Community Rallies Behind Pizza Joint After Woman Tries To Cancel It for Flying Trump Flag
You tried, Facebook canceler. You tried your hardest.
You went into Patio Pizza in St. James, New York, on the night of July 24 to pick up your order. Like any good Long Islander, you like yourself a good pizza on a Friday night.
What could spoil your night? No, it wasn’t thick-crust pizza, or someone without a mask or even someone loudly discussing how Billy Joel is really overrated.
No, it was a flag. Not an American flag. Not even a “Thin Blue Line” flag. Much worse than that: a Trump flag.
Maybe it was a sick prank. Is that show “Punk’d” still on? Surely it was something like that. You asked one of the Patio Pizza employees what was going on and they said it belonged to the owner.
You went through your options. Could you call the police? No, the owner’s name was Guy Caligiuri — that sounds white, and as a liberal (I assume) in good standing, you know they only kill black people.
Plus, police actually — shudder — like that Orange Man. What about setting the flag aflame? That would be a good way to deal with it.
Even better, though: You’re the administrator of a local mom-centric Facebook page. Get ready for digital ignominy, Mr. Caligiuri. You went home and made a post about how you were never going to spend your money there again, making sure everyone knew how awful this guy was. After all, he didn’t just have a different opinion than you. He had the gall to express it.
Watching Caligiuri’s appearance Thursday on Fox Business for the fifth time on your DVR, your eyes still misted over with rage, you wonder how it went so wrong — and why he didn’t just realize how important you were, as the administrator of a Facebook page, and just take the flag down.
“I’ve been in business for 43 years and I’ve seen a lot,” you heard Caligiuri tell host Stuart Varney. “And, I just took it in stride. … I just ignored it, basically.”
And things were going right, too! He knew that you were going make sure he was canceled, and canceled hard.
He talked about getting calls about “this woman who had posted nasty things about me online and was asking the [St. James] community to boycott Patio Pizza.”
Yes! Yes you had! You’d canceled it! And so people converged on Patio Pizza and … supported it?
The community “rallied around” Caligiuri, the business owner said. So did people from around the country.
How could that be?
“They supported our president. They support the flag that I had hanging in the back of my store,” you heard Caligiuri say.
You looked through Twitter, fighting back the tears. People liked that guy.
Local pizza place criticized for putting up Trump flag. Insane support. Patio Pizza in St. James, Ny. We got your back!! pic.twitter.com/RHY79Oi48C
— Michelle (@Hockeymom2234) July 29, 2020
Driving in from Queens to get a pie from Patio Pizza!
— Carrie Marcal (@CarrieMarcal) July 31, 2020
Patio Pizza St James NYLI ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/PPAjRPlq3f
— Roberta (@Roberta19892234) July 30, 2020
Go enjoy a pizza at Patio Pizza in St. James, Long Island, NY??????
— mauijan88 (@EmanueleJan) July 30, 2020
And you know who liked the guy, too? That … that … oh, you can’t even say it!
Support Patio Pizza and its wonderful owner, Guy Caligiuri, in St. James, Long Island (N.Y.). Great Pizza!!! @Varneyco
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020
“I think he’s a fantastic president, I think he’s done a great job, and I think it’s my right to support him and to show my support of him,” Caligiuri said.
“But, this woman took it upon herself to — not knowing me, not knowing my family, not knowing my grandchildren … she took it upon herself because she saw a flag in the back to try to put me out of business,” you heard him say.
You went back to Twitter. At least some people saw that you were making sense and realizing this guy’s support of President Trump meant he ought to be run out of business.
Kiss of death endorsement. This is the worst thing you could do for Patio Pizza. https://t.co/dkdWBiSVSr
— Larry K (@Getsmart4) July 30, 2020
I suggest that everyone do just the opposite of the President’s endorsement.
BOYCOTT: Caligiuri’s Patio Pizza on Lake Ave, St James, NY
No employees, not even the cook, wear a mask. @TheDemocrats #WearADamnMask pic.twitter.com/vnGlqfsfEL
— OnTheFritz (@fritzinmo) July 30, 2020
We all know which pizza place to avoid in Lonv Island. @Patiopizza has to be bad if Trump supports it. #WearADamnMask
— Tricia (@tricia61862) July 30, 2020
How didn’t this work? You were told this was how cancel culture was supposed to work, right? You said this guy had the temerity to support Donald Trump. You implied on Facebook that the community should do their worst. And they didn’t.
In fact, the community rallied around this guy. It’s almost as if they didn’t care that you were outraged!
What’s the world come to when this guy’s allowed to get away with having his own opinion?
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