Christian Owned Businesses Like Chick Fil A

[jackbauer]

Is it just me or do the businesses that pride themselves in Christian values have the scariest employment practices? Okay, we all know the Chick Fil A owners pride themselves in being homophobic bigots, but check out their hiring process.

 

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0723/080.html

 

The company might face more suits if it didn't screen potential hires and operators so carefully. Many Chick-fil-A job candidates must endure a yearlong vetting process that includes dozens of interviews. Ty Yokum, the training manager for the chain, sat through 7 interviews and didn't get the job. He reapplied in 1991 and was subjected to another 17 interviews--the final one lasted five hours--and was hired. Bureon Ledbetter, Chick-fil-A's general counsel, says the company works hard to select people like Yokum, who "fit." "We want operators who support the values here," Ledbetter says.

Those who do say they like the member-of-the-club feel that goes along with working with Chick-fil-A. "It is very difficult to get in, but once you're in, you're in for life," says Donald Elam, a Chick-fil-A franchisee in Superstition Springs, Ariz.: "I tell all my people, 'I'm not working for Chick-fil-A; I'm working for the Lord.'"

 

If that's not cult mentality, I don't know what is.

 

I also had an experience applying for Hobby Lobby. On the application, they wanted me to sign away my rights to privacy. At any time, they could search my car if they suspected me of theft. They even advised that I consult a lawyer, for a minimum wage job! I didn't even bother with the application after reading that, but I looked up the company on wikipedia and low and behold, they are run by smug, in your face Christians! Why was I not surprised?

 

Now I know that businesses in general suck. The application process for any minimum wage job is a royal pain in the ass. And employees aren't always treated well (just read up on Walmart's latest antics), but even putting aside my anti Christian bias, both Chick Fil A and Hobby Lobby seem more extreme in their hiring practices than other secular corporations.

[Mike D]

Now I know that businesses in general suck.

 

This.

 

I don't think it's just "Christian" business, but business in general.

 

I think over the last 20 years as Americans have continued to rack up more and more debt (ie student loans, credit cards, car payments, mortgage, etc), and are increasingly dependent on paycheck to paycheck living (many only one paycheck away from financial disaster), they have no choice but put up with whatever crap their employers decide to dish out because they can't afford to quit or lose their job.

 

We should keep this in perspective though; the reality is that Chick Fil-A is a burger-flipping job - they just flip poultry instead of beef. So, you're employee base isn't necessarily going to be the best and the brightest.....

[ShackledNoMore]

My problem is that I LOVE Chick-fil-a sandwiches, but I cannot stomach their business practices and fundygelical activism.

 

I just googled chick-fil-a copycat recipe and found, ta-daa: the Chick-Fil-Gay. I'm going to try it when I get a chance. AND I'm going to eat it on Sunday. Hope it's good. If anyone else tries it before me or finds a good clone, please review or post the recipe.

 

[midniterider]

"It is very difficult to get in, but once you're in, you're in for life," says Donald Elam, a Chick-fil-A franchisee in Superstition Springs, Ariz

 

Sounds like B.O.'s schtick. You can never leave the mafia Chick-fil-A.

[midniterider]

My problem is that I LOVE Chick-fil-a sandwiches, but I cannot stomach their business practices and fundygelical activism.

 

I just googled chick-fil-a copycat recipe and found, ta-daa: the Chick-Fil-Gay. I'm going to try it when I get a chance. AND I'm going to eat it on Sunday. Hope it's good. If anyone else tries it before me or finds a good clone, please review or post the recipe.

 

 

 

 

Pray away the Chick-fil-A.

[jensjam]

I worked for a "Christian" based call center! They did calls and took calls for other companies and events BUT they called themselves a "Christian" company. Just about every program I was on was some sort of scam and ripped people off and did calls for the biggest liars imaginable.

 

Worse place I worked for IF I knew half the stuff up front I'd tell them to F off and never have taken the job. I learned.

 

 

That is to say NOT all Chrisian based companies are this way or the way of Chick-Fil-A but they are very far and few.

[jdog]

Anyone watch Conan?

Lol

There is this character "Chaz the intolerant Chick Fil A chicken" on there.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/08/02/conans-chaz-chick-fil-a-video_n_1732287.html

 

The video on the link is news on the Chick Fil A situation. They have Chick Fil A appreciation day.

 

Gay rights supporters say they are going to make that same day "same sex kiss day".

 

 

 

[silentknight]

On a day to day basis I'd say our employers have a bigger impact on our life than the government does, yet a lot of business are run in an authoritarian way, doing what ever they please without regard to employee fairness. They do the minimum as far as employee rights.

 

I work at a small Advertising form as a Graphic Designer/Web Programmer. Our CEO spends half the year out on vacation, and when he does come in he struts around saying stupid douchebag comments. Talking about how loves how he loves taking credit for our work and how it makes him look good. Or deciding randomly that we should change a project to do something he thinks is cool without consulting the client. Then, when we have a year where we didn't make as much as the previous year, he goes and fires one of our employees that worked hard all year long, and keeps the employee who everyone knows was screwing everything up. But that employee is the CEOs friend.. so he's immune.

 

So... yeah. Most businesses suck.

[jensjam]

On a day to day basis I'd say our employers have a bigger impact on our life than the government does, yet a lot of business are run in an authoritarian way, doing what ever they please without regard to employee fairness. They do the minimum as far as employee rights.

 

I work at a small Advertising form as a Graphic Designer/Web Programmer. Our CEO spends half the year out on vacation, and when he does come in he struts around saying stupid douchebag comments. Talking about how loves how he loves taking credit for our work and how it makes him look good. Or deciding randomly that we should change a project to do something he thinks is cool without consulting the client. Then, when we have a year where we didn't make as much as the previous year, he goes and fires one of our employees that worked hard all year long, and keeps the employee who everyone knows was screwing everything up. But that employee is the CEOs friend.. so he's immune.

 

So... yeah. Most businesses suck.

 

You made excellent points to this.

[Vigile]

My problem is that I LOVE Chick-fil-a sandwiches, but I cannot stomach their business practices and fundygelical activism.

 

I just googled chick-fil-a copycat recipe and found, ta-daa: the Chick-Fil-Gay. I'm going to try it when I get a chance. AND I'm going to eat it on Sunday. Hope it's good. If anyone else tries it before me or finds a good clone, please review or post the recipe.

 

 

I've never eaten at or seen a CFA, but that sandwich looks a little dry with no sauce on it. And pickle juice and pickles on chicken? I guess I don't know what I'm missing, but I'll stick with KFC Zingers.

[antix]

I worked for a christian owned company in decatur alabama in the 80s and the owner had to have company prayers etc and he really treated the employees like shit. he hired a top notch salesman who brought in like 200k extra business in a month and the comission was suppose to be 5 percent and he re nigged telling the guy that was too much money to give for a commision.

 

Even better, I worked in a factory for one month and then quit in kent ohio. Christian owned: more like slavery. Total abuse of the employees, they could not even plan saturday things because no one knew until thursday if there was going to be mandatory overtime. If you survived a yr, they gave you one week vacation. But you better not plan on leaving on a sat because if there was mandatory overtime, you had to be there. One lady there had a grandmother that died in detroit and they told her she could not take off to go to the funeral.

[silentknight]

My first job after college was "Christian owned". The guy paid me 20k a year (not enough to live on, I nearly defaulted on student loans), with the promise of a raise after 6 month. I was the only graphic artist there, and the business depended on that position in order to work. I got them all caught up, and had a very fast turn around on new projects. When the 6 month review came around he raised me to 21k....

 

I still stuck around for the rest of the year, and then they gave me another review... this time he said that my "attitude" had changed, and in order to be raised again I'd also have to work faster, and work later (from what I was told by the salesmen at the company, I was the fastest artist they ever had). I walked out one day in frustration saying I wasn't coming back.

 

I ended up coming back fro 1 month to train my poor replacement.

[Ro-bear]

If a business owner is Christian, fine with me. If the business is overtly Christian (or religious in general), it doesn't get my business. Fish symbol on yellow pages ad? You're out. Bible verse or "One nation under God" on sign? You're out. Some cynical bastards use religion to get more business; I will react in the opposite way. Some business owners want to advance religion or their conservative political views using the business; they will lose my business.

[antix]

My first job after college was "Christian owned". The guy paid me 20k a year (not enough to live on, I nearly defaulted on student loans), with the promise of a raise after 6 month. I was the only graphic artist there, and the business depended on that position in order to work. I got them all caught up, and had a very fast turn around on new projects. When the 6 month review came around he raised me to 21k....

 

I still stuck around for the rest of the year, and then they gave me another review... this time he said that my "attitude" had changed, and in order to be raised again I'd also have to work faster, and work later (from what I was told by the salesmen at the company, I was the fastest artist they ever had). I walked out one day in frustration saying I wasn't coming back.

 

I ended up coming back fro 1 month to train my poor replacement.

 

That factory I worked in was extremely boring and I went home one sunday to help my dad paint. He broke a toe, so I figured I better move home. I told myself " I will quit wednesday" I went in monday and they told me the lady I worked with on the inspection machine called off, so I would have to work twice as hard. I said to myself: Do I want to be here until 11 (2nd shift) or do I wanty to grab a beer. 15 minutes into the shift I said goodbye and walked out. It was through a temp agency and the lady at the temp agency called me the next day screaming and yelling becuase production was slowed after I walked out. Hey, I am not a slave.

[antix]

Come to think of it, I worked 4.5 days at Infocision outside akron in 03. They are a fund raising call center for christian and conservative causes. The first 4 days were training and day 5 you were on the lines. I quit day 5 saying I could not morally do this. We saw the sheets for the various ministries D james Kennedy used 50 percent of all income from this for fundraising costs, the others were a minimum of 30 percent. I looked the company up about a yr later, their revenue was 600 million dollars (not how much they raised, but how much their fees were for their various accounts.)

[Thought2Much]

Auntie Anne's pretzels is Christian owned. I looked at their community page, and none of their official community partnerships seem like anything threatening (it all seems like genuinely good stuff, actually). It sounds like they also encourage local franchise owners to form their own partnerships with their own communities, so individual store owners may give to ugly causes, but overall they seem like a good bunch. Working there wasn't any worse than working at any other food joint, and we never had Christianity pushed on us while I was there. I will continue to enjoy their pretzels without any guilt.

 

Disclosure: I used to work at an Auntie Anne's in college. I ate a lot of pretzels. Even after that, I still like them, so they must be pretty damn good.

[VacuumFlux]

Auntie Anne's pretzels is Christian owned. I looked at their community page, and none of their official community partnerships seem like anything threatening (it all seems like genuinely good stuff, actually). It sounds like they also encourage local franchise owners to form their own partnerships with their own communities, so individual store owners may give to ugly causes, but overall they seem like a good bunch. Working there wasn't any worse than working at any other food joint, and we never had Christianity pushed on us while I was there. I will continue to enjoy their pretzels without any guilt.

 

Disclosure: I used to work at an Auntie Anne's in college. I ate a lot of pretzels. Even after that, I still like them, so they must be pretty damn good.

 

Good to know. I like their pretzels and would be sad if I felt obligated to avoid them.

[Thought2Much]

Auntie Anne's pretzels is Christian owned. I looked at their community page, and none of their official community partnerships seem like anything threatening (it all seems like genuinely good stuff, actually). It sounds like they also encourage local franchise owners to form their own partnerships with their own communities, so individual store owners may give to ugly causes, but overall they seem like a good bunch. Working there wasn't any worse than working at any other food joint, and we never had Christianity pushed on us while I was there. I will continue to enjoy their pretzels without any guilt.

 

Disclosure: I used to work at an Auntie Anne's in college. I ate a lot of pretzels. Even after that, I still like them, so they must be pretty damn good.

 

Good to know. I like their pretzels and would be sad if I felt obligated to avoid them.

 

I know. I almost hated to look them up for fear of finding something awful.

[Vigile]

Come to think of it, I worked 4.5 days at Infocision outside akron in 03. They are a fund raising call center for christian and conservative causes. The first 4 days were training and day 5 you were on the lines. I quit day 5 saying I could not morally do this. We saw the sheets for the various ministries D james Kennedy used 50 percent of all income from this for fundraising costs, the others were a minimum of 30 percent. I looked the company up about a yr later, their revenue was 600 million dollars (not how much they raised, but how much their fees were for their various accounts.)

 

Yeah, I worked for a lobby in DC that had pretty much the same issues. They had good intentions, but their fund-raising costs were very high and the effect they had on legislation was nil.

 

I suspect any money CFA is giving pays the rent on K street.

[Mountainman]

Hobby Lobby, Mardells, and Hemispheres are all owned by one family, and they are "Christian businesses". They are good stores, but their employment practices are pretty bad in some ways. On Monday morning, each employee is asked if he/she went to church the day before. If the employee answers "yes" the next questions are "where?" and "what was the sermon about?" the "wrong" answers" get the employee fired.

[ShackledNoMore]

My problem is that I LOVE Chick-fil-a sandwiches, but I cannot stomach their business practices and fundygelical activism.

 

I just googled chick-fil-a copycat recipe and found, ta-daa: the Chick-Fil-Gay. I'm going to try it when I get a chance. AND I'm going to eat it on Sunday. Hope it's good. If anyone else tries it before me or finds a good clone, please review or post the recipe.

 

 

I've never eaten at or seen a CFA, but that sandwich looks a little dry with no sauce on it. And pickle juice and pickles on chicken? I guess I don't know what I'm missing, but I'll stick with KFC Zingers.

I actually hate pickles, and dry breasts are my least preferred form of chicken, but I don't think the chicken in the CFA sandwich is dry at all. The dry breast problem seems to show up most in certain types of cooking, and thin fried breast meat as with chicken cutlets and chicken sandwiches seem to be better than some fried or baked whole breasts.

 

As for the pickles, the CFA sandwiches are the only place I have willingly come close to a pickle. I remove them first and what's left is just a little pickle residue that acts more like a subtle seasoning than a full scale topping. It sounds stupid, but I would almost call it exquisite.

 

I don't know about marinating the chicken in pickle juice, though, that might be over the top. I'll just have to find out.

 

Do they have KFC in St. Petersburg, BTW? In Japan they were just as good as in the United States, and I suspect they are common around the globe.

[Mike D]

What's so stupid about this whole thing is that i've never eaten at Chick Filet, in fact i've never even seen one before.

 

But, all I keep hearing is how good their chicken sandwiches are. So now I want to try one - sorry can't help it.

 

I see there's one not too far from me - maybe i'll try it this weekend?

[JoeCoastie]

What's so stupid about this whole thing is that i've never eaten at Chick Filet, in fact i've never even seen one before.

 

But, all I keep hearing is how good their chicken sandwiches are. So now I want to try one - sorry can't help it.

 

I see there's one not too far from me - maybe i'll try it this weekend?

I won't lie to you. As a Georgia boy I loved them. Those sandwhiches were on my campus and are damned good and better for you than most fast food. I wouldn't eat there anymore because of my values, but also because none exist in Alaska.

[silentknight]

I've eaten at CFA and really, I don't see what the fuss is about.

[mcdaddy]

One of my HS friends who I actually rather detest now Owns a car dealership and plays up all the "family owned", thanks to gawd bullshit to try and appeal to all the fundagelicals.

 

He's an arrogant douchelord.