What’s your business worth to you? Would it possibly be worth putting it at risk over principle?
Especially when that ‘principle’ might simply be a difference of opinion?
These were the questions that rolled through my head as I pulled off Interstate -81 to put my eyes on the “hottest” tourist spot in Lexington, VA ~~ at least that week ~~ and it wasn’t the house Robert E Lee lived in.
Red Building on the Corner
These days, the controversy and big draw to this little town is that corner red building on the slanted street known as the Red Hen.
In case you were out of the country, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders met up with family at the Red Hen one evening and, instead of being served, she was kicked out. Imagine, refused service, because the owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, and her employees, don’t like Trump and made assumptions based on that narrow filter.
You see, the irony of this story is that Ms. Wilkinson’s and her employees’ messed up by not doing intel. For the most part, the decent-size table of guests, who left with Sarah, are mostly Democrats. Oops!
(Now here’s the thing, in researching this piece, I learned Ms. Wilkinson has a Ph.d. And my personal philosophy on academia, in particular, ‘doctors of philosophy’, although not addressing Ms. Wilkinson directly as I do not know her, is that they, too often, indulge in an elite view of themselves, i.e., a belief that runs deep throughout academia. I beg you to prove me wrong!)
My Experience in Lexington, VA
And so while I was back east visiting family, I had a spontaneous opportunity to pass through and check things out. Having known zero about Lexington, VA beforehand, I was in awe of its history.
I’m a leadership strategist and, years ago, I was a reporter working out of Manhattan. So investigating a scoop, digging in to read people and the energy around them, goes with the territory. My observations presented a few curves.
Soon after exiting the freeway, the streets wound through impressive rock-lined walls which I would later learn surrounded the massive Virginia Military Institute, a military college, the oldest such institute in the United States. Built, like most everything else in this historic town, in the early 1800’s.
So a second irony would be that the administration Wilkinson apparently loathes, and willing to risk her business over, is 100% in support of military academies (likely a big employer of this small town and when people get paid they can eat in her restaurant1). President Trump, himself, attended a military school in New York of which he attributes his discipline in business as written in The Art of the Deal
Pro-Trump Banner Flies
As I made my way to town, another tell of local sentiment, of at least some, caught my 
attention. Flying in the wind at a local auto shop the 2016 Trump Pence banner made a clear and loud statement.
Could Ms. Wilkinson’s assumption that the town would stand behind her (as she stated) be up for grabs? I continued my drive along lusciously green landscaped streets and came upon the still closed Red Hen.
My first stop was the Lexington Visitor’s Center. Greeted with the most gracious hello by Brenda, I read it as a sign of above-and-beyond pleasantry. Kind of like when your kid does wrong and you, as a parent, have to make up for it.
Unwelcoming Behavior Not Welcome Here
And although I didn’t want to put them on the spot, I did ask if things have changed in town since the, you know, wink, wink!
Another employee of the Lexington Visitor’s Center, the retired Neeley Young, (loves punking people he’s Neil Young), took pride in sharing maps and sites of this incredibly historic slice of America. As for the Red Hen, without getting into politics, he stated Lexington folk are “hospitable” and do not appreciate when visitors are treated otherwise.
Another irony to this crazy story of a town that puts America and decent, law-abiding citizens first, is that the big principled brouhaha was over gay rights. Opinion contributor of USA Today, Joseph R. Murray II, summed it up best in his piece: “Red Hen’s LGBT employees should have made sure Sarah Huckabee Sanders got served” Adding, “The LGBT community understands bias and has pleaded for tolerance. How could the Red Hen’s LGBT employees lobby to eject Sarah Huckabee Sanders?
The Lone Reporter
The day I was there, diagonally across from the Red Hen a lone reporter awaited action. There wasn’t much going on and I did hear him interview a visitor who had driven in from Phili to donate to an employee fund as the Red Hen was closed for a couple of weeks.
I asked Theodore Whiteflow of BreakingThrough.com if he had spoken to the employees of the Visitor’s Center and surprisingly he said “no.” For me, that’s the story behind the story. How do the residents of Lexington, VA feel about being put on this side of the map?
I entered this town thinking about lunch, deciding I wouldn’t spend money here. Let the townspeople feel the crunch and deal with its members accordingly.
Change of Heart
Yet, I left Lexington, VA sympathetic to the business owners. Whatever their political stance, kicking someone out may not be how they’d show their political sentiments. Perhaps they restrain that for the polls.
Brenda from the Visitor’s Center said they’ve been flooded with calls of people swearing they’ll never come to this town. Which is a shame as it’s a beautiful little area rich in American history.
On closing, I’d add, it wouldn’t hurt Ms. Wilkinson, her chef, and her servers to step outside of their small establishment and read the big message they have hanging in their front window:
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend”
P.S. Now that’s it’s reopened, a WaPo review rates the food on the pricey side and “…pleasant yet none too remarkable…”
In Spirit ~~ Renée
Renée Stern is a ‘walk-away’ democrat turned American conservative-spin blogger, intuitive strategist, author, and voice over talent. Follow her on Twitter: @reneestern or contact her here
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