totally, 100% anti-religious, against our right to free speech and it isn't the American way. Allowing them to reject a permit based on this would be a huge step backwards and would open the door to other opinions becoming factors. If they do reject a permit, I expect that it would get overturned in a court of law.
Based on my personal experience on helping businesses get building permits, I don't think the city of Chicago can keep them from getting a permit based on this. It isn't like there is a series of check boxes on the application for your business's opinion on gay marriage, guns, the death penalty, ObamaCare, etc. That would be ridiculous. If someone can afford to, and wants to, open a business then the government shouldn't stop them. If they get enough traffic, they will stay in business. If they don't have a great product or piss off everyone, they won't make any money and will close down. Welcome to the free market, the basis of what made the USA what it is today.
After all the bad press, I guarantee you that the council is wishing this issue would just disappear. If they do reject the next permit for a Chick-fil-a, they will try to say it is because of "traffic" or some other Bull-$hit excuse, but we'll all know the real reason.
After all the bad press, I guarantee you that the council is wishing this issue would just disappear. If they do reject the next permit for a Chick-fil-a, they will try to say it is because of "traffic" or some other Bull-$hit excuse, but we'll all know the real reason.
Scott looks like a great trip, I have a suggestion for you guys. You know I think it is required to go see the Soo Locks at Sault Ste Marie (http://www.exploringthenorth.com/soo/locks.html)
ReplyDeleteAND Mackinac Island MI. just ask our kids everyone needs to go there ;) I personally like the locks they are amazing with huge ships very cool.
I love Chick-fil-a especially on sundays when I can't have it why is that?