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Italian restaurant has a funny and razor-sharp response to a homophobic review

He won't be eating there again.

via Google reviews

An anti-LGBTQ review of Vinnie's in Asheville, North Carolina.

A Google reviewer recently left a homophobic review for The Original Vinnie's Neighborhood Italian restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina. Although the review is upsetting, the response from the restaurant is the perfect example of how to confront homophobia.

Vinnie’s is known for food that reflects the “Old School” flavors of New York cuisine and has repeatedly been named "Best Italian Restaurant" in Asheville. The reviewer, who used the screenname "Kip Hadley," liked the food but didn’t enjoy the fact that Vinnie’s had a lot of LGBTQ employees.

“The food was fantastic, the waitress was great, however, I was surprised Italian sausage wasn’t the only thing on the menu,” Hadley wrote in the review. “The place was filled with homo’s. There should be some kind of warning, it was difficult to stay and finish our meal, especially with the kids having to see that.”

homophbic, Vinnie's Italian, reviewsThe homophobic review of Original Vinnie's Neighborhood Italian restaurant.via Google reviews

Sean Cudmore, Director of Growth and Strategies at The Scheffer Group, responded to the review with incredible heart and humor while touting the benefits of employing LGBTQ people.

Cudmore began his response by doubling down on how proud the company is to support LGBTQ people by giving them “safe, supportive, and sustainable places to work” and said that the company would continue to do so.



Then, he addressed Hadley, noting that multiple LGBTQ people most likely prepared the food he enjoyed.

“As for you, Kip, please feel free to avoid our Original location or any of the other locations our restaurant group offers in Asheville. Also, please know that there is a more than insignificant chance that a lesbian prepared your food last evening. A gay man might have mixed your drinks. A trans woman may have trained your server to give you such great service. A person who identifies with -- get this -- they/them pronouns may have sat you at your table,” Cudmore wrote.

“What I'm trying to say here, Kip, is that, despite your every effort to spread hate and bigotry in your own misery, those parts of your experience you did enjoy at Vinnie's Neighborhood Italian were in no small part created by the community you abhor,” he continued.

Cudmore finished the response with the ultimate mic drop.

“And, if you happen to subscribe to the idea that ‘gayness’ is spread by exposure, please be sure to check in with your inner-most thoughts over the next couple of days as, not only did you enjoy your experience that was created by the queer community, you ingested it."

This wasn’t the first time Hadley left a bigoted review on a local business; he also complained about the employees at a local bagel shop that he referred to as a “freak show” because he couldn’t tell whether they were “male or female.”

vinnie's italian, homophobic review, north carolinaAnti-LGBTQ bagel shop review. via Google reviews

Cudmore’s response was great because not only did he stand up for VInnie's LGBTQ employees, but he also made the case that being homophobic was a losing mindset because LGBTQ people a crucial part of our everyday lives. Homophobic people aren’t just fighting back against those with a non-traditional sexual preference. They are going to battle with the people who cook our meals, pour our drinks, teach our children, care for our health, protect our communities and—to put it in the most basic terms possible—contribute to society the same way as everyone else.

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Democracy

New congressman drops truth bomb about fellow politicians on his 100th day in office

"Most of the really angry voices in Congress are totally faking it."

Rep. Jeff Jackson/Twitter

Rep. Jeff Jackson, D-N.C., shared a video about what he's learned in his first few months in Congress.

Politics has never been free of outrage and fearmongering, but only in recent decades have those base methods of drumming up support been shoved in our faces 24/7. Unfortunately, politicians know that fueling rage and fear gets them attention, which in turn gets them valuable media coverage, and some are shameless about capitalizing on it.

It's how random members of Congress from tiny rural districts gain massive national name recognition while hundreds of non-inflammatory, non-extremist, non-outrage-baity lawmakers quietly go about the business of governance with few Americans able to pick them out of a lineup.

Outrage-fueled notoriety is what prompted Rep. Jeff Jackson, Democrat of North Carolina—most likely a legislator you've never heard of—to make a video on his 100th day in Congress, where he shared something he's learned about his fellow elected leaders.


"I'm still brand new to Congress—I've only been there 100 days—and I don't know if I'm not supposed to say this out loud, but it's true and important. And if you don't know this, you need to," he said. "It's really clear from working there for just a few months that most of the really angry voices in Congress are totally faking it. These people who have built their brands around being perpetually outraged? It's an act."

Perhaps this is not groundbreaking news for a lot of us, but it's refreshing to hear from someone on the inside, especially since Jackson explains how he knows their outrage is an act—and why.

"I've been in committee meetings that are open to the press and committee meetings that are closed," he said. "The same people who act like maniacs during the open meetings are suddenly calm and rational during the closed ones. Why? Because there aren't any cameras in the closed meetings, so their incentives are different."

Jackson goes on to explain how members of Congress are surrounded by negative incentives, with media outlets that feed off of negative emotion giving them air time because it keeps people angry.

"If they can keep you angry, they'll hold your attention," he said. "And they both want your attention."

Watch:

Jackson doesn't name any particular members of Congress or even point to any particular political party in his video. In reality, politicians on both sides of the aisle are guilty of playing these kinds of games and always have been.

The problem, of course, is that the governance of a nation isn't a game. But politics is, especially hyper-partisanized politics, and that game has only become more competitive and more winner-takes-all in the age of modern media.

When George Washington tried to warn the American people of the "rankness" of partisanship and where its "continual mischief" and "constant danger of excess" could lead us, he was spot on in his predictions. But what he couldn't have predicted was the role that television and social media would play in elevating that mischief and excess.

As problematic as the political arena has been in the past, it's nothing compared to how fear and outrage have been wielded as weapons in the technological age. We have 24-hour cable channels funneling hate and fear-based prejudice into our psyches, and social media algorithms that fuel negative attention grabs. Demonizing the "other side" of the political spectrum to the point of describing one's fellow Americans as "the enemy" is outright bonkers—but it'll practically guarantee you an interview on prime-time television, and therefore a seat at powerful tables.

We—all of us—need to not only recognize manufactured outrage and fearmongering, but we need to learn to truly ignore it. Ignoring it won't necessarily make it go away, but for people who seek power above all else, all attention is good attention. When we give attention seekers what they want, we only feed the beast. Even when we give them attention to complain about them, we're still giving them oxygen.

Instead, let's try something different, like focusing our energies on the people who are actually doing the hard work of governance and genuinely serving their constituencies in a spirit of public service. As Jackson said, "If you don't have to yell to be heard, the whole conversation changes." Perhaps we can stop listening to the yellers and start engaging with the talkers who understand how to discuss and negotiate intelligently, in ways that make sense. These are, after all, the people who actually get things done behind closed doors.

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Joy

North Carolina boy helps local bakery by selling them fresh eggs

"He is saving me some money and helping."

Fox & Friends Facebook screenshot

North Carolina boy helps local bakery by selling them fresh eggs.

You don't have to be a market analyst to know that the price of eggs has skyrocketed. If you're just an average person buying eggs for breakfast, it may seem ridiculous that egg prices are so high when it appears that the local Tractor supply always has baby chicks for sale.

But with an outbreak of avian flu infecting nearly 58 million birds while people move away from meat protein and consume more eggs, the price increase makes sense. It's painful to people's budgets, but it's how the market works, and families aren't the only ones feeling the pinch.

Small businesses that rely on eggs are also experiencing their budgets busting due to egg prices. Sweet Anna's Bakery in Dallas, North Carolina, already had to raise prices due to the cost of eggs and other ingredients, but owner Courtney Johnson discovered she had a connection. Fifth grader Rylen Robbins has 21 chickens that were producing too many eggs for his family to eat. (You see where this is going, right?)

The chickens produce 18 to 19 eggs a day according to Rylen, who was interviewed on Fox & Friends. That's a lot of eggs for one family, so Rylen's dad took to social media to unload them, which is how Johnson became aware of the surplus of eggs.

"He had posted that Rylen Robbins had some eggs, and egg prices just kept going up every week and I just couldn’t do it anymore, so I reached out and said, 'I will take as many as you can give me,’" Johnson told Fox & Friends.

Before long, the unlikely duo had become business associates. Rylen was able to sell Johnson eggs much cheaper than cartons of eggs from the store. Johnson revealed to Fox & Friends that she used to only pay $2.42 for five dozen eggs but now, "The highest I’ve seen [eggs] has been about $6 to $7 a dozen. They have started to come down, but he [Robbins] is cheaper at $3 a dozen."

That's a pretty significant jump in prices, and while the price of eggs is starting to fall, they're still expensive. The baker has tried finding other ways to cut costs so she doesn't have to keep raising prices on her baked goods. It's a business venture that just makes sense, even if the person she's doing business with is only 11 years old. But this isn't the first time Johnson and Rylen have crossed paths.

Turns out, Johnson has made birthday cakes and other baked goods for the Robbins family's parties in the past, so the business relationship is a little more personal. In a way, Rylen is helping the entire community by selling eggs to Sweet Anna's Bakery, because it helps keep costs down for everyone, not just the owner.

The entire story is so sweet and you can check it out for yourself below:

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Joy

A 6th grade boy saw a problem with period poverty at his school and decided to do something

'The nurse should be helping people who are sick and she shouldn’t have to help people who are just needing pads and tampons.'

Courtesy of Deanna Hooker

Sixth grade boy saw a problem with period poverty at his school.

Most 11-year-old boys are goofing off with their friends, staying up way too late yelling into gaming headsets or harassing their younger siblings, but not Jayden Hooker of North Carolina. Jayden has been spending his spare time finding a way to raise money to help end period poverty in his school district after an eye-opening experience with one of his classmates. The sixth grader explained that he realized there was a lack of access to free products when one of his friends started her period at school and had to go home.

You may be wondering why a sixth grade boy is so concerned with periods but to Jayden, this is just a natural part of life that shouldn't be taboo. When Upworthy talked to Jayden and his mom, Deanna Hooker, she explained the importance of making sure her son knew about periods. Hooker said, "The nature of what I do day in and day out working with Aunt Flow, our true mission is making period products free for those that need it, so the conversation came from how I am and what I do for a living."

Deanna, Jayden and Julianna Hooker.

Courtesy of Deanna Hooker

Someone's mom doesn't have to work for a company fighting period poverty for boys to know about periods and period products. Because it's a biological fact, just like needing to use the bathroom after drinking a bottle of water, it could be beneficial if all boys learned about a bodily function that affects half of their classmates. Period poverty among students has jumped to nearly a quarter of all students being unable to afford period products; 84% of students have missed class or know someone who has missed class due to lack of access to period products. This is a problem that could use attention, and maybe seeing a boy promoting these products will help stop the stigma around these conversations.

It's not just Jayden and his mom. Many parents in the school district and PTO members have helped donate items to Jayden's ultimate goal of free period product dispensers in the bathrooms at his school. Hooker told Upworthy, "He attends a Title 1 middle school and this is something that has never been provided. But so many parents and PTO members have donated and now we have enough product for the year and can provide 2-3 dispensers in the school."

Flow dispenser.

Courtesy of Deanna Hooker

The project has been difficult to get off the ground as they're still in the process of trying to convince the school board to allow the dispensers to be installed, but that isn't deterring Jayden. The determined 11-year-old is aware that the nurse has some products students could use but many don't due to embarrassment or being unaware they're there. For Jayden, it's more than just going to the nurse. He explained, "The nurse should be helping people who are sick and she shouldn’t have to help people who are just needing pads and tampons."

The kid has a point. When people think of the school nurse, they tend to think of not feeling well, which is what the nurse is there for, but getting your period isn't an illness. If these dispensers are available, a student wouldn't have to alert a teacher to get permission to go to the nurse to then tell the nurse they need a pad or tampon. That's a lot of personal information to divulge for children that are navigating middle school.

Jayden is passionate about getting these dispensers installed for not only the girls at school but for his younger sister. He said, "I want the awkwardness of the topic to go away and for people to have the proper education so when people do need it, it's there for them." He continued, "Toilet paper is free so pads and tampons should be too."

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