The worker at an Arizona Chick-fil-A who was belittled by a man who made a viral video of the incident says she wants to meet him face-to-face even though he already apologized.
“I appreciate that he came forward, but I’m definitely interested in speaking with him,” the Tuscon, Ariz., drive-through worker--who would only give her first name, Rachel—told FoxNews.com. “I want to see if he was sincere and let him know why I handled it the way I did and not take legal action, which a lot of people told me I should do.”
“There’s no reason to drag him through the mud any more than he has been,” the polite 26-year-old added.
Rachel was working the window last Wednesday when Adam Smith videotaped himself going through the drive-thru ordering only free water and espousing his disgust.
“Chick-fil-A is a hateful company,” Smith told Rachel on the video, which he originally posted on YouTube before removing it. "I don’t know how you sleep at night. This is a horrible corporation with horrible values.”
Rachel kept her composure throughout the odd exchange and wished Smith a nice day.
“I was just really concerned about him taping. I knew he was going to post it. That was my main fear,” Rachel said.
“I’m Christian and God tells us to love thy neighbor,” she added referring to how she kept the exchange polite on her end. “One of my friends saw they video and said, ‘Yep that’s Rachel and that’s the way she is.”
Smith received backlash from the public after posting the video and was even fired from his position as CFO at Vante, A Tucson medical manufacturing company.
He was prompted to then post the second video, a nearly eight-minute mea culpa in which he apologized to Rachel.
“Rachel, I am so very sorry for the way I spoke to you on Wednesday,” Smith begins on the video, “You handled my frustrating rant with such dignity and composure. Every time I watch the video I am blown away by really the beauty in what you did, and your kindness, and your patience with me.”
Smith added that he didn’t pre-plan what he said to her and that he originally intended to only order a free water as a counter-protest to those ordering food for “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” but, “couldn’t believe the number of people that came out to support a corporation that associated themselves with anti-gay groups.”
He had even attempted to go back to Rachel’s place of work to apologize in person, but she did not want to at the time. Now, she's ready.
"I’d really like to know if he could separate the issue from me and the company. The workers have nothing to do with the political beliefs with people in the corporation,” she said. “I don’t want to be part of that puzzle.”
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