Watch: Chick-fil-A Manager Shows Homeless Man Kindness Instead of Calling Cops
Homelessness. Whether people fall into it because of substance abuse or just really poor timing and rough circumstances, it’s prevalent — especially in larger cities where the climate is mild.
When you see homeless people day after day — especially the same ones — with their cardboard signs and their disheveled clothing, you can become callous and forget they’re even there.
Many of them are looking for handouts, whether food or cash, and will set up next to offramps until cops make them move along.
Sometimes, they’ll offer to wash windows or sell trinkets to try to scrounge up enough change to fend for themselves, but they can get in trouble for that, too.
One homeless man who goes by the handle “Charlie” was in that camp. He was in Bowling Green, Kentucky, hoping to sell some CDs.
Unfortunately, he was also sitting on the lawn of a Chick-fil-A, trying to sell his wares to customers, so the manager came out to have a chat with him.
She explained the rules to him, saying that they had a no-soliciting policy that he was currently breaking.
“Because of your sign we can’t let you solicit,” she said, referring to his CD sales. But then she proposed a kind-hearted alternative: “You are more than welcome to dine in and be our guest.”
She’d brought a bag and a drink outside with her when she talked to the man. She could have called the cops or even just politely gone out herself and asked the fellow to move along — it was policy, after all.
But she decided to offer the poor man food, and invite him to come inside if he wanted to. She even shook his hand firmly, without any pause or wincing at his dirty state.
She asked his name, and humanized him by using it and inviting him in. She killed two birds with one stone: she did what she needed to as a manager, but she also extended generosity.
Christopher James, the man in the parking lot who caught the interaction and posted about it wanted the local restaurant to get some recognition, so he took the matter into his own hands.
“Chick-fil-A Campbell Lane didn’t get enough credit on this one,” he said. “This was a fella directly outside of their main entrance/drive-thru that was selling CDs (obviously homeless).”
“The manager came out, informed him that you cannot solicit outside of the restaurant, and instead of giving him the boot — she offered him a meal and a place to eat inside. Chick-fil-A is doing something right.”
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