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.
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.
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!!!
