“It is, generally, in the season of prosperity that men discover their real temper, principles, and designs.” —Edmund Burke
The Common Man Family of Restaurants is one of those “rags-to-riches” stories…literally. New Jersey native Alex Ray began in 1971 with a skeptical banker who took the deep breath before granting him a business loan. Today, the common man restaurants employ over 800 people at thirteen locations throughout the state. Alex Ray is considered by many a well-esteemed business professional.
In the past, (Not recently, though) I have eaten at several Common man Restaurants. The food is excellent, the service is great and the prices are very reasonable. When it comes to the Common Man Restaurants as a brand and a product, there is nothing to dislike, only appreciate.
The man Alex Ray is considered by many to be a noble and generous man, adored by many, giving to countless charities and worthy causes, his time, efforts and energy. Certainly that can be appreciated and respected. If one is striving for a significant legacy, certainly he is doing, “all the right things.” Or is he?
I do not eat at or patronize any of the Common Man restaurants. I do not spend any money on anything, “Common Man-branded.” The reasons are really very simple. Alex Ray’s politics and political contributions adversely affect my freedoms and my choices so why fund them? The Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance center seems like a happening place! Nope, not going.
To illustrate the point, I occasionally (but seldom)eat at the Puritan Backroom , that is, when I have the excessive time required to do so. Now, I don’t begrudge anybody their politics, as the Backroom has a most liberal democrat at the helm. I simply don’t eat there often because, while the food is great, their service is the hallmark of slow. And to be sure, we all patronize businesses every day run by faux capitalist, progressives without ever knowing who is who in the zoo. As long as they quietly soldier on, saying nothing we all never know.
Alex Ray, for years, as a Holderness, Beede Road resident has led the charge in whipping up fellow residents to oppose the Pemigewasset Valley Fish & Game Club’s building of a 1,000-yard range. He has made multiple appearances at Zoning Board and ZBA meetings speaking ardently in opposition to any efforts put forth by the club. I could not confirm the notion that he provided funding for such efforts, but knowing liberals the way liberals are, it’s probably a pretty good assumption. Nobody ever puts that much skin in the game, absent of putting ones money where ones’ mouth is.
This is not a call for a boycott of the Common Man Restaurants. People need to decide for themselves reasons why they choose or choose not to patronize an establishment. For me its pretty simple. I choose not to patronize Common Man Restaurants because I do not want my money funding efforts to stop something of importance to me: The prosperity of Pemigewasset Valley Fish & Game Club. It is immaterial that I am not a member or that I do not regularly shoot there. What I am is the Leader of an 800-member club with the same or similar pursuits and an attack on them is an attack on my club. Certainly, it has nothing to do with the fact that Alex Ray checkers his tables with Democratic electioneering literature from time to time because it illustrates in a very real way the whole liberal-progressive hypocrisy of the Democratic party.
Conservatives and liberals alike always need to learn the hard lessons of how to effectively dip their political beaks, while doing no harm to their own purses. When it comes to entrepreneurship, conservatives have had an easier go of it because traditionally capitalism was the business of Conservatives and assumptions were on their side. It is hard to tell these days, though. Faux-conservatism is alive and well, shoulder to shoulder with the faux capitalist progressives.
Alex Ray has a lot of money, is very generous and is an American success story, despite being a liberal and an Obama Cheerleader. I could probably put that aside to visit the Flying Monkey or the Airport Diner in Manchester, “occasionally, but not for attacking a fundamental constitutional right: The right to keep and Bear Arms.
In closing, I ask, has anybody been to The Draft in Concord? Excellent place! I eat there all the time and the food is excellent.
Common Man Restaurants
Foster’s Boiler Room, Rise and Shine Café, Italian Farmhouse, Lago, Camp, Lakehouse, Town Docks, The 104 Diner, Tilt’n Diner, Airport Diner
