Vietnam veteran Joe Koblenzer thinks that his Veteran status entitles him to steal from Cracker Barrel

The video:

The story via Fox News:

A 73-year-old Vietnam veteran paid a high price for a free muffin.

Joe Koblenzer says he was fired by a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Florida after he gave a needy person a corn muffin for free, WWSB reported.

Koblenzer, who had been with the eatery in Sarasota for three years, told the station that he was previously written up twice before the muffin infraction: once for having a fountain drink while on duty, and another time for allegedly giving a woman a free cup of coffee. In the latter instance, Koblenzer says the customer paid for the coffee.

Cracker Barrel, however, says the muffin giveaway was Koblenzer’s fifth violation of company policy, which includes not giving away food and not consuming food without paying for it.

Koblenzer told WWSB that on the day he was fired, a man who looked like he may be homeless asked him for mayonnaise and tartar sauce.

“He said he was going to cook fish,” Koblenzer told the station.

Koblenzer said he got the man the condiments, and added a corn muffin to the bag as he handed it over.

The kindness cost the Vietnam vet his job, but he understands why he was fired.

I have news for Mr. Koblenzer; being a United States Veteran does not entitle him to rob a business of its merchandise. Furthermore, being a Military Vet does not entitle him to rob a business of its profits. Here is why I say this: If Cracker Barrel allows this guy to do this; then, they would have to allow ALL of their employees to do such a thing. Then, if word gets out that people who are needy and want free food, can go over to Cracker Barrel and tell a sob story; and they will get free food — this would cause Cracker Barrel to go out of business in short order. The last time I checked, Cracker Barrel is a business and is not a charitable organization like gleaners.

I understand the mans moral argument; but morals are one thing. However, running a business is another entirely. Cracker Barrel is not in the business of feeding the poor; they are in the business of preparing food for customers who have money to buy it. This is why the founder of this business, decided to go into business for himself in the first place!

I noticed the comments of this story at Fox News channel; and the only people who are making an issue of this; are obviously liberals who are anti-business anyhow. Furthermore, I am quite shocked that Fox News even went with this story in the first place. Perhaps Rupert Murdoch’s conservative influence is waning over there.

Again, if the poor want free food; let them get it from organizations who are in the business of providing for the poor; not from a business who are in the business of profit.

Cracker Barrel changes it’s mind

Well, that was quick!

From Cracker Barrel’s facebook page:

Dear Cracker Barrel Customer:

When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that’s just what we’ve done.

You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong.

We listened.

Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores.

And, we apologize for offending you.

We respect all individuals right to express their beliefs. We certainly did not mean to have anyone think different.

We sincerely hope you will continue to be part of our Cracker Barrel family.

Glad to see that common sense kicked in and they changed course. 😀

In defense of Cracker Barrel

Hey everybody I thought I would mention this on here, as I did on Facebook and on Twitter.

For those who are upset about what Cracker Barrel is doing in relation to duck dynasty and Phil Robertson; here is why they are doing what they’re doing.

Back in the 1990’s Cracker Barrel had a big run in with gay advocacy groups over hiring practices.

Apparently what happened was that a manager or an employee who was found out to be a homosexual was fired from his job.

Needless to say there was considerable amount of outrage and lawsuits were filed.

So what is happening is this Cracker Barrel is trying to avoid any and all controversy related to the gay community.

Cracker Barrel lost a lot of business when that happened and thought they were going to have to close a bunch of stores up over it.

So they’re trying to play it safe. As someone who has run a business in my day and knows what it is to have bad things about them, I totally understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.

Just letting you all know.

Update: Rick’s Rants links in. Thank you!