U wanna peece of this?

This was the scene an hour ago in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (courtesy of Kathy O'Donnell), as folks lined up to visit the Chick-Fil-A restaurant, while simultaneously clinging to their guns and religion.

My taste for a chicken sandwich let me to their location at the food court at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia, where I must assume all days off were cancelled, as they were busier than most. I ordered a regular chicken sandwich, with their signature waffle fries and a small Dr Pepper. I also got Sal a deluxe chicken sandwich with waffle fries to go.

As I was leaving, I found a lone protester at a safe distance from the Chick-Fil-A, a good looking young man with curly hair in his mid-twenties, carrying a sign that said "Keep Hate Food." Disregarding how little sense there was to the message, I engaged him in conversation.

"Hey, how you doin' tonight?"

"Fine, sir."

I paused for a moment. "Now you realize that, generally speaking, disagreeing with, or disapproving of someone, is not the same thing as hating them, you understand that, right?"

He looked at me calmly. "Yes, sir."

"Well, okay." I turned to walk away. "Carry on, then."

I would imagine that I was the only guy there who was even nice to him. Why would I not be? I have another question, this one for my Canadian friends: would what I described above be considered a hate crime?

Discuss, eh?