August 1, 2012: A Day We, The People, Spoke Up

August 1, 2012. We, the people, spoke. We did it with action, with deed, and our dollars. A man was asked about his personal convictions. Considering Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays since the founders are Christians. He spoke up (in a religious magazine, I might add) and was vilified for it. Mayors of major cities spoke and said his company was not welcome in their cities. We, the people, said that wasn't right!!!!!

On any normal day,  the location I visited would probably have a comfortable amount of customers at drive- thru. Normally, one lane would be enough but on this day, that was not the case.

On any normal day, you would have people waiting inside to place their order. But on this day, the line ends at the drive through window. That was one line..............
 

....... as you can see, the line is wrapping around the building. The external perimeter of the building and the line with people trying to get into the doors. This crowd is facing west...... right in the path of the hot setting sun. Drive-thru also maxed out. NOT ONE PERSON left.

 The people are getting closer......... and a little relief in sight. Nonetheless, the people waited to make a statement.

This woman was such a breath of fresh air. It's 90-plus degrees and she's outside offering water to the people waiting outside. She was in and out making sure people were cared for. No one asked for the water but this location's team cared to offer it.

And as fast as you think you're getting closer........... well, not so fast..............................................

It's now inside. It's much cooler inside that you might imagine. But there was only one problem. I was still outside. The picture below shows an overflow line that I saw when I got in. This was before.

This was taken not long before I arrived. 

15 minutes later, you can see this line is backed up. Another example of what we, the people, looks like. 

 A view from the bottom from underneath the Chick-Fil-A sign. The original chicken sandwich. So Rahm Emmanuel doesn't want more Chick-Fil-A's, huh? I bet the Mayors of Dolton, Cicero, Rosemont, Park Ridge, Niles, and Lincolnwood (among others) will gladly take them in. 

30 minutes later, I finally made it inside. I was amazed how cool it was inside, especially with the amount of people in the building. It's times like this that reminds me of what "we, the people" means. We said that we will not be bullied. It was a fun time, speaking and laughing with the people.

In this picture, "We, the People" came in different walks of life and interests. Every generation represented families and singles. We said enough was enough.

The most outstanding crew you can imagine. In all this chaos, this crew stayed focused. They genuinely kept a positive, upbeat mood. They made sure that we, the people, got what we paid for.  Below, shows a few things. First, notice how up to this point, how clean this place is. Despite how many people have gone through, the place was near spotless. Not one order was messed up. 

 The line getting into this location. Part 1. If you think that this was fun, this was just to get into the lot. This was more than chicken. To steal a tweet from @GovMikeHuckabee- America ate chicken today; Rahm Emanuel ate crow.

This lot is normally empty at 7:PM on any given night. Not today!!!!

The drive thru, part 2. One more thing. I hope their takes are full. If not, no worries. There's a gas station across the street. As the old saying goes, let you wallet do the talking. We, the people, spoke loudly today with our feet AND our wallets. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!! If one voice is silenced, it won't be long before others are silenced as well.  Don't forget that. 

Dinner is served!!! Thank you, Chick-Fil-A, in Wheaton, Illinois.  Despite all the crowds, menu items running low or out completely and the complete chaos that came with it, you kept things going and made the wait worth it. You passed the test!!! Job well done. We, the people, thank you!!!

Space for Lease: Who is REALLY at Fault Here?

As I drive around where I live, I noticed how many businesses are shutting their doors. Under normal circumstances, a business will leave and another will take its place. Then this week, it dawned on me than many haven't come back at all. I decided to take my digital camera out for a little spin and snap a few pictures. The pictures were taken in one of Illinois largest towns, Naperville, IL. The population is just under 150,000 people and household median income of around $100,000. There are several corporations in the area including BP, Tellabs, and energy company Nalco just to name three (not to mention companies in the neighboring cities, including only 3 that have just around 300,000-325,000 people combined). Of the places I am showing here, all of these businesses were active 3-5 years ago. How is it that so many places in towns like these are seeing this? I have a few I can point at.

First, let's look at our friends in Washington DC. Our President, who believes high taxes are the way to grow the economy. Let's look at the people in our legislative branch who think the same way. They say the economy is the priority and this is the result, I would hate to think about what is much lower on their list. To think that a Millionaire or Billionaire would want to build a business in a place like this. Sure, let's tax the rich. Go ahead, keep raising taxes and keep the tax codes a mess. Meanwhile, money that could come and build a business in the places I showed will remain on the sideline. These people can't even come up with a years budget (3 years and counting) and you expect me to think they can create a solid economic plan. Too many states (especially mine) have embraced the tax and waste mentality. Forget about all the money that's been printed as well (that is a story in itself). These pictures show what 8%-plus unemployment looks like (not to mention 15% Black unemployment, 50% teen unemployment and countless others who have quit looking for work altogether). They also represent what slow or no economic growth looks like. Not a pretty picture, right? We could make life easier on business owners so not only that they can do business, but hire some people while they're at it. That would make too much sense. Washington wants to make it hard for businesses to exist in policy. While they all do that, you'll see a lot more of this..................

and this.......................

Washington is the only ones to blame here. I blame some of these developers/landlords of these developments. Why do I do that? Work with me for a sec. In a different city nearby, I frequented a particular major chain. I noticed that two of their flagship/anchor stores had closed their doors. The place I frequented also close a while back. When I visited a different location, I spoke with a woman (I'll call "Sue") who I normally dealt with at her prior location. As she and I started to talk, she informed me of something key. When she did, I really was in disbelief. For those who aren't aware, more retail business leases average 5 years in length (give or take a year or 2). What "Sue" told me was that the landlords wanted a 10 YEAR LEASE. I know how retail works as it relates to leases. I know several small business owners (either as customers or friends) and when I told them, they were as shocked as I was. So instead of seeing these businesses filled up, people now have more uncertainty to deal with. Not only do they not know what (and how) the tax structure is going to be going forward, now you don't know how that will translate to your business. So not matter what happens, you are stuck on a lease for 10 years no matter if your business fails or outgrows a given location. Landlords, adapt on the fly. Don't be like the landlord I mentioned here. So if 10 years is the "new norm" going forward, my money is that we will see more of this.............................

and this.................................

and goodness forbid this (this particular mall is about 60% unoccupied)...........................................

So let's Occupy some space. Let the people who can make this happen do their thing. Washington- GET OUT OF THE WAY. These places are already built. Let someone come to it. Landlords, decided what is best for you- 5 year lease with potential renewal or 10 years lease and more of what you see above. As I said at the start, this is one of Chicago's more "well off" suburbs. I imagine it's worse in the city. Army & Lou's, a Chicago South Side, Black-owned restaurant/institution, celebrated its 65th birthday in 2012.

(1) However, like many other businesses, Army and Lou's closed it's doors in 2011. It had hoped to remain at least providing catering service. That dream also ended. I can't help but think that for every Army and Lou's we know of, I'm curious of how many more we don't know about. The moral of the story is simple. Bad policy hurts everyone. Now it's time for good policy. Let's start by changing our country's leadership from top to bottom. The change every really needs happens this coming November. References: 1. Picture taken from http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com, "Still Summer in Chicago" Posted on September 12th, 2010 by Jessica Alfreds.