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Waitress Says She Was Fired For Tea Party Bracelet
CBS Chicago ^ | November 15, 2011 7:31 AM | CBS Chicago

Posted on 11/16/2011 3:46:55 AM PST by Dacula

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (CBS) — A Crystal Lake waitress says she lost her job because she wore a Tea Party bracelet to work.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Bob Conway reports, Megan Geller, 23, tells the Northwest Herald she wears the bracelet with the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” the phrase that appears beneath the iconic snake on the yellow Gadsden flag, and which is often seen and heard at Tea Party rallies.

Geller tells the newspaper a couple she was serving at the local Outback Steakhouse took offense and complained.

Geller said her mother, Tonya Franklin, got the bracelet at a Tea Party event, and a couple dining at the restaurant did not like it and asked for the manager, the Northwest Herald reported.

After Geller was fired, a group rallied in front of the Outback Steakhouse, waving American and Gadsden flags and accusing the restaurant of violating her free speech rights, the Northwest Herald reported.

Company officials tell a different story. They say Geller was inattentive to diners at two tables and say that if the bracelet had been a problem, managers would have told her to remove it, the newspaper reported.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: teapartywaitress
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To: scooby321
"The owners support GOP and hate the Left."

BTW...Elizabeth (Liz) A. Smith, CEO of OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC (Outback), just happens to sit on one of OBozo's Management Advisory Boards, for what it's worth.

21 posted on 11/16/2011 5:04:18 AM PST by harpu ( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")
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To: usconservative
In the 70's I owned a bar, rest, hotel and we had one hard fast rule for our staff.

Check your politics and religion at the door when you come to work, no visible Christian Crosses or Stars of David {there were no mooselimbs in the area at the time} we are there to serve the customer, not convert them.

If they have money and wanted to spend it, our service to the customer was our reason to be there.

We never had a single political/religious problem with a customer.

Some customers were jerks for all kinds of reasons, and we had to make business decisions as to their overall value to our business, but they were never made with a religious or political bent.

22 posted on 11/16/2011 5:06:19 AM PST by USS Alaska (Nuke The Terrorist Savages)
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To: usconservative

There used to be a wonderful steakhouse near my house. It was a big barn of a room, probably 100’ x 140’, with nothing but tables and a few pictures on the wall. It was very neat and tidy, but it did not spend a lot of money on ambiance.

What they did spend money on was the meat. You would order a steak, and you would get a piece of meat that was better than anything you could find in the store, well prepared, and at about twice the cost you would pay if you could find it.

That was a great place. They were busy every night of the week. Then they were bought out up and somebody turned it into a Japanese style steakhouse at $120 a plate. Ridiculous!


23 posted on 11/16/2011 5:07:33 AM PST by Haiku Guy (We don't need to Occupy Wall Street... We need to Occupy K Street!)
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To: golux

Thanks, golux, for the eyewitness account. I was afraid this thread was going to be spuclative. /s


24 posted on 11/16/2011 5:14:36 AM PST by healy61
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To: usconservative
I owned a Thai Restaurant. As owner I of course got to be waiter, dish washer, bus boy, toilet cleaner, book keeper, and everything except cook, (I wanted the food to be good, so left that to Thai ex wife #2, and her cooks.)

Most of our customers were great people, but of course some came in with attitudes, or were merely having a bad day. My waitstaff was allowed small ear rings and wedding bands only. Anything political wasn't allowed.

The worst customers I remember were a large table of Mooslimes who started complaining because we served pork. My response to them was "so order something else, our menu has chicken, duck, fish, beef, shrimp, oyster, and tofu dishes." They ordered egg rolls after being assured they would be chicken not pork. As I recall they were pigs themselves. Their children left half their food on the floor. Even though they got good service their tip was meager. They never returned.

Some of the local Thai restaurant have removed pork items from their menu's to avoid problems with the Mooslimes. Maybe that group didn't return because I didn't cave to their stupidity. Some Thai dishes such as Pad Kee Meao just taste better with pork.

25 posted on 11/16/2011 5:18:59 AM PST by ASA Vet (Natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. De Vattel)
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To: Diogenesis

And heaven forbid if you don’t want an AIDS infested queer serving your food...


26 posted on 11/16/2011 5:19:11 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter knows whom he's working for)
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To: MrB
You know that from what source!?!

Outback Steakhouse founder is a money man for GOP

http://news.muckety.com/2011/06/25/outback-steakhouse-founder-is-a-money-man-for-gop/33191

27 posted on 11/16/2011 5:23:48 AM PST by scooby321
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To: scooby321
FYI...Chris Sullivan, the GOP bundler, is NO LONGER directly involved with the management of OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC. Probaably a shareholder, maybe on the Board but not on the management team.

Kind of like a 'Paul Allen,' formerly of Microsoft.

28 posted on 11/16/2011 5:30:00 AM PST by harpu ( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")
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To: Dacula

Of course the title of the article is totally wrong. She was not a good waitress which is why she was fired. When is the media going to become honest?


29 posted on 11/16/2011 5:31:29 AM PST by napscoordinator
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To: popdonnelly
I wonder how all of us would feel if a waitress wore a bracelet that says “abortion is awesome! Kill the babies today!” I certainly wouldn't be happy about it that is for sure.
30 posted on 11/16/2011 5:34:24 AM PST by napscoordinator
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To: Dacula

Outback Steakhouse should be left in the Outhouse as far as I am concerned...their food sucks anyway.


31 posted on 11/16/2011 5:35:14 AM PST by Wpin ("I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny...")
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To: scooby321
Here's a nice link to "Under Sullivan, an avid Republican, Outback assembled one of the country's biggest corporate PACs."

Too bad the business left behind didn't continue what he co-founded.

32 posted on 11/16/2011 5:43:09 AM PST by harpu ( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")
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To: FreedomPoster; Haiku Guy
You “get” steakhouse dining. ... I don’t get it either. Especially now that USDA Prime steaks are readily available at Costco.

And, even if you don't want to spring for the cost of Prime, the Choice beef from Costco or Sams, with one or two passes by a Jaccard tenderizer will do just as well. Anyone who's serious about good, melt in your mouth tender steaks, chops, venison, etc. should invest in a Jaccard.

33 posted on 11/16/2011 5:46:23 AM PST by tarheelswamprat
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To: scooby321; All
Well, well, well...I stand corrected!

Apologies to you, Scooby321, I was wrong!

34 posted on 11/16/2011 5:49:48 AM PST by harpu ( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")
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To: Dacula

As a Tea party supporter, she should understand that her employer can fire her for any reason he wants and stop complaining. If she doesn’t like capitalism, she can go occupy zuccotti park.


35 posted on 11/16/2011 5:55:20 AM PST by ChurtleDawg (voting only encourages them)
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To: usconservative

I lived in Crystal Lake @ 13yrs ago and it was pretty conservative back then.


36 posted on 11/16/2011 6:10:09 AM PST by ebshumidors ( Marksmanship and YOUR heritage http://www.appleseedinfo.org)
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To: ChurtleDawg

Sounds to me like her former employer created a great opportunity for her to find a much better job situation. I guess I just look at things differently having been self-employed for most of my young life.


37 posted on 11/16/2011 6:14:29 AM PST by SirFishalot
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To: Haiku Guy
This is why almost any restaurant will prevent the waitstaff from wearing political buttons or devices.

One exception is Lucy's El Adobe in Los Angeles, whose owners are unabashed in their support for Democrats. Democrat campaign literature is featured in their lobby. They also serve good food, which is the only reason I eat there.

Whenever I go there, I always ask if they are related to the El Adobe restaurant in San Juan Capistrano, and they always tell me, "no," usually rather curtly. The Capistrano eatery was President Nixon's favorite restaurant.

38 posted on 11/16/2011 6:17:36 AM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: tarheelswamprat

Which style do you use?

I always marinate beef/venison, brine pork and chicken and I do pierce the beef/venison, first. I have been leery of the piercing tenderizers because I wondered if they made the meat mushy.

I am interested in your experience.


39 posted on 11/16/2011 6:36:08 AM PST by reformedliberal
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To: usconservative

“But here’s the thing: no matter where one works, there is no such thing as free speech on company time.”

The company I worked for made you get permission to work on someone’s campaign even on ones own free time. Of course it was a healthcare company and had no doubt donated to obama’s horrific obamacare cause.


40 posted on 11/16/2011 6:40:30 AM PST by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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