I think I was bad. I went off on the pizza folks today.

[IdaBriggs]

Stopped off at Dolly's pizza, and was told it would be 8 minutes for a slice or 8 minutes for a personal pizza, so I opted for the personal pizza. While I was waiting, I started browsing through their community wall stuff (I'd already tossed my change into the breast cancer jar), and then noticed TO MY HORROR that they had a large picture of an October 4, 2004 Bush rally, complete with framed ticket.

I started out calm -- "Excuse me, but are you folks Bush supporters?"

The front counter girl politely explained that THE OWNERS were, and I very politely told her that, despite my love for their pizza, I would not be purchasing anymore pizza from their establishment, and I wanted her to make sure that she told them it was because of their support for Bush.

There was a stunned silence at this point, quickly followed up by the Pizza Boy (a teenager) saying to me, "That's dumb. Why are you mixing politics up with Pizza? Its not like Bush has done anything to you, personally!"

At which point, I went off on him. For the next seven minutes, I treated this young man to a lecture on 3000 dead Americans from 9/11, the Downing Street Memo/Minutes, 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians, 1700+ dead American soldiers, 6000+ maimed American soldiers, an economy in shambles, personal experiences of friends who are in bankruptcy and foreclosure, along with the "new law" about that stuff, and a final "health insurance" rant that included a reference to Andy and the $50K that had to be raised before he could get life saving treatment, as well as the obvious fact that HE (Pizza Boy) didn't have health insurance, so unless he was covered by his parents, one serious illness, and his financial future wasn't good.

To his credit, Pizza Boy was polite while I emphatically made my points, with the final, "I have to make sure my money is going to support the businesses of people who value our country, instead of Bush supporters."

His final words on the topic: "I agree with everything you say, but I guess its never really affected me one way or the other yet."

:banghead:

[Lars39]

1. Please tell me there was also a crowd behind you!

:yourock:

[IdaBriggs]

32. No, just the Counter Girl and Pizza Boy, with a young Delivery Man

there for a portion of it. And thank you for the compliment! :)

[Fridays Child]

2. I guess you can't always know if you've...

"...cast your pearls before swine" or planted a seed in someone's mind that will grow into a moral conviction. But, either way, you did good.

[eleny]

3. Next time they see something on tv about Dems being soft

They'll remember you and know that they just heard a lie about Dems. I'm proud of you!

[mitchum]

4. But it does sound like there may be hope for the kid

it sounds as if you have at least opened him up to the possibility of thinking.
I agree with your refusing to patronize that restaurant any longer. And, of course, I agree with all of the reasons that you find bush contemptible.

[friesianrider]

5. Well, you can tell him Melissa in PA said...

Bush HAS done something to me personally. He took my friend's life. My friend Mikey was an intelligent, kind, compassionate 19-year-old. We were sitting in my college English class when he told me that he was being deployed, and he made me promise him I would do everything I could to make sure * wasn't elected. He told me how everyone in his "unit" (or whatever it was, I don't recall) hated * and thought the war was for nothing. He was killed two months later.

What's more, * has made certain that I will probably never be able to own my own home because I'll be paying taxes out my ass until I am 85. Of course, I'll still probably be working at 85 too, since there won't be any SS for me either. That is, if I don't get drafted before then.

This Pizza Boy better watch his step, or he'll end up like my friend. No one deserves the dishonor of dying for a lie.

And kudos to you for not supporting * supporters. If I were you, I'd call and ask to speak to the owners (or write them a note) and tell them exactly why you're taking your business elsewhere.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. I agree with everything you said except the part about your friend dying

dishonorably. Your friend died with the greatest honor possible.

Your friend volunteered to serve (whatever his motivation). You friend made a commitment. Your friend honored that commitment.

**I** honor your friend Mikey. He was an exemplary man. He had the highest honor I can imagine.

The War in Iraq® could NOT be more wrong. But what Mikey did is not connected to the error of that war. What Mikey did was patriotic. More patriotic than any of the vile, flag wrapped men who sent him there.

Thank you, Mikey, for what you gave your country. You are an honorable man, Mikey and I hold you up as a symbol of what is right with our country today.

Please be proud of your friend. Actually, as I think about it, I know you are.

May he rest in peace in his well deserved place of honor.

[friesianrider]

15. I know.

I had to leave DU after the election for a number of reasons...first and foremost, because of my disappointment that I couldn't do more to prevent this criminal from receiving another term. It was a hard pill to swallow, because I so very much wanted to honor my friend's wishes.

Sadly, Mike only enlisted to PAY for those college classes we attended together. It's nothing short of a tragedy that young Americans are losing their lives just because they needed some help paying for higher education.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. That's an all too common story ... military to pay for tuition .....

If its any consolation, consider the back story on that wonderful young woman the Pentagon wanted to turn into a rock star cuz she was so pretty .... Jessica Lynch. Remember her? I'm sure you do. She joined to earn tuition, too. She wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, not a war hero. And, when the facts finally came out, she wasn't the hero the Pentagon was trying to paint her as. She was a fortunate young woman who was unfortunate to be wounded, fortunate to be saved and cared for by compassionate Iraqis and 'rescued' in a stage managed raid on an unguarded hospital where the doors were open and she was wheeled through those doors for pickup by her compatriots.

She was a huge hero(ine) in MY eyes cuz she wouldn't play their stupid game.

I hope the kids in her kindergarten class in West Virginia know what a great young teacher they have. One who is honest and honorable.

As I hold you friend Mikey high as an honorable young man, so do I also hold Ms. Lynch high as an honorable young woman. Your generation has a lot of greatness.

[FreedomAngel82]

63. I remember about Lynch

She definitley has class. She could've easily gone along with what the Pentagon said, but she didn't. She had honor and she knew right from wrong and where to give honor when it was deserved. I'm sure she'll be a great teacher.

[Eloriel]

42. There was NOTHING you could've done to prevent the

Bush "victory" (theft). Really. Absolutely nothing. Bush didn't win that election any more than he won the one in 2000. And twice as many voters for Kerry wouldn't have changed that. They shaved votes off for Bush in those areas Bush was expected to win (and won bigger as a result) and they shaved votes for Bush in those areas Kerry was expected to win (and won smaller as a result), which gave Bush that 3 million vote cushion that dissuaded so many people from thinking "fraud" when there was fraud and voter suppression in every possible place they could do it. THEY don't seem to think that kind of thing is wrong, but just what goes with the territory.

So, forgive yourself, please. You did as much as you could, and any more or different wouldn't have mattered. I'm 1000% sure.

And I'm so sorry for your loss. No one should die that young, and especially not in an illegal, immoral, unjustified and unjustifiable war. But I agree with the previous post: he died with honor, doing an honorable thing, and I salute him.

[ananda]

52. tearing up

The story about Mikey and other people having a hard time because of * is making me tear up a bit.

I don't know if there's real hope or not, but I do see signs of implosion in the Bush admin. People -are- becoming more aware and concerned about the right things, not just the xenophobia and racism that has fueled foreign policy for the last five years.

Sue

[IdaBriggs]

33. I'm so sorry about your friend!

:cry:

[wtmusic]

6. When he gets his draft notice

and not before.

[Guaranteed]

7. Holy crap. NICE job. nt

[Ragnar]

8. Well done.

We need to turn the watercoolers and the lunch counters of this country into political forums. Progressive politics will only come to be the rule if people are actually personally engaged.

[madeline_con]

9. "I agree with everything you say,...

... but I guess its never really affected me one way or the other yet."

Being the age he is,I'm sure he sees how it very well could in the near future.

He will google around, and I truly believe a lot of his future conversations with his friends will begin with the ominous words, "Dude, check this shit out..."

[BMG]

10. Dont be so hypocritical.

I see too many folks here always getting mad at Conservative Christians for forcing beliefs down their throats. However, then I see this, and other situations like this and think to myself that Democrats can be no different. I myself, a liberal democrat, would have also scoffed at the picture, but I wouldnt have said anything because it wouldnt have been nessessary. I would have not ordered anything and simply walked out.

[Lorien]

18. Silence implies consent

and the MSM is the most silent on the issues that effect us all these days. These kids were living in the dark, and someone had to enlighten them. The repugs scream about EVERYTHING-most of which just comes their own paranoid delusions ("liberals are all socialists who hate my freedoms and want to take away my gun" etc)and they get heard, but dems are where they are today because most do exactly what you just recommended. The media won't supply any facts, so it's up to each of us to do their job for them.

[leftchick]

39. yes indeed...

Qui tacet consentire videtur

[WillowTree]

70. So if I understand you correctly...

....if that kid behind the counter had been your teen aged son or daughter and the picture on the wall had been of a pro-choice rally or a gay pride celebration and some fundamentalist Christian had gone off on your kid for seven minutes (over something that someone else supports), showing him/her abortion pictures and railing about how homosexuality is an abomination and if she/he didn't get on the Jesus Bus, and soon!, he/she will certainly burn in Hell for all eternity.......that would be all right. Do I understand you? Because it's also that person's right to enlighten other people's kids about their version of "the light". Is that right?

You can't have it both ways, and in my experience, all this confrontationalism coming from both sides doesn't win anyone's heart or mind. Far better to have canceled the order and either asked to speak to the owner/manager or to have called or written to that person to let them know that you (the general "you") won't be getting your pizza there anymore and why. But that's just me.

[nonconformist]

21. Beliefs are very different from facts

We don't "believe" in casualty counts, the DSM and passed legislation. They're FACTS.

[Zhade]

22. "a liberal democrat" - you DO realize actual Dems don't use that term?

Nice try.

[DiverDave]

28. I have used the term

on the Stephanie Miller show.
They were asking about the "Progressive" agenda.
I called in and asked what was wrong with the term "Liberal Democrat"
(Oh, I called from my truck, while I was working)
I am proud to be a "Liberal Democrat".
I work 60-70 hours a week, how am I possibly lazy? (just refuting the rethug talk)
I have no problem paying SS to help Widows and Orphans and the disabled to live better.

Yup, I am a "Liberal Democrat", and damned proud of it too.

[I Have A Dream]

46. Yeah, I've used it also.

It makes everyday people understand my positions better than the word "progressive", even though I don't consider them to be exactly the same.

[Zhade]

64. Okay, maybe I overreacted.

I'm used to only hearing the term applied derisively...by conservatives.

[I Have A Dream]

73. I say it proudly, and I've had people tell me that I can't be...

a liberal. They try to convince me that I'm not a liberal because they like me and they can't believe that they'd like a liberal. The Right has done an amazing job of giving a negative connotation to the word. However, I refuse to allow them to take that word away from me, just as I refuse to allow them to take the flag away from me.

:hi:

[I Have A Dream]

48. Hi, Zhade.

I just looked at your profile, and I absolutely adore the way you stated your hobbies:

Smashing fascism, illuminating truth, liberating wage-slaves, baking


It sounds like you're a superhero, and with the baking thrown in, you're also just an average joe! :)

[aaronnyc]

54. I consider myself "a liberal democrat"

Why can't real Democrats use that term?
:shrug:

[IndyOp]

71. Welcome to DU aaronnyc - we *do* use "liberal"

or "liberal democrat" or "from the democratic wing of the democratic party" or "progressive" -- I like 'em all.

:kick:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

31. Wanted to make sure the manager/owners knew why they lost that business.

[Vickers]

35. There is no such thing as a Conservative Christian...the terms disagree

with each other.

Oh, and uh, welcome to DU yadda yadda yadda...

[Eloriel]

44. And then no one would have known why, and you would have

totally missed your "teaching moment." You would have deprived yourself of great pizza for basically nothing.

Yeah, that works really well.

[I Have A Dream]

45. I must respectfully totally and utterly disagree with you.

This is a life or death situation for many people. They gave him the right to his voice when they put the picture of Bush on the wall.

They brought Bush into the equation with that picture that they so proudly hung.

[Bill McBlueState]

49. The Nation has a phrase for that kind of thinking

It's called "permanent minority."

[Mr_Spock]

51. I agree - silence DOES imply consent. It's what's wrong with our country

YOU are promoting a "silence of fear" attitude. I'm not going to take it any more!

[bvar22]

65. All that is required....l

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”---Edmund Burke

Money spent at business establishments that promote republicans will be used to finance and elect Republicans!

[Ariana Celeste]

67. Precisely why many people

in the middle don't see much of a difference between the right and the left.
When my mom was younger, she was into politics and voted every election, until Clintons first term. By then she had lost interest because it seemed to her that there really wasn't much of a difference. Last election, she didn't vote, because as far as she was concerned, both candidates were idiots and were both saying the same things. "Look he's bad!" "No, look, he's worse!". Try as I might to explain to her what was going on with this Administration, she couldn't make up her mind and just didn't vote. She just recently saw Farhenheit 9/11 and apologized to me, pissed off, saying she didn't realize it was that bad, what was really going on. I guarantee she will vote in the next election.

My point is however, listening to a politician on both sides sounding the same, and then listening to conservative friends and her liberal daughter arguing their sides to her, she thought we sounded the same. My mom is just like a good portion of the population- they hear politicians talk and don't trust any of them, and have friends and family on both sides, arguing both sides, sounding just like the politicians she doesn't trust. But give her facts that she can look at on her own, without someone in her ear, and she will reach her own conclusion in the end. (She ended up on our side of the fence after having watched F 9/11 on her own, without myself sitting there pissed off going off about Bush.)


On edit: Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Carni]

80. Bullshit on that!

What's hypocritical about calling someone with their head up their ass on their business practices? If the fools that own the joint want to display their love for bush then they invite commentary with their in your face approach. The OWNERS mixed their plotics with pizza not the F'ing customer-

[porkrind]

84. hypocritical my ass.

The pizza business opened the door to discussion and outrage when they displayed their partisan politics in their shop. There is nothing hypocritical about it. What IdaBriggs did was fantastic. This was a "teaching moment" in which these young kids who are getting screwed over and don't even know it because they have been fed a lifetime of corporate/right-wing propaganda are shown the opposing viewpoint. These kids are better off having heard it. It might wake them up.

Many "Conservative Christians" however, are trying to control everyone's lives by forcing their agenda into government, which by design is supposed to be wholly apart from religion. The irony in your post is that Conservative Christians are the very definition of hypocrisy.

[Bridget Burke]

90. Yes, we all hate Christians here....

And we Democrats are hypocrites.

Silence is not always the best policy.

[Deja Q]

11. And their latest act of "compassion": Eliminating the FMLA program.

Compassion in bizarroworld and pizzaboy needs to spend some time looking into the news.

It will affect him. In some way. Some day.

[fooj]

12. Ida- Some times you've gotta do what you've gotta do!

Pizza Boy will know what is what WHEN IT DOES affect him! Right on!

peace.

[Fescue4u]

13. He did have a point

"That's dumb. Why are you mixing politics up with Pizza? "

I really don't know if it does our image anygood to go off on a teenage boy who just trying to earn some college money.

But I bet he won't forget anytime soon :)

[smirkymonkey]

30. Especially if he's hand picked by the selective service...

[Fescue4u]

75. yea but thats irrelevant

Chewing out a pizza boy for what the owners did won't save him from being drafted.

I used to work in retail many years ago. I had several occasions where someone came in and went on a speil about their beliefs.

It was really quite annoying, even in the cases where I agreed with them. I had work to do and then comes these folks who have nothing better to do than to go and on about something that I really didnt have time to discuss (i.e. I was working)

Thats ok though. Im sure the ranter made a lasting impression

[LightningFlash]

16. Wow. The poor and the misinformed.....

If it doesn't affect them, they don't have to do anything???? :shrug: Wake the hell up!!

[Barad Simith]

17. He got off light

You should have been like Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction when he was beating the shit out of Ving Rhames on the floor of the pawn shop:

"You feel that sting, big boy, huh? That's pride fuckin' with you! You gotta fight through that shit!"

[rman]

20. That's not bad at all, could have been a little better still,

if you'd have pointed out that the owners of Dolly's are mixing politics with pizza.

[Zhade]

23. You were passionate. I'll bet he respected that.

I'll also bet you might have reached him.

You ROCK.

[oasis]

24. Pizza worker will be "affected" when the draft comes along.

[Swamp Rat]

25. My very first thought

[NMMNG]

26. "Its not like Bush has done anything to you, personally"

What? Does he not think that Chimpy's acts and freaky policies don't affect you (or him)? Does not the 7+ trillion dollar deficit affect everyone who isn't uber-rich? Would he not be affected by a draft?

Methinks the pepperoni fumes have affected his thinking processes.

[Vinca]

27. Poor pizza boy.

After he's drafted he can serve his pies in Baghdad.

[Mr.Green93]

29. Andy and the $50K

It is my understanding he had the option to be treated under Medicare in Washington state. It was his personal choice to obtain care elsewhere.

[greekspeak]

34. You at least got him to think for a few minutes

Which is a few minutes more than most teenagers think these days. He was probably wondering what all those odd feelings coming from his brain meant. And kudos to you for finding another RW business from which to stay away.

[Coexist]

36. "why are you mixing politics with pizza?" well - the owner did

by putting that photo there. He/she started it - not you.

[gollygee]

37. I agree with this, but . . .

I don't think I would have gotten into an argument with the pizza folks, but when they put the photo up they must have known that it would alienate some of the people at their shop.

On the other hand, when Clinton was president I remember reading a magazine that had a recipe from Hillary Rodham Clinton and some reader mailed a complaint and said they were dropping their subscription because the magazine had a recipe in it from HRC, and I thought, "Well that's stupid - even if you don't like them he IS the president right now and she IS the first lady." This could be seen in the same way, except this rally was an election rally, right? I guess that could be seen differently.

[seabeyond]

38. why does that bother me. my husband owns a business in a very red

community. i want his right to vote for kerry. i want my right to have stickers on car and signs in the yard. i couldnt put signs in the yard because people in this community often drive down our street and to see support of kerry could have been loss of business. i have been angry because i am not allowed to speak out, for fear of repercussion to husband. of late, i have been having faith in fellow man that i can speak out without husband losing business. that i have the right to speak and support who i chose

so this is bothering me boycotting business for this reason.

but it doesnt stop me for talking to any bush supporter, wherever i am, whatever business. just uncomfortable not doing business with a person because they are known republicans

i stopped using two businesses because they had fox news on. called one. still have to call the other and see if they leave tv on fox. to me that is the business rubbing it in over 50% of customers face, knowingly, unapologetically.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

40. Yes but I think it's different having it at your home or car then at your

place of business.

Then you're basically saying "Hooray! We're Bush supporters (the pizza joint)!" And you are just ASKING people who can't stand Bush to leave your business.

We had an issue at my work... it's a large medical practice, and I'd guess at least 90 percent Repubs. The area is probably at least 70-80 percent Repub. During the prez campaign a patient apparently got pissed off and complained (appropriately) because someone taking care of them wore a political button. At first there was an assumption that it was one of the few Dems here because people here just assume everyone's a Republican, but then I heard it was some kind of Bush button.

If you think about it, in an overwhelmingly Repub area, the minority Dem patients who have to listen to Bushworship and Fox News all the time, and now, while they are a captive patient, have to see some Bush button on their doc, it's just too much.

I still don't know for sure what it was but it was resolved that this had no place at our work, which I agree wholeheartedly with.

[seabeyond]

43. that may be the line. as i say, it is an issue i go

back and forth on. i am bothered having fox in any business. i challenge all business i walk into that has fox. if they turn it, cool thanks, they dont lose business. if the hold to it, then they are saying they dont want my money. for me it is, in work, no politics, no religion. and i am not a believer you dont talk politics and religion. just no promoting in a business.

still

in this area

i cant without losing business. my father told me to be careful when i suggested i wanted to work with the democrats. i told him shame, that his friends, would deny my right to support a party, due to husbands business.

made him think a bit here. lol

i park car in the far out part of parking places at the country club. that or take stickers off. whomever knows me sees me have to walk a mile, i shake my head and say shame, that i cannot have these stickers on car, without fear of repercussion. it really is a good thought provoking situation for repugs that know and love me

[Eloriel]

41. Yet

AAh, yes, the famous "yet."

I'm sure it was a great rant. Wish I could've seen it. I particularly like this line: money is going to support the businesses of people who value our country

[I Have A Dream]

47. Good for you, IdaBriggs.

It takes real courage to do something like this. Sometimes it's not even a decision -- one just has to do it.

You never know the difference you make with one action. It's like throwing a pebble in the pond...

[Mr_Spock]

50. Why don't kids see how what's going on is affecting them?

Good story, his last word explain the last 4+ years of violence rather aptly (unfortunately) :(

[bertha katzenengel]

53. How sad. Because it hadn't affected him yet, he couldn't have an

opinion? :(

You're brave, IdaBriggs. My hat's off to you.

[I Have A Dream]

55. You're right. Also, why does it have to affect him before he...

thinks that he should care?

[ScreamingMeemie]

56. Why were the owners mixing up politics and pizza? When I am

on the road and about to go in for an appraisal, I remove my blue "think blue" armband. My job is my job, my politics are my politics, and I try to never mix the two. :hi: Good for you. If they wish to post their support of Bush and his politics, then they should face the facts that people will not order from them because of it.

[sellitman]

57. I'm with you but.....

I hope that ain't the best pizza joint in town!

:dilemma:

[Festivito]

58. Poor pizza boy, but he asked.. and he received.

..and then he shrugged.

Good that you left a message for the owners.

[otohara]

59. Any One of Us...

at least I would have done the same thing.

I was in a furniture consignment store and walked by their office - huge calandar with piture of Bush Sr/Reagan. I turned around and walked out of the store and have told people I know to not go there.

I also told an air conditioning sales man to leave my house after I found out he was a Bush supporter. I'm not giving my money to him so he can turn around an donate to GOP. No, no way

[FreedomAngel82]

60. Oy!

So wait till there's a draft pizza boy.

[Cha]

61. The owners were mixing "politics and pizza"

by having that stupid ticket on the bulletin board.

You were meant to see it, Ida Biggs! Thank you for being "bad"..just playing ..I think it was All Good! :patriot:

[helderheid]

62. you were not bad, you were good.

It's important we speak up like this - ya done good - real good.

[ailsagirl]

66. You weren't bad at all-- you told it like it is

Good for you!!

:yourock:

[noamnety]

68. Where's the part of the story where you were bad?

Did you get distracted before you told us that part?

;-)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

69. I've been thinking about this. It's one thing if they just had their pic

taken with the shrub, like if they saw him on the street (like THAT's gonna happen), or if he stopped by their pizzeria. But this was them going to a shrub rally, with the ticket to prove it = advocacy = no bidness from Dems.

You do stuff like this in your business only if you've decided you don't care if Dems patronize you, or if you are too dumb to realize they might not on account of the picture.

[Bouncy Ball]

72. I might have also written up a little note to the owners

thanking them for putting their support for bush up front and center so that myself, my family and my Dem friends would know where we would NOT be purchasing pizza from now on!

:evilgrin:

[NuttyFluffers]

74. Group Hug Award!

:grouphug:

and for anyone who agrees with this:

"That's dumb. Why are you mixing politics up with Pizza? Its not like Bush has done anything to you, personally!"

it was the stupidity of the owners to mix their product with their politics. they were in the wrong first, and opened themselves up to the full spectrum of legal free expression -- including people ending their business there.

just like the stupidity of people wearing their religion on their sleeves while running a business. do it at your own loss of $ risk.

[DS9Voy]

76. Good god

so you went off on some teens who worked for a company that had republican owners? Good for you. You're a big man.

Maybe you should have said "Can I have the owners contact information?" and let THEM know instead of some kid working the lowest level in the organization.

Do you have ANY idea how many people are democrats but work for republican employers? Considering damn near all big business has it's hands in the republican cookie jar I'd wager at least 70% of democrats work for a company that has republicans at the top of the ladder.

So, where do you get gas from? I assume you don't buy gas, otherwise you're supporting a republican business.

What company do you work for? Why do I have a feeling whatever company it is has given to the republican party...

I personally can't stand customers like this. I've been heckled by republicans MANY times at work and it pisses me off because if I say anything slighlty rude I'll be out of work. As far as I'm concerned you have no business harassing some kids at their job based on what the company OWNER may do.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

77. I think the odds are the kid won't say anything to the owners. Imagine

yourself in this situation, if you worked for wingnuts as a high school kid, whether or not you were sympathetic to Bush. Angry customer tells you they are not going to patronize because owners are Bushbots and tells you to pass it along.

What would it possibly gain you to pass it along? Probably nothing, and it could prompt the boss to wonder what YOU said or did to prompt such a response.

Maybe he'd be tempted to say something if the customer was an everyday kind of regular who would definitely be missed.

The main benefit if any would be that the kid realizes there are adults that are VERY UNHAPPY with shrubco (maybe he lives in an area where those kind of adults are usually "in hiding") and this prompts him to think about his own complacency with the national scene.

[DS9Voy]

78. I sure as hell wouldn't tell my employer

That would be ALL I needed at work. "Oh gee boss did you know we are losing business because you're a republican?" Yea, that would go over REALLY well.

[I Have A Dream]

81. I respectfully disagree with you.

The original poster stated:

I started out calm -- "Excuse me, but are you folks Bush supporters?"

The front counter girl politely explained that THE OWNERS were, and I very politely told her that, despite my love for their pizza, I would not be purchasing anymore pizza from their establishment, and I wanted her to make sure that she told them it was because of their support for Bush.

She would have just walked away after this if the delivery person hadn't asked why she had to mix politics with pizza.

She's entitled to her voice. She wasn't heckling them -- she was stating her beliefs after he asked why she had to mix politics with pizza.

We'll never agree about this, but, of course, you also have the right to your feelings. I strongly support blue organizations and consciously make buying decisions based upon this. I understand it when others choose not to do this. It's all about choice.

[DS9Voy]

82. Read further on

"At which point, I went off on him"

ENTIRELY unnecessary given the question asked.

"she was stating her beliefs"

It could have been done with out "going off on him". "stating beliefs" and "going off" on someone are two very different things.

The OP is lucky he didn't walk in to my place of employment. I call security or the police ASAP on ANY customer that "goes off on me" or any other employee.

[IdaBriggs]

85. As an FYI --

My version of "going off" involves speaking VERY FIRMLY, VERY POLITELY, and WITH GREAT EMPHASIS. I had already paid for my pizza (and donated money to a worthy cause while I was there), otherwise I would have promptly left. You can read what you want to into my story, but I assure you my PASSION FOR THE TRUTH was no reason for him to be frightened enough to call security or the police (as a modicum of reading comprehension on your part may have shown by my end report of the "discussion").

And, in the case of the Education Moment I provided to Young Pizza Boy, I did not share BELIEFS: I Shared Facts -- in this case, how Pizza ties directly to Politics.

My final opinion is exactly that -- my belief that patronizing businesses that openly support Bush is WRONG. If they want to do so in their personal life, that is one thing, but to proudly display it in their place of business did indeed invite the response I gave.

Will the workers report the story? Who knows? But I won't stand silent before anyone.

And by the way, I am a SHE, not a HE.

[I Have A Dream]

86. I still wholeheartedly support what you did and the way you did it. n/t

[IdaBriggs]

88. Thank you!

I appreciate you pointing out what you did to this other poster, as well as the support!

:) Best, Ida

[I Have A Dream]

87. I understand that you would have handled it differently.

However, I must say that I would have probably handled it like her.

However, thanks for giving me information about how you would have approached it.

I guess that I'm just tired of the Left always having to be the adult. The Right gets away with absolute tirades on a daily basis, and then when we raise our voice about something, we're being unreasonable.

People are dying and they're ruining our country, and if anything's going to get me to raise my voice, it's going to be that.

By the way, as I'm sure that you're aware, there are ways to speak passionately without making the person feel that you're attacking them personally. I strongly suspect that this is what she did.

Finally, welcome to DU, DS9Voy! :hi:

[SlavesandBulldozers]

79. i've noticed that Firehouse Subs

always has Fox on. so i asked them once do they make the restaurant watch fox at all their stores?. they said "yes". Firehouse Subs is in Florida by the way dont know if they are everywhere. I will at some point go in there and buy my last sandwich and tell them why I will never come there again and advise everybody I know to do the same.

[DemBeans]

83. I love this story...

We absolutely HAVE to be in their Bush-worshipping faces whenever possible. They don't expect us to push back, but I view every single Bush supporter as an accessory to the crime and let them know that fact.

You did great! Bravo!!!

[marions ghost]

89. These Times....

are strange. We are dealing with ultra-conservatives who seriously want to silence any form of opposition. They have hijacked the brains of average Americans like the pizza store owners, using classic fear and brainwashing techniques. They have hijacked the media so that the likelihood of the pizza boy being exposed to another point of view in politics is slim. They have successfully sold their whole neo-con agenda under the guise of "patriotism" after 9-11.

My high-school aged niece refused to go to school the day after the last election--why? Because she feared the "backlash" from Bushbot students who knew that she had supported Kerry. She knew the teasing and taunting would be brutal. Now is this a climate in which we should be quiet? Should we not fight against this kind of intimidation and lock-step thinking?

OK NORMALLY one would not react to seeing something you don't like in a store or public place. I see things I don't particularly like everywhere. But under the extreme conditions we are facing now it is vital that we liberals speak out in any way we can to help educate others. It is because of this repressive climate--especially because of the media complicity--that we are forced into this position. As long as it's done politely, not aggressively, there's no problem. People SHOULD be talking about these things.

I don't think it's worth complaining to the owners. They obviously do not want Liberal customers. I don't go back to any business where I get this vibe. Period. No exceptions. Actually it's helpful to me when they make their views so clear.

:thumbsup: idabriggs

[I Have A Dream]

91. I'm sort of joking, but I've started to wonder whether Fox News...

and Right Wing radio have something going on subliminally. :shrug: :)

[Taverner]

92. You made a young person think

And to his credit, he did bring up a good question - one that you addressed eloquently.

You've sown the seeds bro, let logic flourish from hereon!

[Logansquare]

93. Ida provided an example for the kids

He/she showed them that there are values beyond consumerism, and did so in a polite and firm manner. These are the kids who will volunteer for Iraq with trusting and patriotic hearts, and be misused badly by this administration. They need to hear the truth, since they aren't getting it from anywhere else.