SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Schuler’s Bakery can be a very busy place.
These days, though, it might be just a little busier because of something that has nothing to do with their coffee or chocolate glaze.
It’s because of a sign on the door — and not the sign that identifies the business.
The sign, which owner Trent Schuler put up last Thursday, has been touted as a reaction to what some call the impulse to be “politically correct."
The sign tells customers if they’re offended by things like saying, “Merry Christmas” (as opposed to a more generic “Happy Holidays”) or “I support the troops,” they can just leave.
And it has gotten a lot of attention: one couple even came all the way from Michigan to show their support of the bakery owner’s message.
Larry and Sharon Nixon said they saw the sign on Facebook and immediately wanted to patronize Schuler’s Bakery.
“It had the picture of the sign, and I told my wife, let’s go buy some doughnuts,” Larry told WCPO.
That’s a 330-mile trip, one way.
Schuler said he hung the simply out of support of the holiday he celebrates, but didn’t expect so much attention.
“I wanted to let (customers) know that I support the holidays and Merry Christmas,” Schuler chuckled. “I never would have dreamed that we would have seen the kind of reaction that we had.”
But the sign hasn’t received all praise, Schuler said.
“Some of them felt that I was being harsh,” he said. “Or that I might be exclusionary, and that certainly was not the intention.
“What I hope is that this will start a movement of more people willing to express their views, whatever they may be,” he said.