Think Before You Boycott

I've been seeing a lot of "BOYCOTT!" certain restaurants postings on social media websites, especially on that bastion of common sense, Facebook. It seems many people are pissed because those particular restaurants have made statements to the effect that they will have to reduce employee hours, or something like that, in order to be able to afford Obamacare, or something like that.

I don't know the entire details, but here is a link to an article regarding Darden's, "experiment." Darden is one of the companies people are boycotting. After reading the article, I agree the "experiment" sucks. And I  understand they will not be the only company to find a way around the cost of Obamacare, and frankly, I don't have the answer. One would think that the powers that be would have taken into consideration the possible repercussions, and devised a safety net for the employees, and not just a fine for the companies who can afford to opt out. I don't get it.

But this much I do "get"...the only people you will hurt by boycotting these places are the people who work there, the people who need that job, and yes, my daughter happens to fall into that category. She is one of the "saps" who works as a hostess at one of the restaurants that are being boycotted. And she not only loves the job, she needs the job.

She applied to many, many places before being called by this restaurant. In fact, this restaurant was the only place that even responded to the dozens of applications she placed everywhere. This is her first job. She is learning how to deal with the public (good luck with that!) which will come in handy in her future career plans. They started her at a fair wage and have been very supportive of her education, working with her to schedule her around her classes. They've said that a job would be waiting for her in Richmond when she transfers to VCU. That's a big load off of her, and my, shoulders.

We don't know yet what the costs will be for her to enroll in the company's health care plan as open enrollment doesn't begin until later this week. We're hoping it's affordable as that's really her only option. You see, health insurance companies in Virginia will no longer write a policy for a 19 year old. That's their way around Obamacare's  mandate to cover pre-existing conditions...a good idea that was poorly executed. You don't hear much about that though, do you? No, instead you hear how awful these other companies who are giving jobs to those 19 year olds are.

Sometimes not everything is so black and white. So, if you want to boycott, go ahead, but I won't be joining you. I saw this somewhere...

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, plus a social media overreaction!