Cracker Barrel Fires 73-Year-Old Veteran Who Gave Food To 'Needy' Man

[Crabtownboy]

My father-in-law ran a restaurant for many years on the main north-south route through the Shenandoah Valley. Especially in the spring and fall there were folk, what we called back then tramps, going north in the spring and south in autumn. Any time one would come to the restaurant asking for food he would fix them a big meal free of charge. He also insisted that his employees treat everyone politely and with respect, these folk included.

Chains companies/restaurants are only interested in money. Patronize your mom and pop restaurants and businesses. They actually care about people.

A 73-year-old Vietnam veteran was fired from a Cracker Barrel earlier this month after giving a corn muffin to a man he thought looked homeless.

Earlier this month, Joe Koblenzer was working his shift at a Cracker Barrel in Venice, Florida, when a man walked in and asked if he could have some condiments. Koblenzer loaded a few packets into a bag and added a corn muffin as well.

"He looked a little needy. He asked if I had any mayonnaise and some tarter sauce," Koblenzer told ABC local affiliate WWSB. "He said he was going to cook a fish. ... I got it for him. As I walked out I put a corn muffin in."

Not long after, Koblenzer was let go from his job.

In a statement issued to media, Cracker Barrel said this was not the first time he had given away food:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/27/cracker-barrel-fires-veteran-joe-koblenzer_n_5538382.html

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Did the employee steal the food .....did he ask permission to give it to the better? Seems you are making a judgement call based off of emotion vs facts. Please advise.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

CB would be foolish to issue an edict to feed anyone who says they can't afford it. Your kind hearted father-in-law could make decisions on a case by case basis.Cracker Barrel can't do that.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Did the employee steal the food .....did he ask permission to give it to the better? Seems you are making a judgement call based off of emotion vs facts. Please advise.

If any employees needed food he would have given it to them. The would not need to steal. If they needed a ride to work or home he would drive them, no charge.

I am not sure what you mean "give it to the better". Elaborate for me please.

He did not need to ask permission, he owned the business. He always spoke to his employees respectfully, always called them Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. and never simply by their first name.

He knew what need was as he grew up very poor in Georgia. He knew first hand what hunger was from his childhood. He also knew starvation having seen it first hand in India and China during World War II. He was a mechanic with the Flying Tigers in Kunming, China and he drove the Burma road in one of the first convoys before it was completely secure. Yes, he had very interesting stories to tell.

It is a judgement, but not on emotion. It is on the recognition that some people need help and many corporations could care less about helping. Most mom and pop establishments care about their customers. I hate it that we no longer have a locally owned lumber store here. The service was so much better and so much more friendly. The other day I stood around for about half an hour waiting for a chain store employee to be found who could cut some lumber for me. They had three people who were certified to do this job. One was unloading a truck and could not be leave as the manager insisted the truck be unloaded. One had been sent out on a delivery and they could not find the third fellow for about 20 minutes. Finally after over an additional ten minute wait he slowly walked up and I had to very carefully tell and them show him what needed to be done. He wasn't very swift.

 

[just-want-peace]

To judge this, more would have to be known about this particular instance!!

HOWEVER, Crabby's reaction is typically liberal/progressive/demoncratic ------- specifically being very generous WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!!!!

Nothing new here!:sleep::sleep::sleep:

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

To judge this, more would have to be known about this particular instance!!



HOWEVER, Crabby's reaction is typically liberal/progressive/demoncratic ------- specifically being very generous WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!!!!



Nothing new here!:sleep::sleep::sleep:

Why do so many posts have to be turned on gig poster?

I disagree with Crab's point, but there is no need to turn it back on him personally.

 

[Rolfe]

Did the employee steal the food .....did he ask permission to give it to the better? Seems you are making a judgement call based off of emotion vs facts. Please advise.

From the article:
Mr. Koblenzer has worked as a host at Cracker Barrel’s Sarasota [County] store since April 2011. During the time he was employed, he violated the Company’s policies regarding consuming food without paying or giving away free food, on five separate occasions. Mr. Koblenzer received multiple counselings and written warnings reminding him about the company’s polices and the consequences associated with violating them. On the fifth occasion, again per Company policy, Mr. Koblenzer was terminated.

His intentions may have been noble, but he gave away that which was not his. It would be no different than stealing an object from your neighbor and donating it to charity.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

He could have easily bought the goods and given them away

 

[Zaac]

Why do so many posts have to be turned on gig poster?

I disagree with Crab's point, but there is no need to turn it back on him personally.

Because this is apparently the way now that "conservative Christians" come at anyone who has a different viewpoint.

I applaud CTB for seeming to have a heart that genuinely cares about other people as opposed to the cynical,persoanl nastiness that always seems to come from a lot of those who disagree with him.

 

[Zaac]

From the article:
Mr. Koblenzer has worked as a host at Cracker Barrel’s Sarasota [County] store since April 2011. During the time he was employed, he violated the Company’s policies regarding consuming food without paying or giving away free food, on five separate occasions. Mr. Koblenzer received multiple counselings and written warnings reminding him about the company’s polices and the consequences associated with violating them. On the fifth occasion, again per Company policy, Mr. Koblenzer was terminated.

His intentions may have been noble, but he gave away that which was not his. It would be no different than stealing an object from your neighbor and donating it to charity.

Very true. But the man was 73 years old and probably grew up in a time where if someone needed help or looked like they did, you just helped instead of going through all the bureacracy or not doing anything.

 

[Rolfe]

Very true. But the man was 73 years old and probably grew up in a time where if someone needed help or looked like they did, you just helped instead of going through all the bureacracy or not doing anything.

Paying for himself what he is about to give away is not "going through all the bureaucracy". Theft is theft, regardless of the motive.

Do not misunderstand, I am sympathetic if his motives were genuine.

 

[Zaac]

Paying for himself what he is about to give away is not "going through all the bureaucracy". Theft is theft, regardless of the motive.

I was referring to having to possibly keep asking permission to help someone. He probably thinks it's crazy. But that's the same stuff that a lot of churches do now and then they just end up telling the folks no or we'll be praying for you instead of just helping.

Kudos to the 73 year old. He's one of the reasons why I would visit a place like CB. People need to be able to genuinely care for other folks w/o their jobs being jeopardized.

But I see that CB is perhaps no different than a lot of companies who enjoy the Christian patronage,, but then act in a less than Christ-like manner.

He's 73 and helping folks. Let it slide.

Do not misunderstand, I am sympathetic if his motives were genuine.

I hear ya.:thumbsup:

 

[Jkdbuck76]

Multiple counselings and written warnings? So he couldn't act surprised when he got the axe then, right? I wonder if Mr. Koblenzer had PAID for these things, it would have ended up differently?

We don't know, but maybe his actions were "getting around" and the "domicile-challenged" started to flock to the restaurant???

As with any news story, there's a whole lot they're not telling us. Again, the story says that he was warned verbally and in writing and he made the decision to give what he must have considered "stuff that Cracker Barrel won't miss". Sounds like he was warned numerous times... so CLEARLY Caucasian Barrel is the bad guy in all this.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Very true. But the man was 73 years old and probably grew up in a time where if someone needed help or looked like they did, you just helped instead of going through all the bureacracy or not doing anything.

He's younger than my parents were, and they were teens during the Depression. No one "gave" away something that was not theirs. There was a tremendous amount of personal humility and responsibility in the American people then. No one took anything. You paid for what you got, or you went without. If you're going to comment on his mindset, know something about the age group beforehand, please.

 

[Crabtownboy]

To judge this, more would have to be known about this particular instance!!

HOWEVER, Crabby's reaction is typically liberal/progressive/demoncratic ------- specifically being very generous WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!!!!

Nothing new here!:sleep::sleep::sleep:

A corporation, like Cracker Barrel, certainly could afford to give away corn muffins or biscuits. Though my father-in-law gave them full meals ... and I do not see why he could afford that more than Cracker Barrel could afford to give away small items of food, I am not saying Cracker Barrel should give complete meals. On the other side I expect they throw more food into the trash at night than a few biscuits or corn bread muffins would cost them.

I read a book a year or so ago by a man who rode the rails for several years. Often he and others would retrieve food out of the KFC dumpster.

To me to have a policy of firing a person simply because they gave a small item of food to a needy person is a bad policy showing corporate greed. Again, it is profits before people ... a very Republican stance and seemingly a conservative stance.

 

[Jkdbuck76]

Sounds like he was fired for insubordination and disobedience to me.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

A corporation, like Cracker Barrel, certainly could afford to give away corn muffins or biscuits.

Simplistic thinking. One guy gets a free meal, he goes back to the river or the camp and says, "I got free food at Cracker Barrel!" Then they have a hundred homeless at the front counter wanting a handout. All their customers leave.

I know C4K said we shouldn't turn in "gig" posts, but why is it the liberals are the ones that never have a clue, simply expecting "big corporations" to throw away their profits and take care of everyone?

They have employees, vendors, suppliers and stockholders to whom they are responsible, but you guys never, ever manage to think of them and their need to keep a paycheck coming in. If companies gave away everything, they wouldn't be in business very long.

Corporations, unlike your idealistic, simplistic, unrealistic view, do not have vaults full of money, nor a license to print it. They have to make a living just like you and I.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

There is a simple solution - it is not charity when you give away somebody else's stuff - that's theft.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Simplistic thinking. One guy gets a free meal, he goes back to the river or the camp and says, "I got free food at Cracker Barrel!" Then they have a hundred homeless at the front counter wanting a handout. All their customers leave.

I do not believe corn muffins or biscuits would cost them that much.

I know C4K said we shouldn't turn in "gig" posts, but why is it the liberals are the ones that never have a clue, simply expecting "big corporations" to throw away their profits and take care of everyone?

Why is it ok to treat employees badly?

They have employees, vendors, suppliers and stockholders to whom they are responsible, but you guys never, ever manage to think of them and their need to keep a paycheck coming in. If companies gave away everything, they wouldn't be in business very long.

And my father-in-law didn't?

Corporations, unlike your idealistic, simplistic, unrealistic view, do not have vaults full of money, nor a license to print it. They have to make a living just like you and I.

In their latest annual report Cracker Barrel reported a gross profit of 67.7 million. Not bad.

Gross profits

2011 68.3 million
2012 67.9 million
2013 67.7 million

You can find all this information and more in their annual report.

I won't worry about them going out of business ... and do not believe giving away a few muffins or biscuits would dent their profitability to any significant degree.

 

[Jkdbuck76]

I went to Caucasian Barrel's evil, corporate website. I found their take on helping very interesting. They decide quarterly who to help, can't be an individual, and they even help returning veterans which made me chuckle a bit, since Mr. Koblenzer is a veteran. Also, any group they help MUST prove 501c non-profit status in order to be eligible for aid.

Edit: so what's my take on all this? Again, there's a lot we DON'T know. We have been told that he was warned repeatedly to stop. I think that the evil, greedy republican corporate bosses sent an under cover tramp to bust this guy. Cuz nothing makes evil corporations happier than the glowing news reports that happen when firing disobedient old ppl who have the nerve to feed individuals who can't prove their 501c(3) status.