Chick-fil-A franchise to co-sponsor New Hampshire LGBT Pride event

[Igel]

19. But buy-in's cheap.

IT's the kind of thing I wish I'd thought of.

$5k for the franchise, the cost of a 10-year-old mid-range SUV in decent condition. You don't go deep into debt to sign on. Not exactly small change, but most credit cards have a higher debt limit. If you're hardworking and fairly poor, you can swing it. This just keeps out absolute deadbeats.

You don't own the storefront. It means you don't pay for it. It flops, you walk away. It's a success, you don't own it. Low risk, low benefit. It's a good starter business: Come in, learn the ropes, sell your franchise (which isn't worth much to you anyway).

They issue 75 franchises a year. They pick the locations. It reduces franchise risk. And certainly cuts down on brand dilution.

You get 50% of the profits, so there's hefty profit sharing. Bring in more cash, take home more cash. But only 50% ... Then again, your minimum salary is $0.

My family goes to CFA because of their kids policy. Very kid friendly. Kid events every week or so. The usual kid's meal toy is something vaguely educational. Happy meal--you always get a piece of plastic that doesn't do much. Last time it was in the form of an Ice Age character. CFA kid's meal? A few months ago we got a brief guide to birding and nature-watching and a beginner's naturalist's observation book. Recently they were big into Mercer's kid books.

I like it because it's not like BK, MacDonalds, or the other fastfood restaurants. At 3 PM the counter help are students. Weekends, they're students. Before finals, all the school-time employees work extra to give students time off. Some work 10 or 12 hours a week. A student of mine working at another place had a birthday and was told to work more hours or find another job; the CFAs around here, at least, limit students' hours, even if they're 19. In July service took a nosedive at the ones my family goes to: Almost all the counter help were new hires as the older employees quit after the school year ended and as they got ready to go off to college or found full-time "grownup" jobs. The manager accepted this: I asked about one of my students and was told, "Denise isn't here because she took off today for a job interview." It reduces the social gap between me and my students. I go there after school and almost always run into at least one of my students, often 2 or 3. I've had kids who wouldn't work for them, but never a kid who complained about working for the CFA near their school.

They sponsor not just advertising opportunities football but also things like the math club. They partnered with the PTO: One day a week a mass of some breakfast food is deposited on campus before school. You prepay if you want the 50% discount. The PTO gets a slice of the revenue, most of that money goes for a post-prom party to reduce drunk driving. This is in addition to "spirit night"--raise money for the swim team to go to regionals, mention the team and it gets x% of your receipt total. The manager makes money, the swim team gets money. Yeah, and Cathy gets money.

But how many of the innocent do I hurt in punishing a bad guy in denying the HQ 10 cents from my meal 10 cents that gets used for HQ's overhead and employees but some of which goes to Cathy? Yeah, I don't know. It's punishing evil. It feels good to boycott. It's doing something. Not much, but something, that might have a good outcome, so I can say that "I" did something and feel powerful. But it's too nuanced for me.