Eat Chicken Sandwiches, Oreos and Be Merry

This whole I'm not eating at this place or that place or purchasing this or that because they don't have the same opinion on an issue that I do is getting ridiculous. There are so many mean comments and name calling. It's getting out of hand.

People have different opinions. 

That's life. 

It's time to realize that.

I've been thinking a lot these past few days about this.

I've never been much into politics or had a real firm stance on many political/social issues, but there are a couple things that my opinion will not waver in. And I thought, if a company didn't have the same opinion as me, would I stop purchasing their product? The answer I came up with: No, absolutely not. 

First of all, my faith in God is something that won't change. But I also know that, unfortunately, people don't believe in Him. Do I support a company run by atheists? I know I do. I don't know which companies exactly, but I know they're out there. 

What about abortion? I'm pro-life without a doubt. Do I support companies who support Planned Parenthood? Absolutely, yes. I found this list online. Let's see here...these are some companies I use that support Planned Parenthood:

Adobe: I use Photoshop and InDesign on a weekly basis. Those are some of the best products and I can't imagine finding something better. 

AT&T: I use their phone/internet services. They keep me connected... some of the time. *evil glare*

Levi Strauss: The only jeans that will fit this short, more-to-love, curvy body of mine.

Starbucks: I've recently fell in love with their peaches & creme muffins and I'm currently sipping on an iced non-fat caramel macchiato. 

I know you know I'm referring to the recent controversary with Oreo and Chick-Fil-A. These people aren't plastering signs all over their restaurants or products declaring their opinion, they aren't firing people because of their opinions and they definitely aren't injecting some sort of pro/anti-gay marriage hormones into their products. 

Why would you let someone's opinion stop you from having or doing something you like? If everyone stopped purchasing from businesses who have different opinions than you, then most, if not all, companies would be out of business.

Who's to decide what is right and what is wrong? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Why can't people just leave it at that?

I don't eat at Chick-Fil-A. You know why? I don't care for it. I like the waffle fries, but that's about it. And they have a new peach milkshake which I think I need to try ASAP. And do you know why I steer clear of Oreos? Not because I don't absolutely love them (because I do), but because chocolate and cream don't agree much with me. It has nothing to do with their stance on major issues in this country. My goodness, they are chicken sandwiches and cream filled cookies, for cryin' out loud!

Generally I stay away from controversial topics because they always get so much hateful backlash, but this one has been heavy on my heart and I just needed to get it out in writing. I'm not writing this to hurt anyone or have anyone get upset with me. I know people are going to disagree with me. And I have people whom I love who feel strongly one way or the other on these kinds of issues. Just keep in mind how great it is to live in a society where people can believe what they want (or at least that's what it's supposed to be), and don't be so narrow-minded that you aren't willing to listen to the other person's side of things. 

Eight Hours of The Batman

                                                                     (new desktop picture, btw)

I don't know how Regal Cinemas did it, but this brilliant company somehow convinced Sam, Angelica and I that it would be a good idea to spend $25 each and sit in a movie theater for eight hours watching all three Batman movies until 3 a.m. even though we had to be at work at eight the next morning.

Then, after all of this, Regal even got us thinking that we had a great time.
And you know what?
No regrets.

After work, we hurried over to Riverpark to make it in time for Batman Begins at 6:30 p.m. We quickly grabbed some Subway (and I mean real quick... pretty sure I ate that sandwich in one bite), then made our way into the theater.

Upon walking into the theater, we were relieved to realize that there was plenty of seating still...
...Only to realize less than a minute later that people were saving several seats, even entire rows for their friends and family members who weren't there yet.

How nice.
After much debate, and almost splitting up, we found three seats together.
Phew.

Before Batman Begins started (that sounds redundant, I know), we decided we were going to take a before and after picture.

This is our concerned look:

Yes, we tend to take the most awkwardly awesome photos.
Then we noticed something even more awesome:

Do you see him? The random guy in the back? I think we came to the conclusion he was hiding from our flash. Who knows. Love it though!

Anyway, back to Batman.
I never saw Batman Begins in the theater before, so that was awesome. The two guys I would have narrate my life in the same movie -- Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman.

When the movie was over, we took a quick bathroom break and went to get our free popcorn but ran out of time since The Dark Knight started almost immediately. That was fun seeing on the big screen again! And it was just as creepy the second time around.

I'm so glad before the final movie, the movie we had waited for all this time, had a longer break beforehand. Sitting down for that long after sitting down all day at work is not fun.

The Dark Knight Rises
Was
Amazing.

If I liked it as much as I did half asleep, I can't imagine how great it would be fully alert. It wasn't nearly as fast paced as the first two, but it's the last one so I know it had to tie up a lot of different things. There were so many twists in it that I wish I could comment on, but I won't to spare you spoilers. It ended absolutely perfect though.

Even with the amazing films, I'd have to say that one of the most entertaining things that went on was with the five people sitting in front of us who were playing some sort of drinking game. The first movie, the key word was fear. I think the were drunk within the first hour. They got up several times for soda refills and what I assume were bathroom breaks. One of the guys ended up being gone for the majority of Batman Begins. I'm guessing he just wandered off. It was pretty amusing.

Unfortunately, we only ended up getting a "before" picture. I think that says a lot about what our "after" picture would have looked like so maybe it's better that we didn't get that picture.

It was a great, yet tiring night. Not sure I would do a midnight showing again. I can't really seeing wanting to go to another one... Batman is the best ever.

Batman > Any other super hero

On a not-so-happy, but related note: Please remember to pray for the victims, friends and families of those who were involved in the Colorado shooting that happened during the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises there. A wonderful night gone horrific. 
And read this powerful blog post from a victim.

Enjoy your weekend!

Go enjoy a good film with those you love.