Last week, Facebook user Ashley Coleman posted a photo to the official Dairy Queen Facebook page, imploring them to speak with the franchise owner of a Wisconsin Dairy Queen because she found a sign on the front of the store to be “extremely offensive.”
The sign reads, “This restaurant is politically incorrect,” and informs customers that staff say things like “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Easter,” “God Bless America,” and that they give free sundaes to veterans on Veterans Day.
How horrible!
I find this extremely offensive. Posted to the front door at the Kewaskum, WI DQ. Please speak with the franchise owner.
Posted by Ashley Coleman on Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Little did Ms. Coleman know, store owner Kevin Scheunemann posted the sign some four years ago after another customer was offended by hearing Christian music inside the restaurant – and Scheunemann has no intentions of removing it.
“I felt the sign was appropriate to hang in terms of being transparent about the views of the owner and staff supporting God and country,” Scheunemann recently told CBS 58. “It just seems that those kinds of values and principles are becoming controversial in society.”
Bizarrely, a customer was also upset once about the offer of free ice cream for veterans. But Scheunemann said he’s willing to talk with anyone who might have concerns about the sign. He’s even open to make arrangements for a customer to come in without witnessing any expression of God or country.
But other business owners and residents in Kewaksum don’t think the sign should be any cause for concern:
“He posted it on the door so you see it before you walk in,” said April Serwe, who owns local bar PJ Magoos. “You don’t have to walk in if you don’t agree with it.”
[…]
“In this small community, I don’t think it’s a problem,” said resident Liz Torrison. “We’re all just liking each other and having fun.”
As for Dairy Queen, they issued a non-threatening, albeit unsupportive, statement in response to Scheunemann’s sign:
“American Dairy Queen Corporation does not encourage our independently owned and operated franchisees to post non-business related messages in their locations or on their external reader boards. This sign expresses the views of this independent owner only and does not speak for ADQ Corporation or any of our other independent franchise owners. We expect our franchisees and employees to treat every person who walks through our doors with the utmost dignity and respect. Nothing less is acceptable.”
Good on Scheunemann for not backing down. Not only is he standing up for God and country, but by showing a willingness to speak with anyone who takes offense to the sign – and even accommodate them – he’s proving to me far more tolerant than his politically correct detractors.
God bless America!
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