Yesterday, I promised readers that I would go to an In-N-Out Burger restaurant to check out the public reaction to the call to boycott the chain by the chair of the California Democratic Party.  I chose to drive to Hayward, California, a racially and economically diverse Bay Area city that gave less than 15% of its presidential votes to Trump-Pence.  So here's my report, in the spirit that President Trump proudly proclaims: "Promises made – Promises kept."

It was packed!

This, in all honesty, is the normal situation at an In-N-Out Burger store any time within hours of a mealtime.

There were eight people ahead of me in line to order:

That line never went below six people and had as many as fifteen waiting during the time I was in the store.  There was no down time at all.

They had three people taking orders, and all of them were efficient and smiling, so the wait was short, and the interaction with the cash register jockey was pleasant and quick.  I was given a number for my order, and it was 24 orders behind the order just announced on the P.A. system.  Here is what the scene looks like, as cooks work the grill, fries, and car window, and the orders are announced and picked up.

The 24 orders were quickly filled, and my "protein style" double-double (not on the formal menu, but the "secret" one that everyone knows) arrived within ten minutes.  Here is what it looks like, with the real thing pictured behind it on the tray mat.

I filled the cup I was given when I ordered with iced tea and took a plastic straw from the supply on offer:

One of the pleasant things about a visit to In-N-Out is that the customers tend to be happy and pleasant to each other.  There was a little wait at the condiment stand, but the African-American gentleman in front of me picking up a hot pepper to put on his burger was most pleasant as I excused myself and leaned around him to get some ketchup.  People look forward to eating, and there is certain sense of being joined together as fans.

If In-N-Out is humming in deep blue Hayward, you can bet that in the conservative-leaning areas, the turnout was spectacular.  Devin Nunes tweeted:

LOL!  InNOut burger packed in Visalia...cars down the road!  Democrats/Socialists winning!

— Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) September 1, 2018

And Twitter support came from Rand Paul (there are no In-N-Out stores in D.C. or Kentucky, so was he visiting out West?)

I’m just gonna leave this right here #InNout  # pic.twitter.com/7oiohyIMy6

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 31, 2018

Other reports also indicate unusual crowds:

The line at In-N-Out Burger today was three blocks out of the parking lot... it's usually only a half a block.#InAndOutBurger

— 💀☠ SHRED ☠💀 (@1SHRED) September 1, 2018

These days, there are not too many companies whose customers love them.  But that is the case with In-N-Out.  I have been fascinated by the company for years.  It is privately owned – by one person, the granddaughter of the couple who founded it.  Like her parents and grandparents, she is a believing Christian.  Being a billionaire heiress carries quite a few hazards, and Lynsi Snyder experienced her share of them – "looking for attention and found it in men, drugs and alcohol [and] 3 failed marriages[.]"

 About a year ago, she recovered her faith and offered video testimony.

 I wonder how long it will be until In-N-Out Burger will be attacked for the religion its owner espouses.