You know what grinds my gears? Making group decisions. My friends and I take forever whether it’s picking a weekend activity or finding a place to eat. I’m sure others can relate. We all have our grading criteria for nutrient consumption; most important of course is the food, if it tastes like the inside of a meth-heads trash can then I probably won’t be eating there. There are other intangible aspects as well; are they quick, is the service friendly, what’s their health rating, and clean bathrooms are always a plus. But what if the restaurant chose for you? We’ve all seen the sign: “we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason.” What if they simply said, “we don’t serve your kind here?” That would just make my life that much easier.
That’s right folks, I’m advocating racism. No I’m not. I’m advocating to allow private businesses to do whatever they want within the demesne of their private property. Before anybody jumps out of their seat and claims everyone deserves the same equal treatment by all – after all it’s 2016 in the US of A – let me ask you this; don’t you deserve to know who your money is going to? Think about all the decision making taken off your shoulders when you show up to your favorite diner and see “Muslims get out” on a sign outside. Hey, if they don’t want money from a demographic who are you to demand them take it?
Does anyone have a problem with this? There’s no reason to get upset someone doesn’t want your money. If I went to the Peckerwood Café and they told me no Niggers allowed, fine. If their food was really good I may try to weasel my way into a half plate, but barring that I would be more than happy to give my money to someone who isn’t going to put it towards something I despise; like snacks for their next Klan rally. Not what I want my 15% tip to go towards.
I said don’t jump out of your seat! Hear me out! Do I think any private business should be able to deny service to anyone for any reason up to and including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and gluten allergy? Yes. Simply because the free market would work around said business. If Burger King banned members of the LGBT community from their restaurants I bet you 100 chicken McNuggets McDonald’s mascot would change from a clown to a unicorn and the golden arches would become rainbows and the execs would ride that horned horse on their private jet to their private island and early retirement. It’s simple supply and demand, which doesn’t stop at our fine eateries either; if a photographer doesn’t want to work at the wedding of a gay couple, another photographer will step up and receive the business from those turned away as well as people who aren’t gay but want to support LGBT equality.
It’s not difficult, either! With the plethora of social media platforms information spreads so fast you can Tweet before takeoff and be fired before landing. Take Sweetcakes by Melissa for example. This was a bakery that politely declined a gay couples request to serve their wedding. Next, they got sued and there was a bunch of hoopla and anger against a bakery that any other day would have served the couple but due to religious reasons chose not to cater a wedding. What if, rather than attacking the business and eventually ruining a law-abiding citizen’s livelihood with a lawsuit, the gay couple had simply posted on social media the event that occurred and let the free market decide the fate of the business? Proponents of marriage equality would join in the boycott. People who didn’t agree or were indifferent to the issue may still shop there. Maybe the business would take a hit and be forced to change, maybe not; the free market would decide. But until then, go somewhere else to buy a damn cake. It’s. Just. A CAKE!!!!! Why would you want to force a company to work for you in the first place? Are you willing to pay full price for a reluctantly made cake?
Boycotts are not a novel idea either and they do have an impact. Target lost an estimated $20 million from a boycott due to their gender neutral bathrooms. And there was a boycott of Chick-fil-A following the news they donate to anti-LGBT groups. Ok, the Chick-fil-A one kinda backfired on the protesters but, I would argue, the reason isn’t because of the protest per se, but the rhetoric. When people are attacked for peacefully saying what they believe it generates sympathy. So don’t give the haters a chance for sympathy! State your case in plain terms to friends and the internet and go on about your life. If you let your hate consume you the terrorists win; when they go low we go high or some such.
Note this argument advocating the increase of freedom of speech to include refusal of service only applies to privately owned businesses. Anything public is paid for by everyone and therefore everyone has a right to. No I don’t think this would have worked in the 1950’s or maybe even as recently 2003 before the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and other major social media platforms. But here we are, almost in 2017 and we have the world at our fingertips in the form of a smartphone – if you have one of those, and there’s nothing wrong if you don’t. I know in a perfect world everything would be rainbows and free smoothies, but since Michael Bay is still making Transformers movies that day is years away. So the next time you get denied service at the ol’ Peckerwood Café, slap the owner on the ass and give ‘em a big wet one because now there’s one less ignoramus using your money for their foul deeds. Thanks racism.
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