Chicken Dance

Chicken Dance

So I'm driving to work this afternoon, minding my own business and with my mind a million miles away when I see this detour sign. Now of course I knew about this detour – it was no surprise as it's been up for several weeks now. The son-of-a-gun is smack dab in the middle of my drive from home to work and is becoming a genuine pain in the... Well, lets just say it's inconvenient.

The “official” detour that the state recommends you follow would take me miles and miles out of my way, quite a few miles, actually. You see, when they close a State highway around here because of construction, apparently they have to route traffic around the detour by using other state highways and interstates. If I followed the state-mandated detour my 45-minute-trip would probably be an hour-and-a-quarter. And that would be adding insult to injury.

I did some online map investigations before they closed the road and found a quicker round-a-bout that wasn't near as lengthy. I turn left about a mile before the closure then do a right turn about a quarter mile up that road. Then it's another right turn and I'm soon back on the state highway. Probably only a few minutes out of the way all told. Those side roads are quite a bit narrower than the state highway, though, and you have to play a little chicken with the delivery trucks also using the “secret” way around. You have to pay closer attention and be careful. And take even more care when you catch a big ol' semi sneaking along the same roads.

I experimented with several other routes from home to work but discovered that I wasn't comfortable with them for a number of reasons. One was way out in the boonies and was, if truth be told, a bit creepy to travel late at night when I was returning home. Another one also had road construction on it that was even more inconvenient than my “normal” route. And other alternatives were just too far out of my way.

I'm getting fairly comfortable with my little detour now. I'll probably have to use it for another 3-4 weeks. Maybe. It's hard to guess how long a road construction project will take. If you check their schedules online you'll probably be disappointed when the projected completion times are missed, sometimes by a lot. But that's the way the cookie crumbles during summertime construction season.

But while I was on my drive today, thinking my deep thoughts, and the real reason why I sorta forgot about the detour was... chicken.

I was kicking around in my head the latest brouhaha banging around on the airwaves and being touted all over social media. You know, the stuff about Chick-fil-A.

Now don't hold me too close to the fire for what I recall the whole mess is about because I might be wrong on a few aspects, but what I seem to get out of what's been broadcast is this: The owner, or ownership of Chick-fil-A has gone on record, quite vocally apparently, about his displeasure with gay marriage and, accordingly, his abhorrence of the gay lifestyle.

And, generally, gays as a group.

This very public statement has lead to a veritable firestorm of approval and disapproval from just who you'd think it would; the militant gays and the militant anti-gays.

Various demonstrations of support for the ownership have led to an big uptick in sales at a number of the outlets of this particular chicken sandwich. Other counter-demonstrations have been staged by the gays to oppose the stance the ownership has stated.

So I've watched the news reports and seen the videos and I've read statements and viewpoints from friends and acquaintances on Facebook.

Most of them have agreed with the Chick-fil-A stance.

Apparently there's a LOT of gay haters and gay marriage haters out there.

And I wonder about that.

I suppose the fact that I live in a very conservative area of the country might have something to do with it. I also suppose that it's a fact that a large percentage of my friends are religious to one degree or another and that also might also explain some of the furor.

But, to be honest, I'm having a hard time mustering up any support for this particular chicken sandwich seller.

I have friends who have gay children. I've met a lot of them. They're mostly nice people and they don't have big G's tattooed to their foreheads so they can be identified. Most of them are quite indistinguishable from us purportedly “normal” folks and they eat chicken sandwiches the same as the rest of us do.

One bite at at time.

From what I've read, I guess it's been scientifically proven that “gayness” is genetically driven and is no more a “choice” for the person who's gay than skin color, eye color or left-handedness. No choice at all.

Now I'm sure that many of my friends will disagree with me. Maybe even most of them. Maybe they've read other articles or have listened to their religious leaders who swear that the opposite is true – that gayness IS a choice and CAN be abrogated if you have enough gumption or will or if they pray hard enough. It's a free country. You're allowed to believe what you want.

They might even have more supporters of that viewpoint than I have of mine.

But hating the gays, to me at least, just feels WAY too much like hating the Jews in Nazi Germany. There's WAY too many similarities to make me comfortable. Hitler hated the gays too. They had to wear pink triangles on their outer clothing like the Jews had to wear yellow stars of David. His hate encompassed the Jews, the Catholics, the Gypsies, the mentally-deficient, and others. The man had LOTS of hate in him.

Maybe you belong to one of the groups he hated.

I'm also sure that a number of my friends will say that I'm naïve, I'm misinformed, I'm a dupe of the liberals or that I'm a closet gay myself.

Sorry to disappoint. No offense to the gays out there but I have to report that being attracted to another man just isn't in my playbook. That dog definitely won't hunt.

But hate them?

Sorry again. Not gonna happen.

I'll save my hatred for the child molester, the religious extremist trying to kill me and destroy my country and way of life. I'll save it for the mass murderer, the drug cartels and the bullies of every age and in every walk of life.

And don't forget that the politicians LOVE to see clashes like this. It takes the heat off their inability to accomplish pretty much anything these days. They are the ones who ought to merit our animosity and ire, if not some hatred also.

Is this gay-bashing business something new in the world? Of course not. In previous years it was the Blacks that drew the ire of the majority. Before that it was the Irish, the Italians, the Catholics, the Jews, the Orientals, the Mexicans, the “insert previously-oppressed group here”. If you can come up with a derogatory name for any of these groups then they were once the hated minority. Everyone hated them. But who hates them now?

Only the ones that can't let go of their prejudices. And maybe you?

So, when all is said and done and after I'm done hating all the REALLY despicable monsters that are out there, maybe I'll save a little bit for the guys putting up the detour signs that aggravate me so much and make me drive WAY out of my way. Those sons-a-guns REALLY deserve it!

And I'll get my chicken sandwich from McDonald's or Wendy's, thank you very much.