In North Carolina, Praying Before You Eat Could Get You 15 Percent Off

[Tab]

You may stare in judgement at those diners praying over their meal before they eat, but in North Carolina, religious folks are to be rewarded come bill time.

Mary's Gourmet Diner, a restaurant in Winston-Salem, N.C., is getting attention for its policy of giving praying customers fifteen percent off their bill. Owner Mary Haglund told The Blaze that workers have been offering the discount sporadically for about four years. "For me, every plate of food is a gift. And I never take that for granted and when I see someone in a restaurant honoring their gratefulness at my table . . . it touches my heart," she said.

Word spread about the discount when Jordan Smith, a customer on a business trip, stopped by for breakfast on July 30 and posted her "praying in public" discounted receipt to Facebook. The Florida-based Christian radio station Z88.3 posted that same receipt to its Facebook page, and now this praying-in-public thing seems to really be catching on.

From: http://gawker.com/in-north-carolina-praying-before-you-eat-could-get-you-1615041573

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. What if someone were to pray publicly to Allah in that restaurant?

Would they get 15% off their bill, too? Or would they get kicked out of the place?

Can I go there and pray to Satan or Cthulhu or the Flying Spaghetti Monster and get a discount?

[In_The_Wind]

4. Good question.

[hollowdweller]

39. Somebody call the church of Satan

[pepperbear]

8. the chances are good that a business that insists on wearing their faith on their sleeve....

expects that customers who share their faith are the only ones who would pray, so they think they won't have to deal with that problem. what becomes interesting is when a devout customers of another faith pray in their own way, one that happens to be radically different from their Judeo-Christian experience. if they can accept it, then this is genuine and they won't have a problem. if not, they'll be seen as the phonies they are and called out on it.

[JanMichael]

13. This is a weird article for us- we are very familiar with the restaurant

see my post below- it's a very hippy/ artsy joint. Veggie/ vegan fare- the waiters and waittresses are smart, fun to talk to-

This whole thing is weird.

[FarPoint]

27. I will pray to the Goddess Diana..

Maybe offer a little libations of wine on the floor... I'll be getting a discount.

[safeinOhio]

2. The Pharisees bonus?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. To which God? Bacchus? Baal? Satan? Minerva? Aphrodite?

I'm assuming there me be some fine-print guiding the discount.

[Initech]

41. Maybe I should wear my Pastafarian hat.

[jmowreader]

43. Pray to Priapus. He is the only god for you

He's the minor Greek god with the three-foot-long, permanently-erect penis.

[RandySF]

5. Let me guess. Discounts for Christian prayers only.

I don't mind the discount, it's up to the restaurant owner. But I hope they don't discriminate.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. .

[JanMichael]

14. Not so quick

We are thinking about asking next time we are there- the owner is really neat- she would love your tomatoes, btw-

We are totally befuddled by this- not sure what to think. We have been driving to eat there (it was under another name til recently) for at least 5 years.

Very "hippy" type joint-

[FSogol]

7. Dear Groucho Marx, thanks for entertaining me. Thank you Roberto Clemente for all those

good works and those hits. Thank you Joesph Carrier for inventing air conditioning, and thank you James Earl Carter for the Home Brewing Act of 1979.

A-men.

[JanMichael]

9. We used to drive to WS to eat brunch

Had we known, we would have openly given our thanks to the Goddesses for their bountiful harvests- we are vegetarians, and their vegetarian/ vegan selection is awesome.

Btw- this was a shock- this is a hippy-type restaurant- something you would expect to find in Asheville. The students that wait tables are smart, hip, and artsy.

This is NOT a "conservative" type place.

[alphafemale]

10. Well hopefully that goes to the server. Because overt Christians sure as hell Don't tip.

Any server will attest to THAT.

Cheap ass freaks.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. i am an overt christian

and have waited tables and tip very well... nice broad brush there...

sP

[alphafemale]

23. Sunday after church is the worst time for tips.

Always had been.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

24. well, the place i worked must have been the exception to your rule

place was packed and if you gave good service you were well rewarded. we had servers fighting for the Sunday lunch shift...

4 hour shift (only 3 hours on the floor)... $120 minimum and that was in a family restaurant about 20 years ago... TEFRA of about $500-$600...

sP

[TIMETOCHANGE]

28. I'm sure every area is different.

Saying all overt Christians are cheap (I'm Jewish and if the service is good it's a minimum $4 tip or 20%[whichever is greater]) when it comes to tipping is very broad brush in my opinion. Some unkind things could be said about tipping in regards to other demographics and that would be wrong as well. Sorry you got hosed at your job.

Downtown Orlando is the place to be a waiter after church, here in Florida, where a waiter can make some bookoo bucks after church services lets out. Now the small setups around my way where $3.99 will get you a heaping plate of food, you'll get cheap tippers for sure. Funny enough the over priced and over hyped joints near me where breakfast for two will cost you $30 plus, folks seem to tip well. It's just how it is, everywhere is different.

[n2doc]

11. Great- I'll bring my colander

http://www.venganza.org

[hifiguy]

26. Don't forget to dress like a pirate!

[PoliticAverse]

29. Will you be ordering the pasta?... n/t

[pinboy3niner]

12. How long before local Satanists test the policy?

[JanMichael]

15. at that place? I am guessing by tomorrow

morning- not to mention the Pagans and Wiccans that are all over the area.

[TIMETOCHANGE]

30. Why?

Why run over there? Would it be to prove some juvenile point? To be unhappy with other people who hold to a certain set of beliefs and practices? Just seems like needless attempts at confrontation in my view.

[JanMichael]

32. Read all my other posts on this thread

I have explained at least three times what type of place it is-- it attracts a very artsy, very hippy crowd.

[TIMETOCHANGE]

34. If folks of that persuasion show up their because they ordinarily want to, no big deal.

But the idea that folks would consciously choose to go their because of that reason seems off to me. Just seems like a wiccan, satanist, spaghetti monster acolyte, expendable edible meat bag practicioner, going out of their way to go there because of the policy, is nothing more than someone seeking confrontation.

Oh, and plenty of hippies, back to nature types, and hipsters are Christian. Some of my friends who practice sustainable farming techniques and carbon reduced electricity production on their properties, make their own soap, grow most of their own vegetables and produce, donate produce to food pantries, and vote Democrat, go to Church quite regularly and pray. They are hippies of days gone by.

[JanMichael]

37. Who said "they are going out of their way?"

I said they'll probably show up tomorrow-- you can't get a table for Sunday brunch normally-

What's the big deal- if people want to walk in an express an opinion, what's it to you? Sounds like you never heard of the place anyway-

[TIMETOCHANGE]

40. It's gist I got from folks comments.

What's it to me? What's it to you how I express my opinion? I'm allowed my opinion within DU rules and what, and so are you. No I've never heard of the place.

Ah forget about it. OTSE

[MohRokTah]

16. Matthew 6:5-6

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

[northoftheborder]

18. Amen.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

21. so one should not give thanks in public?

i see you get the gist of this passage.

sP

[jberryhill]

36. That only applies to Christians

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. Didn't Jesus say you shouldn't pray in public?

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:5-6

A fat lot of good that 15% discount is gonna do you in Hell! Bwahahahaha!

[northoftheborder]

19. Amen.

[NuclearDem]

22. Hope I can get the discount for praising almighty Talos.

Talos the mighty! Talos the unerring! Talos the unassailable! To you we give praise! We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption! While you have ascended from the dung of mortality, and now walk among the stars!

[hifiguy]

25. Wonder if that would work

if I offered up a cosmic thank you to Princess Celestia or the Invisible Pink Unicorn.

Various Lovecraftian Elder Gods also crossed my mind for some reason...

[BlueJazz]

31. I can guarantee all of you...I will NEVER, EVER enter that restaurant

[JanMichael]

35. Read my above posts, please

we are very familiar with the restaurant- been driving to Winston for years just to eat there.

It is not what you think-- I kind of wish the receipt had never been posted on the 'net. We will go back-

[BlueJazz]

38. No..No..No....The restaurant is fine. I live in Sarasota, Florida and doubt seriously I'll...

...ever get to Winston NC.

(sorry, I'm stoned and in a playful mood)

[roody]

33. I go along with this to be nice when I visit

my fundie family. It is embarrassing.

[onenote]

42. as is too often the case here, some DUers post without trying to find out more

about what the restaurant does.

From the article linked in the gawker.com piece:

Haglund, 60, said that the “gift” she gives customers has nothing to do with a specific religious perspective, that she never advertises the discount and that it’s something staffers sporadically offer only when they feel compelled to do so.

“It’s just a moment or faithfulness about the plate of food,” she said. “It’s not even a policy — it’s [something] we only do when we’re moved to do it.”

Haglund also noted that wait staff who are uncomfortable or who don’t agree with the message behind the discount aren’t forced to give it.

[Takket]

44. Can you pray to the flying spaghetti mister after ordering spaghetti?

Cause that would be awesome.