All that for a sandwich?

One of my favorite places to eat is Popeye’s Chicken. It reminds me of my hometown, Lake Charles, Louisiana. Recently, the franchise introduced chicken sandwiches to compete with Chick-fil-A – as if being open on Sundays isn’t competition enough.  Now, I like chicken sandwiches as much as the next guy.

However, I am not going to “throw down” for one. There have been multiple stories in the news about people getting into fist fights over the little patties of goodness – even though I have yet to try one, they must be amazing to erupt fist fights over them. The sandwiches were introduced in August, and franchise stores quickly ran out of them. This led to fights erupting all across the US because of upset customers.

Either the customers are fighting each other because one bought the last one, or the customers are fighting the employees because the store ran out. This begs two questions that pop up in my mind.  First, how can a chicken place run out of chicken sandwiches? It is simply chicken and bread. If the store ran out of chicken, the place would shut down. Why can’t they just use chicken tenders and make the sandwiches?

The second question is why are people fighting? I understand that Popeye’s Chicken is the bomb, but come on people, act like grownups.  Fighting another person because they bought the last sandwich is ludicrous. Fighting an employee for something out of their control is even worse. I’ve seen less bloodshed during a Black Friday Sale.

Speaking of bloodshed, things went even more overboard at a Popeye’s location in Oxon Hill, Maryland on November 4. A man and another customer began to argue when the victim was accused of cutting in line while waiting for a sandwich. Things got heated and escalated, and the two men ended up outside. The victim was stabbed and died en route to the hospital. 

A man was stabbed and died over a chicken sandwich. Let me say that again, a chicken sandwich.

Have we, the human race, derailed off the moral path so bad that a chicken sandwich is worth more than somebody’s life?  Have we as a population sunk so far down that we are going to assault and possibly murder innocent people over a piece of chicken and bread? Also, have we become so entitled that the mere thought of us not getting what we want could send us into a frenzy and spiraling into a meltdown.  I could sit here and ponder all day, and never come up with a logical reason for people to stab each other over a chicken sandwich – like I said before, a piece of chicken and bread.