It's supposed to be a big one, and it's not on my side of the state, but who knows where it's heading? I'm currently (as of Wednesday afternoon) trying to convince my sister to evacuate and come to my coast, and I'm also waiting to hear if school will be canceled on account of high winds.
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| MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY! |
On another note, I got my hands on some Pumpkin Spice Cheerios finally! I like to mix my flavored Cheerios with the regular kind so they're not too sweet. The PS were good, but they really reminded me of the apple cinnamon flavor with less cinnamon. They weren't anything really new.
After the event he shook hands with the crowd, and I shook his hand and looked him in the eye and said, "I met your wife at the All Star Game!" and he smiled back his beatific smile and replied, "You met the best part of my family!"
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| There he is! |
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| My best selfie haha! |
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| Here he is again! |
The last thing on my mind today is about religion. Fair warning, this may get a little controversial...I honestly don't mean to be offensive here - I'm just thinking through my personal bias and thought process.
Driving home from work I passed a van for an electrician that was named ABC ("Abiding by and Believing in Christ Jesus"). Their tagline was "Available 24 Hours, just like Him", which I thought was clever.
Now, the Christians I know and associate with are honest, friendly, dependable, and loyal. Those are traits that would make a great electrician! And if that's how this guy runs his business, then I think that's a really great example of displaying Christian values in all parts of his life.
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| I think we can all agree THIS is the Christianity we want to see more of in the world. |
FYI, I feel the same way about company trucks with political bumper stickers and the like. I just feel like it's not a smart move to alienate potential customers...but I guess if they believe that strongly, then that's their prerogative, but it still makes me really uncomfortable.
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| Matt took this photo near his ceramics studio. He was wondering how many customers this bike shop owner had alienated by putting up a Trump flag. |
Have you attended any political rallies before?
Have you ever met a celebrity?
What do you think of overtly religious/political businesses?
ABK
My Dad's in Orlando and I tried to get him to come here too. Hope the Hurricane isn't too bad. Pretty cool you got to see the VP!
ReplyDeleteLuckily it seems like Orlando didn't get hit too badly! We were able to pull through, too; just some strong wind on my end!
DeleteI've never attended any political rallies before mainly because the ones that come here are republican haha. I wish I could have gone to the Biden one but I was working! I'm glad you met him!
ReplyDeleteI don't really like advertising politics with business. Political and religious beliefs I think are personal and those are two of the things that people get really passionate and self righteous about so I agree, I think it could alienate potential customers.
Right? You just never know who you're driving away!
DeleteGREAT Biden pictures! I can't believe you got to speak to him. :) I am sure you can guess what I'm going to say about mixing religion and businesses. You may alienate people or you may make more people come to your business. It's definitely their decision but I would think MOST businesses would just try to keep it neutral is to sort of play it safe, you know? I don't eat at Chick Fil A anymore after hearing how they donate a lot of their money to anti human rights causes. Their money, they can do whatever they want, I just don't spend my OWN money there because I would prefer MY money didn't fund such hate.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way - I know CFA donates money to causes I disagree with, including anti-LGBTQ campaigns, so I've taken my business elsewhere. It's their right to donate where they choose, but like you said, it's MY money and I'm not putting a penny of it toward bigotry.
DeleteI would love to meet Biden.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with some of my closest friends' view so we steer away any political talk.
Stay safe.
I think steering away from political talk is smart! I've found in recent years that I just can't stay silent anymore...it feels too dire.
DeleteJoe Biden's comments on his wife are the cutest!
ReplyDeleteAren't they just?!
DeleteI think mixing your religion into a business is unprofessional, frankly. I think it's perfectly fine if business owners or employees want to express their religion. But like you there's just something I find really uncomfortable about making a business religious. Aside from the alienating customers issue, I can't help but wonder about the motives of someone who feels compelled to do that. He or she may be a very nice person but it just strikes me as aggressive and lacking in boundaries.
ReplyDeleteStay safe, and congrats on meeting Mr. Biden!!
I should clarify that the same goes for businesses that do this with politics. There is a real estate office on one of my run routes that is plastered with Trump signs, and I just don't get it. Are your political preferences so important to you that you are willing to give up potential customers and revenue? I mean I don't know squat about running a business but that doesn't seem particularly entrepreneurial or business-savvy to me.
DeleteYes, agreed - I wonder about motives, too. Are they purposely playing the religion card to get more customers? This company's website clearly stated they believe in running their business by Christian values but didn't clarify which values those were!
DeleteI hope you and your family stay safe during the hurricane!
ReplyDeleteIt is so awesome that you got to meet, shake hands with and talk to Vice President Biden!! That has to be an amazing experience!
There is an ice rink close by that has a giant Trump sing on their door. I saw it during a run with a group and thought, I will never ever set foot in that establishment. Even after the election! Anytime I see a Trump sing I automatically think that the person who put up that sing would hate me, and that scares me.
Thank you, we were safe!
DeleteI feel the same about Trump signs. I feel like they probably think I don't deserve equal rights because I'm a woman and that they'd hate me if they knew I was Jewish. It freaks me out and completely makes me never want to support them.
Oh, how cool to get to meet him!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to a political rally (never had the interest). And I have to agree with you about not mixing business with religion (unless your business is religion - I do work at a church, after all). My feeling is that if you're doing that then you're proselytizing, and I am deeply uncomfortable about that. Mixing business with politics I feel less strongly about - you just have to know that you may be alienating potential customers.
I hadn't considered the perspective that mixing religion in business could be proselytizing. That definitely makes me even more uncomfortable with it!
DeleteI don't like when companies promote religious beliefs and/or politics for all of the obvious reasons that you mentioned. It's alienating and it also sends a potentially bad message to the community in which you live where there are certainly others that don't share your same beliefs or views. In my opinion it says "this is what we think/how we feel and we're marketing ourselves as such because we don't want to do business with people who don't feel the same way." That may not be the case but that's how I read into it and that's not cool!
ReplyDeleteI had been thinking about it as a "We'll appeal to X-people" kind of way, not in a "We don't want to work with X-people" way...but that's totally valid! It's like the anti-gay pizza places all over again! Either way, I don't want to support that kind of business.
DeleteI would have loved to meet Joe Biden, he's one of my faves! Very cool you got to shake his hand and I love that selfie!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the religious/political stuff definitely makes me uncomfortable when it comes to businesses, I remember in Philly when one of the popular cheese steak owners had a sign that you had to speak English...haven't been back there since (plus their food is awful!).
Ugh, what a gross sign!! It really makes you wonder what people are hoping to gain by putting up something so rude!
DeleteYep, saw the stink-eye at the reporter!
ReplyDeleteI was just checking out her outfit! (She had taken off her heels and was standing on a folding chair haha! Camera magic!)
DeleteI am so glad you had such a great experience meeting Biden. I could just feel the happiness in your words!
ReplyDeleteI often wondered why businesses would advertise which candidate they support because I do feel like it could alienate other customers. In fact I wonder how many relationships/ friendships will be severed because of this whole election. Honestly I could care less who anyone supports and will remain friends with everyone I was friends with before. However, I know some people who do not feel that way, which is sad.
In past elections I really could look past differences in political opinion because it all comes down to politics...but this election feels different because Trump comes across as such a hateful, nasty person. I just feel like those who agree with him are condoning his dog-whistling etc, and I can't get behind that. My grandparents support Trump and I had to beg them not to talk to me about it (they love to debate and in the past we've had very fun debates!) because I didn't want to see them with new lenses.
DeleteSee, here's my thought on that: we pay taxes for the greater good. We ALL pay them, whether we want to or not. They go toward roads, education, bridges, police, etc. So to me, taxes are totally different than me taking my money and CHOOSING to put it toward a business that is probably run by people who are against Planned Parenthood, LGBTQ equality, closing the wage gap, etc. Since I CAN choose, it becomes important to me.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your comment! I had to mull it over a bit and it gave me something to think about!