With only eight days until Super Bowl LIII between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, I thought I would propose a couple of questions to you today. The questions will give you something to ponder the next few days as you begin preparing for your Super Bowl party or family gathering to watch this annual football game.
A you know, Super Bowl LIII will be played this year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and as you know, Super Bowl commercials have been selling for $5 million and as you know, Tom Brady will lead the Patriots to victory and collect the team’s sixth Vince Lombardi trophy.
But of all those facts most of us already know or have heard about this year’s Super Bowl, this one was most interesting to me and it involves the concessions at the game.
In section 123 at Mercedes Benz Stadium is the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A location that will have 85,000 cash-carrying, beer drinking, selfie-taking, loud and obnoxious, let me say again, beer-drinking potential customers at its disposal.
But in accordance with its founder’s wishes dating back to 1946, it will be closed to set aside a day of rest and worship if they choose for employees. Chick-fil-A has opened on Sundays before, but it was only in certain times of emergency and need. The restaurant opened in 2015 in Dallas, Texas after those big tornadoes hit and in 2016 in Orlando, Florida after that mass shooting. Their restaurant also opened last year at the Atlanta, Georgia airport when thousands of people were stranded after a big power failure.
Now here are the questions I want you to think about.
What if Chick-fil-A started staying open on Sundays and donated all its Sunday proceeds to a local charity in each market it operates? Would that weekly amount they would donate help people? Could it make a significant difference in less fortunate people’s lives?
I remember when I was a kid hearing a story about a local Chick-fil-A manager whose weekly numbers were significantly higher than all the other stores. Each week, the managers submitted their reports to the corporate office and this resourceful guy’s numbers were always 15-20% better than his peers. When the district manager decided to investigate the success of this particular location, he found that his local general manager had been opening on Sundays. That GM was terminated the next day because he broke company policy.
Anyway, I think we all have to admire the commitment to his faith of Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, who died in 2014 at the age of 93. He set a policy in place more than 50 years ago of staying closed on Sundays. Has it been successful? Amen. Has that restaurant chain been blessed for following Biblical principles? Hallelujah. Could they suddenly change their policy and donate Sunday proceeds to a local charity? They will need to pray about that answer.
If you want to serve Chick-fil-A nuggets or sandwiches at your Super Bowl party this year just plan ahead. Call them on Saturday and pick-it up Saturday evening. It will be just fine in the refrigerator until Sunday kick-off. Jesus Christ fed the multitudes with fish and loaves. Mr. Cathy feeds a lot of us with Chick-fil-A nuggets and waffle fries.
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We have just more than a year left on our lease here at the Spring Creek building and we have already outgrown our office space. I am starting to scout the area for the ideal space for the new newspaper building we are planning to build as we continue to grow and expand.
I have several nice locations on my radar that are easily accessible to the community and more workable for our staff. During the workday on Tuesday we fielded 14 phone calls from local people who subscribed or wanted to buy single copies of back-issues because of coverage they saw of a family member. We even had a local day care center owner who called and wanted to purchase 100 copies of last week’s edition to hand out to all the parent’s of the kids she takes care of. It was music to my ears and I live for it.
I appreciate our readers. I enjoy being able each week to visit with so many of you who take the time to keep up with who the mayor is and who your state representative is. This stuff matters and makes a difference.
I hope to see many of you at Ground Hog Dinner next Saturday at the Methodist Church. If you or someone you know doesn’t have the money for a ticket and you need something to eat-you come see me and I will buy your ticket. I feed the multitudes with Russ Kline’s biscuits and gravy!
Thanks so much for reading. I will see you next Saturday. Would you like a Progress?
