News from the Plains: All this RED can make you BLUE
Hobby Lobby means never having to (really) say you're sorry
by Barry Friedman
Why is this so hard?
"We sincerely apologize for any employee comments that may have offended anyone, especially our Jewish customers and friends. Comments like these do not reflect the feelings of our family or Hobby Lobby," he said.
For the love of the Old Testament, that's it ...
may?
Spine, party of one, your table's ready.
Anyway, that's Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, sort of, kind of apologizing for what one his employees said to a customer who asked about the availability of Hanukkah items.
“We don’t cater to you people."
Apparently, though, Green figures not
all Jews would have a problem being called "you people"; hence, the less than full-throated mea culpa.
And it's not like the cashier blamed the customer for killing Christ.
Worse, it's a canned response that both mitigates the offense ("not reflect the feelings") while patronizing those offended ("especially our Jewish friends").
Great, you didn't mean it and Jews are too sensitive.
"Our family has a deep respect for the Jewish faith and those who hold its traditions dear. We’re proud contributors to Yad Vashem, as well as to other museums and synagogues in Israel and the United States."
What a self-aggrandizing putz!
(I sincerely apologize, for that last comment may have offended Steve Green.)
As for what the store stocks and what it doesn't, Green reminds us, as Michael told Sonny about killing Sollozzo, "It's not personal. It's strictly business."
"We select the items we sell in our stores based on customer demand," he said.
Fine.
This was never about menorahs and dreidels anyway--nor even half-assed apologies. But it is about the hypocrisy of selling Jack-O-Lanterns and Skull and Crossbones rubber stamps that are made in China, where Christians are persecuted, while trumpeting how Jesus is the guiding light behind your success; it's about pouting when you don't get your way and are asked to act like a craft store and not a church; and it's about trotting out and hiding behind your personal faith when your company insurance plan is required to cover Depo-Provera shots for, say, one of your Jewish cashiers.