Don't Eat at Red Lobster

[lpara]

<span style='font-family:comic sans ms'>I received this email last night~~ http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/teeth2.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/madgo.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/fire.gif I hope they get their claws cooked over this! http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/madgo.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/fire.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/teeth2.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile109.gif

Hello everyone. As you probably already know, 2 of Brian's former platoon members, Ron Young &amp; Dave Williams, have been captured by Iraqi troopers when their aircraft landed in the wrong area. Dave Williams' wife, Michelle, lives here in Killeen. The wives of 1/227 went to all of the surrounding stores &amp; restaurants asking if they would give Dave's wife &amp; children gift certificates for food or merchandise. Every place they went, gave over &amp; beyond what was asked. McDonalds gave $150 in food certificates to Dave's family and also stated they would cater all FRG (Family Readiness Group) Meetings and provide child care w/Ronald McDonald. These meetings take place once a month, but what a nice gesture. However, the only restaurant that absolutely refused to give any form of certificate was <span style='color:FF0033' >Red Lobster</span></span>. <span style='font-family:comic sans ms'>They informed that if they &quot;did it for his family, they would have to do it for every family that had a crisis.&quot; This was an outrage considering this business is only open because Killeen is a military town.
Upon hearing this, one of the wives who's husband also is a pilot with 1/227, was livid. She waited until the next business day at 12:30 PM and marched in Red Lobster and asked if she could speak with the manager. She asked their reason why they refused to donate a certificate for $20, $10 or even $5 for Dave's wife &amp; children to eat and was told the same lousy excuse. That's when she got really loud. Now you have to know, lunch time here in Killeen is very busy and most restaurants are filled with large tables of soldiers eating together. She started telling everyone in the restaurant that Dave was currently a POW and that Red Lobster wouldn't donate even $5 to his family to eat on. Entire tables of 10-15 people, both soldiers &amp; civilians, started to get up and walk out.
One LTC stopped and asked her what was going on. When she told him, he looked at the manager and said he wouldn't be back and would tell everyone he knows not to eat there again.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I won't be eating at Red Lobster either. Ron Young, one of the POW, was a very close friend to Brian &amp; me. Madeline called him &quot;Ms Ron&quot;. I hate to say that I only met Dave &amp; his wife, Michelle, twice and didn't really get to know them. They had only been with the Unit 2 months before Brian left. We are all praying for their safe return &amp; God speed.
It infuriates me to no end to know that a restaurant does not support our troops. Especially when the majority of the people that eat there are soldiers and their families.
I never really cared for Red Lobster anyway, so it's not going to put me out not eating there EVER AGAIN. Thank God, we have always liked McDonalds, because we will be eating there a lot more.
Nicole Johns

Some restaurants who gave certificates: Outback, Tia's Tex Mex, Chili's, Olive Garden, TX Road House, El Chico, Poncho's, Applebee's, Bennigan's, Boston's</span>

[Tennessee MOM]

I never did like those Alaskan King Crab legs anyway....... http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[azwhitewolf]

Quote[/b] ]She started telling everyone in the restaurant that Dave was currently a POW and that Red Lobster wouldn't donate even $5 to his family to eat on. *Entire tables of 10-15 people, both soldiers &amp; civilians, started to get up and walk out. *

You know, as much as I don't like the idea of a restaurant that wouldn't want to help a US Soldier - I detest even more the fact that people act so childish in complaining over one restaurant not willing to help out. *

Imagine - what if they gave $5.00 in the form of a gift certificate. *Would the people involved be any more gracious? *From the actions and attitude of this lady, *my guess would be probably not. *Ever eat lobster for under $15? *Not me! *But such a quick call to &quot;Boycott&quot; in this kind of manner is jumping the gun at best. *

Wouldn't it be better to write a professional letter to Red Lobster's Corporate Office, and express your desire for them to be more community oritented? *To visit the possibility and opportunites of local outreach? *

Better yet - if you've got the time in your day to visit a Red Lobster at 12:30 to &quot;tork off&quot; on the manager, why don't you stay home and make those families a HOME-COOKED meal?! *The gesture would be more appreciated, and the meal no doubt, better enjoyed than restaurant food. *A little organization among the neighborhood means you'd do it once a month. *Unless you told this lady you couldn't do it, then she'd probably toilet-paper your house. *http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/shake.gif

I'm sure the manager, after reviewing this poster's actions of evacuating his restaurant and being insulted multiple times, is not likely to have a positive attitude towards his community - trust me - has has NO guilt over his decision NOW! *This is the kind of hi-jack and pandering-by-demand tactics I've come to expect from the NAACP and GLAAD, not patriotic Americans. *

Maybe I'm off base on this... but I'm not so sure.

[lpara]

<span style='font-family:comic sans ms'>IMNSHO~~Even tho the method might have been a little &quot;boisterous&quot; the motive was not. Something rotten in Red Lobster made them not want to contribute. Who cares if it sets a precedent for all tragedies (their so-called reason for not contributing). They could have limited it to military tragedies or just this one. It was just an excuse to not contribute, if you ask me, and I can't blame the military wives for being http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/madgo.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/fire.gif When I put myself in their place, though I probably would have done the letter thing, I would feel the exact same way they do.</span>

[azwhitewolf]

Fair enough. *

But step out of the military wives' shoes, and step into the Red Lobster Manager's shoes. *

He's probably having a busy day, it might have been bad. *Two women storm in and expectantly hold their hand out for what is probably a very good cause. *Because he doesn't have time to deal with this situation, he says that &quot;I can't help out&quot; hoping that they'll maybe come back later - in the meantime, he has to deal with the cooks, the food shortage and figure out his spoilage count before the afternoon delivery arrives. *

He gets back to work, only to find the next day at 12:30, during his busy time, inbetween helping deliver the food to hungry customers, changing the register tape, making reservations and filling in for a sick employee, the same woman comes in and not only gives him a piece of her mind, but then tells his current customers that HE (the manager) &quot;won't help the military families&quot;. *

Having been in the bar/restaurant industry during my more youthful days, I can tell you, chaos reigns supreme - the more chaos, the better. *

Now after being publically humiliated to both his face, and towards his customers, they walk out, without paying and say they're going to tell their friends to never come.

Really - would you ever sympathize with &quot;those people&quot; again? *Even if it IS the right thing to do? *He was probably a fence-sitter on the issue, but is telling his story to NION, ANSWER and every other goofball organization that will listen - why? *Because now &quot;select people&quot; are going to boycott, and he needs to find a new customer base. *And McDonalds gave them $150.00, and donated a Ronald McDonald guy to share joy - why can't they take the time to celebrate that?

Don't get me wrong. The manager acted like a total chode, IF that is EXACTLY what happened. *I think it was cheap of him, and in bad taste to not want to help out. *But we don't know the details - how can we judge by one side, and call for a boycott on the basis of one incident? * When you get emotional scorned females telling a story about how they got &quot;slighted&quot;, it's like the guys talking about their sexual conquests amongst each other - not exactly the &quot;essence of accuracy&quot; among either of them! http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif*

I don't boycott because of emotions - I boycott on the basis that a company is continuously un-repentant in their errors. This is ONE case, ONE manager, ONE restaurant. If this was a pattern, I'd be posting it on all 4 corners of the net. But it's not.

Geez Ipara - we almost NEVER disagree on ANYTHING! http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif But I think what you said has merit to it, and we all respond differently.

FWIW, I don't eat lobster. They are bottom feeders, and look at the makeup of the body of a lobster - the legs, the shell, etc. You're eating a member of the cockroach family. No kidding. Try sharing THAT with people and watch them http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/barf.gif their way from their local Red Lobster!

[lovingarmywife]

was this a fwd'ed email or do you know the people? What base was it near? None of the military wives lists that I am on have said anything about it.

I don't eat at Red Lobster anyway...um...well, mainly because it doesn't exist in Germany, but I stopped going there in the states when they raised their prices again oh, about 3 yrs ago. There is no need to charge that much for food unless you get excellent service...and I have never gotten that at RL. For those prices, the food had better be combined with service and ambiance....plastic lobsters and crabs and robes hanging off the walls doesn't cut it for me. Anyway, I got the recipe for the cheeze rolls in an email, so there was no need to go anymore.

[lovingarmywife]

It's a hoax.

Here's the link to snopes.

www.snopes.com (http://66.165.133.65/index.html)

if it doesn't work, just go to www.snopes.com and type red lobster in the search window....it's the first one in the list

just an bit of the article about it:

Quote[/b] ]Harris said the story is untrue. The author of the original e-mail, who could not be reached Friday, has since apologized and attempted to rectify the situation by sending corrected e-mails. That woman's husband reportedly is a former member of the 1/227.

&quot;I never meant for my e-mail to get circulated like it did,&quot; she wrote in a second e-mail on Wednesday. &quot;It was originally sent to only family members and very close friends, mostly out-of-state. Last night, I received an e-mail from someone I didn't know telling me, along with other people, the issue with Red Lobster was false. I couldn't believe it was the same e-mail I had sent. The e-mail had a lot of things added to it that weren't in my original text.&quot;

Red Lobster spokeswoman Wendy Spirduso explained that the restaurant was out of gift certificates when the group first requested a donation. The restaurant later gave a $20 gift certificate for the family and is working with Fort Hood on further support.

[lpara]

<span style='font-family:comic sans ms'>Oh, I feel just AWFUL! Note to self http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif don't post anymore emails http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

AZww http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif I actually DO agree with you totally on the METHOD these wild women used is really, really WRONG. I never condone Wrong in order for a chance to do RIGHT! Believe it or not, I'm a very even-tempered, laid back, quiet (practically) person. These women who caused a ruckus don't have my respect at all and I'm sure that manager doesn't respect them either.

What a boo-boo this has caused.

The only time I've ever eaten at RED LOBSTER is when my friend took me there for my birthday a few years ago. It's Way OUT of my price range and we have a Mayflower Seafood Restaurant that is WAY BETTER. Either way~~I always get SHRIMP or CLAMS~~ are they bottom feeders too? Never mind, don't tell me http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laff.gif

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/salute1.gif AZWW http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrinangelA.gif</span>

[butynbranes2]

Quote[/b] (azwhitewolf @ April 15, 2003 -- 2:42 am)]...it's like the guys talking about their sexual conquests amongst each other - not exactly the &quot;essence of accuracy&quot; among either of them! *
http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/huh.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/eh.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/lookaround.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/doh.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/noway.gif http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/pinocchio.gif * *
Oh, no, AZ! *Say it isn't so!
Men lie about that...I can't believe it.

[OldeSalt]

Maybe it's because I've raised beeves.. or maybe it's because I prefer the mountains more than the sea (Guantanamera....) ..
but I'll continue to eschew lobsters, crabs, crustaceans, shrimps,
etc.

Just smellin' those critters cookin' reminds me of a reef at high noon at low tide.

Eeeewwwww...

(The wife says she'll eat my share.. tho)

OS

My Webpage (http://donrushmore.tripod.c om)

[Bill Hodges]

Quote[/b] ]Maybe it's because I've raised beeves.. or maybe it's because I prefer the mountains more than the sea (Guantanamera....) ..
but I'll continue to eschew lobsters, crabs, crustaceans, shrimps,
etc.

Just smellin' those critters cookin' reminds me of a reef at high noon at low tide.

Eeeewwwww...



ROFLMAO, Olde, I raise beef but I'll take lobster, crab, oysters, shrimp, ANY seafood morning, day, or night! I get told how lucky I am to always have a deep freeze full of beef but I would trade a full deep freeze of beef for a half full deep freeze of lobster any day of the week, LOL. I suppose I just take what I have for granted, but even I need a change of pace every once in a while!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *William (Bill) Douglas Hodges
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *T/O Ranch
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Erick, Oklahoma



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[OldeSalt]

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Bill --
Just so's y'all don't think we're landed barons, we got 16 acres of hardscrabble mountaintop here.. and the most beeves we ever ran at one time was 2 whiteface and one holstein heifer ..

Quick tale:

Three ranchers are talking, one's a milk rancher from New York,
one's a wheat rancher from the Dakotas, and the third is a beef rancher from Oklahoma. The subject is the size of their acreages.

The Dakotan says, &quot;My spread's so large, I have to take a motorcycle just to check the fences. Takes all day just to ride around the fence line.&quot;

The Okie ranchers scoffs: &quot;That's nothin' -- pardner -- we got 10,000 acres fenced here -- when we check fenceline, we take the four wheel drive with a trailer full of chow, tents, 4 hands,
and it takes all week to drive that truck around the fenceline.&quot;

The New York farmer laughs -- &quot;Yeah.. I owned a truck like that once...&quot;

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
OS &quot;Rancho Lumbago&quot; (there's a crick in the back)
also knowns as &quot;Pade-Up Acres&quot;

[EveningStar]

Now we know why it's called <span style='color:red'>Red</span> Lobster. *http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Shane]

Does this mean I don't need a reservation?

[Snow]

Even if this tale were true the bad choice of one manager shouldn't be taken as indicative of the responses you'd recieve from the hundreds of others in those restaurants across the country. *I can tell you that weeks before the start of the war, *when we were still in the process of building up our troops in the area, *the local Red Lobster here had a collection drive going for the soldiers. *They had a huge box set up in their lobby, *already half full of stuff when I saw it, *and at each table was a paper listing the types of things that the soldiers were most in need of. *That kind of patriotism and support for our troops is appreciated by this American, *and I'm going to show that appreciation by dining there. *Their shrimp scampi is the best.

Snow