MetroCenter Arby's Strikes Back

A RANT RAVINGS WORLD EXCLUSIVE:
Arby's owner Bruce Evans breaks his silence
the other side of the story...

As promised, over the weekend I had the opportunity to personally speak with Bruce Evans, Arby's owner and recent target of a controversial boycott fueled by allegations that Evans violently assaulted a homeless man outside his restaurant a few weeks ago. The uncorroborated story has spread like wildfire through the local Jackson community and around the internet to web forums like Snopes.com and social communities such as My Space and Facebook.

One question still remains unanswered: what really happened that day? Bruce Evans filled Rant Ravings in with his comprehensive account of the road to the confrontation:

[1] The WHITE homeless man in question (specified so no one can use the "race" card) had been hanging around for awhile, long before the fateful day where Carrie Thames claims she witnessed Evans brutalize the innocent vagabond. For almost two weeks Evans patiently provided the man with a warm meal in good faith, refraining from calling the police and encouraging the man to move on. After awhile, customers began to complain about being solicited for money as they entered the building, as the man continued to linger around the premises daily.

[2] Jump ahead to that fateful day two weeks ago when Evans arrived at work and found the wanderer waiting outside the restaurant door. Evans approached him and pleaded for him to leave, explaining that he was trespassing. The "appreciative" man proceeded to spit at Evans, forcefully drenching Evans in his "grateful" saliva. More concerned at this point with washing the projectile of foreign phlegm off his person than continuing to plead for the man's departure, Evans went inside.

[3] A few hours later, Evans was caught up in the chaos of lunch-hour customer demands when he noticed the homeless man standing inside by the service counter. Evans approached him as the man claimed that a customer standing nearby was buying him lunch. After confirming this, Evans advised the homeless man to leave after he received his order. After watching the drifter walk out the door, Evans went back to work.

[4] Sometime after, a horrified young lady enters the building, complaining that a strange man terrorized her after she refused to give him any money. According to her story, the man pretended like he was reaching for a gun but instead pulled out his hand in the formation of a lewd gesture. He had just flipped her off. This was the thread that broke the oven mitt's glove, so-to-speak. Frustrated, Evans stormed outside to find the man. This is where Carrie Thame's account picks up:

"I could see out the window by the cars, a man in an SUV pulled up and was handing the guy some money and as this was happening the owner (Bruce Evans) ran out the door of the kitchen and then outside and threw the homeless man to the ground and proceeded to kick him."

According to Bruce Evans, the sight of the homeless man soliciting yet another customer (the man in the SUV) for money, coupled with everything that had happened not just that day, but over the past few weeks, all came to a head in that moment...and he attempted to shove the man off the property. The homeless man lost his balance (I can only speculate that the man was either sick or highly inebriated, but what else could explain his erratic behavior and weak equilibrium?) and stumbled to the ground, scraping his nose and forehead in the process. There were no punches or kicks or "pummeling" to match up with the exaggerated rumors. Evans does regret giving into his anger and shoving the man, but he was simply trying to protect his business and customers from a man who had crossed the line from civil begging to disruptive harassment.

Evans remembers Mrs. Thames and her promise that he would "lose business" because of what she witnessed that day, and feels that the E-Mail campaign to boycott his restaurant is her way of trying to make that threat into a reality. There maybe no way to undo the damage that Mrs. Thames and her E-Mail assault has done to the reputation of Bruce Evans and his restaurants, but he aims to retain the business of those individuals who have read the E-Mail but were not quite convinced by her side of the story.

I will continue to follow any further developments in this situation here on Rant Ravings, and I would encourage you, in the spirit of the original E-Mail campaign to:

" **PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!"
(to anyone that knows about this situation, that is)

Related Links:

MetroCenter Arby's Under Attack
The VoiceBearer: "The Last Crusade - Arby's MetroCenter"
Snopes.com: Boycott and Glurge all in one!

Comments

[Tim]

I'm glad you got to talk to Bruce about it and make this post. However, I fear that an irreparable amount of damage has been unleashed by the thoughtless, viscious email. Even I, as someone who didn't give the email much credence from the start, will remember the image that it invoked.

But alas, I'm as guilty as these parties in other areas of my life. When will we learn to view life experiences in their complete redemptive processes instead of jumping to extremism at the drop of a hat?

[Ann]

Please note that on snopes.com this story going around in e-mails was not taken as gospel, so your blog is misleading.

Please also note that Arby's did not lose my business because of this story. Arby's lost my business a very long time ago because the food isn't very good.

Thank you.