Cracker Barrel Fires Veteran Over A Muffin

FOX17 ^ | June 2014

[BulletBobCo]

VENICE, FL (CNN) " A 73-year-old veteran says he was fired from a Cracker Barrel restaurant for giving a needy man a few condiment packets and a corn muffin.

He admits it was against the restaurants rules, but says he thinks it was the right thing to do.

[miss marmelstein]

Geez, Louise! The guy gave away a couple of mayonnaise packets. In NYC, they hand out tons of sugar packets with one lousy cup of coffee. My dear grandfather used to save them and bring them to our house - hundreds of those things, lol.

[al_c]

I wonder how many corn muffins they throw away on any given day.

[firebasecody]

Well, I would like to know the whole story. Perhaps if the former employee were a little more discrete, such as, putting the probably returned muffins into a marked bag on top of the dumpster.

I suspect the nanny state makes it difficult for a restaurant to turn over left overs.

[BulletBobCo]

Everyone scorched Starbucks when they charged $130 to firemen for bottled water to trauma patients during 911. I guess it depends on the situation as to what a company allows or not allow.

[TomGuy]

Cracker Barrel doesn't deserve any criticism for this. It's nice that the guy wanted to be helpful and generous to people in need, but he shouldn't be doing that on his employer's dime. If he was truly generous then he should have paid for these things out of his own pocket.

Sounds like he is a Democrat -- they LUV using other people's money for their social causes.

[Drew68]

Cracker Barrel doesn't deserve any criticism for this.

No, they don't. Restaurants aren't in the business of giving away food for free and it sounds like it's been an ongoing problem with this employee. In fact, it sounds like Cracker Barrel has generously given him many opportunities to correct his behavior.

[ErnBatavia]

I save condiment packages for the chirren at Halloween.....because I’m a cheap bastid.

[miss marmelstein]

I had forgotten that - did that really happen? I must say the Facebook remarks about this CB incident are hilarious. I always hated that place - the fake bonhomie, the fake Americana food - bleech!

[FlJoePa]

Looks like they fired him over a theft.

[miss marmelstein]

He gave away a couple of muffins and a mayonnaise packet, lol. This hardly constitutes grand larceny - except to the Scrooges at FR.

[eyeamok]

Where is the Justice Dept, the very idea that a Restaurant can use a RACIST DEROGATORY TERM LIKE CRACKER is offensive and hurtful to White People, they should be SHUT DOWN tomorrow.

[Drew68]

A 73-year-old veteran

Furthermore, what does being a 73-year old veteran have anything to do with this story? Sounds like a deliberate attempt to make the fired employee look like a victim of mean ol' Cracker Barrel.

Sorry, but Fox News is just as much garbage as the rest of them.

[Texan5]

I don’t know anything about Cracker Barrel-never been there-but haven’t they been painted as mean-spirited before this?

[Alberta's Child]

If they were so inconsequential then he should have just paid for them himself. I would have fired the guy, too -- especially after what looks like a number of previous incidents where he had been warned by the company about doing this sort of thing.

Let's look at the positive side of this, though. Now that he's no longer employed at Cracker Barrel, he can show up at Cracker Barrel every day and buy all the corn muffins he wants to give away to homeless people ... and I'm sure the company would be very accommodating, too.

[Dick Bachert]

Just posted this on their site (or TRIED to):
This Vietnam era AF vet really APPRECIATES that your store in VENICE, FLORIDA fired a 73 year-old VET for giving a HOMELESS MAN A MUFFIN AND A PACKET OF CONDIMENTS.
Until this is corrected and the vet rehired, we shall remain FORMER CRACKER BARREL CUSTOMERS AND WILL SHARE THIS STORY WITH SEVERAL MILLION INTERNET FRIENDS.
(Any guesses how long this post will stay up? It will be measured in NANOSECONDS!)

[Always A Marine]

What difference does it make (to Fox17) that the person fired was a veteran? Veterans are not little gods, and the employee’s prior military service played no part in this news story. To a nation of ignorant sheep, “veterans” are becoming a do-no-wrong special class above other citizens, just as “law enforcement” has already become. This is not a good thing for our republic.

[skinkinthegrass]

Same here, those sugar packets were very handy.
didn't steal 'em, leftovers in pocket.
looked-up the gruel recipe, think I'll try it.

[Sivad]

It might have taken a hard-ass edge off the image of the restaurant
chain if they explained that charitable giving is something they do
at the management or corporate level and the employees are all
made aware of that fact. Still, I wonder if the employee in question
might have been placed on probation or suspended as a consequence
instead of being terminated.

[skinkinthegrass]

I’ve got soy/duck sauce galore!

[Drew68]

He gave away a couple of muffins and a mayonnaise packet, lol. This hardly constitutes grand larceny - except to the Scrooges at FR.

After being warned repeatedly to knock it off. That he wasn't fired the first time he was caught giving away free food shows great restraint of Cracker Barrel's part.

And we're all Scrooges because we support Cracker Barrel? Have you ever tried running a restaurant? It's one of the hardest jobs out there. See how long you stay in business if your employees are giving away stuff for free.