Just a sandwich: Why do people make everything so political?

By David McElroy · August 2, 2012

I didn’t eat at Chick-fil-A Wednesday, but only because I new the lines would be around the block on a day that was being billed as “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” which was a response to the groups that have been trying to get everyone to boycott my favorite chicken restaurant.

For as long as I can remember, Chick-fil-A has been an enjoyable part of my life. Back when they just had the sandwich, I used to throw away the bread and pickle, because the chicken was all I wanted. I switched to the nuggets and then to the strips when they were introduced. I have other favorites at other places. The Big Mac and the Whopper were pretty good if I wanted unhealthy burgers — as most of us do sometimes. And the old, discontinued Big Twin (which was an even better knockoff of the Big Mac) at Hardee’s was another favorite. (And speaking of Hardee’s, it’s hard to beat their sausage biscuits.)

There’s lot of food from a lot of places that I’ve loved over the years. But I have to confess that with every favorite I’d add to my list (or choice I’d remember to never buy again), the only thing that mattered to me was whether I liked the food. I never once considered the politics of the people who sold me the sandwich.

The people who serve me the food and the people who manage the companies I’ve patronized almost certainly hold political views that I find repugnant. As an anarchist of the libertarian stripe (anarcho-capitalist variety), I have to accept the fact that almost everybody holds political views that offend me.

Somehow, though, I’m able to do business with these people. Why? Because buying a sandwich isn’t about politics. It’s about buying a sandwich.

At this point, I’m pretty tired of the organized pressure groups on all sides — of just about every issue — trying to make everything in life political. If I want to eat at Chick-fil-A, it’s because I want their chicken, not because I’m making a political statement. If I don’t go there for a few days, it’s not because I’m boycotting anyone. I just might have something else to do. In other words, the transactions I make in the market are for one purpose only. They’re to satisfy the needs I have to buy or sell a product or service. Isn’t that as it should be?

People today have become so eager to make everything political that it’s hard to bring up anything — even to make jokes — without someone turning it in a political direction. Is that all these people think about? Can they not turn off their partisan brains long enough to experience good-natured fun or discussion that has nothing to do with the “team” they follow — Red or Blue or whatever?

I’m glad that Chick-fil-A is thriving and I’m glad that a lot of people supported the company Wednesday. The people I know who made it a point to go there did so because they didn’t like what they saw as bullying from political activists. I’m sure there were some people who went because they hate gay people, but I don’t know anyone who felt that way. The people I talked with merely felt strongly that a company owner should be able to do what he pleased with his own money and not be attacked for it.

I hate it that Mike Huckabee and his group will get credit for making “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” a hit, because it’s definitely political to him. I wish both sides of the culture wars would just shut up about trying to turn our mundane little choices into political issues.

The food I eat has to do with whether I like the taste or not. My food isn’t a political statement. I enjoy not having to keep up with what the management and employees of the various companies believe. Frankly, I don’t care. I just want the food I like.

Now let’s go get some Chick-fil-A.

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On a live awards show Sunday night, one man made a joke about a female celebrity. The husband of the celebrity was offended and hit the man who made the joke. Or maybe it was staged for entertainment. Who knows? Who cares? Social media is full of discussion — and even arguments — about this idiocy today. This baffles me. Let’s assume for a moment that the event happened as reported. People have been having such idiotic fights ever since there have been humans. Half the bars in the world see such brief dustups regularly. It simply doesn’t matter. The fact that so many people believe they need to talk about this — or even need to have opinions about it — is more evidence of the bizarre media brainwashing that convinces many to care passionately about brain-dead trivia. Your life will be happier and saner if you focus on yourself, your family and your friends, not on whatever scripted (or spontaneous) bilge that the media wants to pipe into your home.

I’m in the middle of migrating this website to new servers this week. This means you might encounter some unexpected behavior until I get all the bugs worked out. Clicking on my links (including this one) might cause your browser to give you the message that it’s a site without a current security certificate. It’s not actually unsafe, but there’s something which isn’t yet set up for the security certificate. I apologize for any such errors you might encounter while the process is going on. If you notice any problems with content which didn’t migrate properly, I would appreciate you letting me know the details at davidmcelroy@mac.com. Thanks for your patience.

I often wonder what animals think when they look at us and consider the society we’ve created. Yes, I know this is fanciful and unrealistic, but what if they could? Would they be astounded at how we treat each other? Would they be disgusted by the ugliness and pettiness which fill so many of our daily interactions? The truth is that I’m feeling pretty disgusted with humanity tonight. I made the mistake of reading some online interactions that I should have avoided — and it sickened me. The people involved appeared to be vile and stupid and arrogant. I wish I could pretend they’re a tiny minority, but I know better. It’s times such as this when I most need to escape much of “civilization” and disconnect from their world. If humans are going to be worthy of “ruling this planet,” we have a lot of growth to do. And I fear that growth is nowhere in sight. So my buddy Thomas, above, and all of his friends would be right to judge us harshly — and to think, “Why do you folks get to be in charge?”

I should have expected this, but I honestly didn’t. The article I wrote last week about disagreements over treatment for autistic children brought me angry emails. You could almost call it “hate mail.” Of the five emails about it so far, two have been to tell me that I’m wrong to even listen to critics of the most popular therapy for autistic children — and the other three tell me I’m wrong for not condemning the treatment as the “obvious” abuse it is. If you read the article, you know I didn’t take a position on the issue, because I simply don’t know enough to have an opinion. But by talking about the issue, I stepped into a heated controversy. The emails from the two sides convinced me of nothing. But they did give me even more empathy for the unfortunate parents who have to figure out for themselves where the truth lies for their children.

Have you ever had what you thought was a new idea — and then discovered that “old you” had the same idea years ago? I had that experience tonight. And it’s been wonderful. I came up with an idea tonight for a very short satirical film that would be a promotion for a fictitious college. The point is to make the college promote — as good things — everything which is actually terrible about most modern colleges. Then I remembered a fake college that I invented back when I was in college. I had created student recruitment brochures and various newsletters back then, so I decided to call my “new” college by the same name I’d invented years ago: Ochita College. As I searched my computer for any old material I might still have about Ochita from the past, I discovered an email I sent to someone in 2009 — outlining essentially the same idea which I came up with tonight. Since I didn’t remember writing that, it felt like magic. So my next film project just might be this one instead. If all goes well, you might soon see “Ochita College: Your Future Starts Here.” This should be fun.

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