Waitress Says She Was Fired For Tea Party Bracelet

CBS Chicago ^ | November 15, 2011 7:31 AM | CBS Chicago

[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.

[tarheelswamprat]

I use the old model, which I’ve had for a decade. However, if I were to buy another one I’d probably get the new one because of the improvements in dis-assembly and cleaning.

The Jaccard is not like other tenderizers which pound and punch holes in the meat. It has thin razor blades which slice the connective tissue. You don’t pound it, you simple place it on top of the meat and press down.

It will flatten somewhat, but after you make one or two passes you can press the edges of the meat together with your hands and it will “plump up” back to its original shape and thickness. If you didn’t know what to look for you wouldn’t even notice that it has been “tenderized”.

Used properly it does not make the meat mushy, however, like any mechanical processing you can overdo it. Just experiment to find what works for you. Another thing to be aware of is that the meat will cook about 30-40% faster after being tenderized.

I found out about the Jaccard from a friend who’s a chef in a 4 star restaurant. He said most top level restaurants use Jaccards, sometimes even on their best cuts if the chef is uncertain about the texture, “just to make sure” their customers get a tender steak.

[JimRed]

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.

It is possible that she was not performing the job up to expectations. An individual wearing something suggesting a conservative attitude is not automatically the best worker (though we'd like it to be that way!).

[Molon Labbie]

I would stop you to shake your hand and ask you where I can get one...

[reformedliberal]

most top level restaurants use Jaccards, sometimes even on their best cuts if the chef is uncertain about the texture, “just to make sure” their customers get a tender steak.

---

Exactly the situation. I buy whole muscle cuts and we portion them ourselves. I usually have to separate the rib portion on a top sirloin because that area is tough. There are also areas on strip loin that can be too tough.

Thank you for the information. I think I am going to buy one of the hand-helds.

[CodeToad]

“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,”

I actually believe that to be the real story. It’s like when we read headlines such as “Boy suspended from school for reading Bible” only to find he wasn’t just reading it to himself but screaming it to the other kids on the playground and interrupting their playtime.

[skinkinthegrass]

Waitress Says She Was Fired For Tea Party Bracelet
I have been leery of the piercing tenderizers because I wondered if they made the meat mushy.
*snickering*..that's the great thing about FR...
politics to food preparation in 3 entries.

[rolling_stone]

Does that mean I am too late to jump to conclusions on this thread?

[Eye of Unk]

I bought mine from Ebay last year, what is nice is that it sits in the back window but yet when I look at it in the rear view mirror the words are all in the right direction, no it doesn’t cover the whole window, just the area right behind me, its an extended cab.

But I do think I have had encounters with some irate people but like my day job where I drive a concrete mixer my truck is an 8,000 lb Dually and size DOES matter.

And I am thinking about getting a vinyl decal of at least a foot square or larger and putting it on the drum of the truck.Could you just imagine if it was on the whole drum?

Would have to be on both sides as one side would always be upside down as it turns, kinda like a distress flag?

I swear if I had a bit of disposable income I would have a couple of thousand bumper stickers made and hit some car parks or shopping centers, that would indeed be a riot.

[usconservative]

The company I worked for made you get permission to work on someone’s campaign even on ones own free time.

I work for a large, multi-national bank (that I cannot name per my employment agreement) and am under the same restrictions (due to my employment agreement) and have to submit all my political contributions for review to clear any bank related "conflicts of interest" (again, per my employment agreement.)