OLIVE GARDEN APOLOGIZES FOR BANNING AMERICAN FLAG

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UPDATE ! ! !

In response to an overwhelmingly massive public outcry, the official web site of the OLIVE GARDEN restaurant chain has just posted the following announcement:

"We've had some questions about whether or not guests can bring the American flag into our restaurants. We are very sorry for any misunderstanding about this issue. We do not have a policy at Olive Garden concerning bringing the American flag into our restaurants. Some members of our team were misinformed about company policy by our corporate office. As a company we take responsibility for that and we regret it. We take pride in how we communicate to our restaurants and we are correcting this so it doesn't happen again. Like all Americans we have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the American flag and everything it symbolizes, and we welcome anyone who wishes to bring the flag into our restaurants. In fact, we periodically provide American flag collar pins to our employees to wear while serving guests."

On Columbus Day, Wednesday 12 October 2011, WBRC-TV Channel 6 in Birmingham, Alabama, a Fox Broadcasting Company television network affiliate, and WPEC-TV Channel 12 in West Palm Beach, Florida, a CBS television network affiliate, reported on their respective web sites that the OLIVE GARDEN restaurant in Oxford, Alabama refused to permit the local KIWANIS CLUB to display the flag of the United States of America during a scheduled meeting, in order "to be fair to everyone and avoid disrupting the dining experience for all other guests", according to a formally issued statement by DARDEN RESTAURANTS, based in Orlando, Florida, which is the parent company of OLIVE GARDEN restaurants, RED LOBSTER restaurants, LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE restaurants, THE CAPITAL GRILLE restaurants, BAHAMA BREEZE ISLAND GRILLE restaurants, and SEASONS 52 FRESH GRILL restaurants.

Unfortunately, I could find no video to accompany this report, and the text of the original report did not indicate exactly when this incident occurred.

If the OLIVE GARDEN restaurant would show such disrespect for the flag of the United States of America, just imagine how disrespectful they would be towards the flag(s) of the Confederate States of America?

Indeed, the tartan of Clan Henderson, as well as the banner of Scotland, would be unwelcome there, wouldn't they?

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