Red Hen Restaurant Will Probably Never Open Again
L ast Friday dark, when Stephanie Wilkinson, the owner of the Cherry-red Hen, decided to eject the White House printing secretary from her pocket-size restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, she could not have had whatever idea of the row she was most to ignite. Sarah Sanders, who was already midway through her meal, was asked to go out afterward Wilkinson's staff voted to eject her in protest against the president'south policy of separating children from their parents at the Mexican border.
Since so the rustic farm-to-table eatery has been at the centre of a national debate about civility and politics. And the reaction has overwhelmed the eating house. Information technology has been forced to close, having had eggs – and excrement – thrown at it, and it has been besieged by aroused protesters. Another business in Lexington, with no connexion to the Cherry-red Hen, received a bomb threat. On Saturday, scores of "Bikers for Trump" are planning to gather outside.
But, as if to illustrate the increasingly tribal and partisan nature of public life in America, the Cherry Hen has likewise been inundated with flowers, sent past people from beyond the US and even from Europe. Hundreds have left supportive messages on its Facebook folio.
Over the last calendar week, Wilkinson'due south small, pretty eating place in a small, pretty town has become a place that encapsulates the polarisation of American club.
Wilkinson told the Washington Mail she had asked Sanders to exit because some of her staff were uncomfortable with the White House press secretary'southward presence in the restaurant. Some were gay and objected to serving someone who had dedicated Donald Trump'due south endeavor to ban transgender people from the United states military. The separation of migrant families at the southern border was another Trump policy discussed.
The national response to the incident, however, has moved beyond such concerns. Local businesses unaffiliated with the Red Hen have received calumniating phone calls and emails.
On Wednesday, a grouping of five people – two men, two teenage girls and a teenage male child – spent 3 hours standing outside the restaurant, which is housed in a small redbrick edifice just off Main Street. They were property handwritten signs expressing back up for Sanders and Trump and waving back in response to the sporadic horn honks they inspired.
None would speak to the Guardian. Nor would a human who stood across from the Red Hen, belongings a Bible and preaching almost the ills of homosexuality. At the Washington Street Purveyors wine store, next door to the Red Hen, 2 employees were unimpressed with the pro-Trump protestation.
"It'due south merely ridiculous that it's turned into this political argue," said Siobhan Beza. "Information technology had zilch to practise with that; it had to practise with Stephanie'southward employees feeling uncomfortable. The people who work at that place, the people that own it, they're the kindest people.
"And now people in the county are coming here to say they detest gay people. It's similar, 'Why are you doing this?'"
A family unit from S Carolina stopped by the restaurant for a photo, equally did a homo from West Virginia who was wearing a Trump T-shirt. Beza's colleague Rae Stephens said their store had received abusive calls.
"I really received a call from someone in California saying may we rot in hell and that nosotros all lose our businesses and it'southward a horrible identify,'" she said, "and further really horrible linguistic communication from somebody who'south never fifty-fifty prepare foot in the state probably, much less been to this expanse.
"This is a tiny trivial microcosm of what's going on in the whole state. This is what happens when the leader of the country behaves like a 12-year-former."
'Many, many bouquets accept gone out'
Lexington has a population of seven,000. It is in the traditionally Republican south-westward of Virginia but it voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, a bluish Democratic spot among all the ruddy. Non used to controversy, it is a town where colourful knitted decorations are placed outside the library. In well-kept buildings along Main Street, businesses hang signs reminding people well-nigh a community firework show.
The response to the Sanders incident illustrates just how divisive political contend has become. Beza said people had stopped by the Red Hen to leave positive messages. As we talked, a adult female arrived to place flowers on the restaurant doorstep.
The adult female did non want to speak to the Guardian but it was clear she had not been the only person to prove such support. About 500 yards up Master Street, the owner of University Florist, a beautiful and fragrant store with a jaunty sign and white window frames, said she had been inundated with orders.
"Many, many bouquets accept gone out over the last two days," Carolyn Tolley said. "More than a dozen. All in back up of Stephanie."
Tolley had received orders, she said, from Texas, New York, Michigan and Maine, every bit well as a flurry of requests from local residents. She showed a message she had delivered with a bouquet someone ordered from the UK.
"Congratulations on taking a stand," it read. "London, England, admires you lot."
Simply Tolley had besides seen the ugly side of things. Similar other businesses the Guardian visited, her store had received abusive emails. A common theme was to lament the lack of civility shown to Sanders – while wishing sick to residents of the town.
More troublingly, Tolley witnessed a bomb threat that Niko'south Grille, the Greek restaurant side by side door, received on Tuesday. Tolley was in Niko's, she said, when a man chosen. She spoke to him.
"He said he was coming to Lexington and he was going to bomb all the restaurants," Tolley said. "He said that this boondocks was full of hate and that he was coming to take intendance of the town that was so full of detest."
The restaurant closed and police intervened. Niko's reopened on Wednesday. Its owner said he thought Wilkinson had been wrong to ask Sanders to leave.
"I think she should not have washed that," said the owner, who asked to speak without beingness named. "Service is for everybody, you know. Regardless of what people believe or who the person is, service is service. It'due south some other matter somebody causing problems in the restaurant, but just somebody coming to swallow is different."
Outside, l yards abroad from the Trump-supporting protesters waving their signs exterior the Red Hen, a dreadlocked man played songs of peace on a guitar.Subsequently, the street was empty and quiet. On the doorstep of the little restaurant, lit by yellowish street low-cal, someone had left a sign.
"Lexington loves Ruddy Hen" was the uncomplicated message, written on cardboard. It seemed like a petty symbol of hope – that people in the boondocks could ascent above controversy and show support for Wilkinson and those who work with her.
In the US every bit a whole, the state of affairs is not so unproblematic. On Th morning, the paper-thin sign was gone.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/29/red-hen-sarah-sanders-local-reactions-death-threats-support
0 Response to "Red Hen Restaurant Will Probably Never Open Again"
Postar um comentário