From there we went to the shopping centers, then the free-standing units. It’s a great benefit.
     
     Have you ever been pressured to open on Sunday?
     Oh yeah, from time to time. We have not varied from that, so we will not change it. It’s been the best business decision I ever made. We realize we could do a large amount of volume that day but it’s been to our benefit. I think people go out of their way to eat with us six days a week; I say let them eat somewhere else on Sunday and compare the food and service.
     
      Is your policy because you want to keep the Sabbath, or because you want your employees to have a consistent day off, or both?
Truett Cathy's recipe for success includes a company-wide policy to be “Closed on Sunday.”
     Jimmy Carter, a person who endorsed your new book, has donated much of his time and money for social causes such as Habitat for Humanity. Do you likewise see yourself as a person who likes to give away time and money?      I think he realizes that it’s better to give than receive. You know that’s the secret to living — giving. He has demonstrated that. I think all of God’s creation is created to give. Human beings are no different. A lot of people don’t realize the joys of giving. We are born very selfishly and it’s a mistake to think happiness is built on wealth, which is deceiving most of the time. It can destroy your home and your family. It doesn’t cause happiness at all.

     You have said that when tragedy strikes, such as the death of your brothers, you don’t know why those things happen but you are strongly aware of God’s presence. are you ever tempted to explain away tragedy?
     There are a lot of things in life you have to cope with. That’s where your faith comes in, to have faith in the Lord in spite of those things. There is a purpose. It’s hard to see that but you realize that a lot of people have a lot of problems to face. I know that the tragedy of 9-11, the churches were filled that next Sunday. (Tragedy) gives us a wake-up sometimes. When we have problems, we have to look for divine guidance.

     How many grandchildren do you have?
     I say that I have 12 natural grandchildren and 125 grandchildren — foster children — by choice. I chose them and they call me Grandpaw. It’s been my joy to have this relationship with them.
     
     What would you want to be our legacy?
     I would think I would want it known that I kept my priorities in the proper order. You have to ask yourself, What’s important now?” Sometimes you have to put business before family and sometimes family before business. You have to keep things in balance, because a person might be highly successful in business but a total failure at home.
then his mom was killed and he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Jonesboro. He said, “Mr. Cathy, I want to work for Chick-fil-A one day and have a desk and secretary like you.” I thought, “There must be a lot of kids that way, who are victims of circumstance.” Eventually he came to live with us. Now he has a Harvard MBA and came back and got married and has three children and he has a desk in corporate headquarters and he has a secretary. His name is Woodie Faulk.

     Your business came along about 30 years after the first drive-in restaurants arrived in Southern California. What do you think your business would be without the drive-in part?
     Certainly we have taken advantage of that. Fifty percent of our customers come through the drive-in window. Our first restaurant was a coffee shop, a short-order place.
     My first restaurant was a 24-hour, sixdays-a-week job and when you work 24 hours a day for six days, you are ready for a break. I was single at the time and fully committed to (taking Sunday off ). Sunday to me has always been a divine day, an important day. I teach Sunday school to 13-year-old boys. One time I asked them how they would deal with working on the Lord’s Day. One boy said, “I would think of you as a hypocrite.” So you can’t very well deviate from your convictions.

     How do Chick-fil-A restaurants in areas outside the Bible belt deal with that?
     We are in 36 states. People respect us. There are people of all faiths and no faith who respect us and they go out of their way to eat with us the rest of the week.