Stay Classy, Wingaddicts!

When we started Wingaddicts in February 2020, we had a vision of creating a Facebook (and social media) community of people who love chicken wings as much as we do. Well it’s been a labor of love and, thus far, mission accomplished.

As an entrepreneur who has done business all over the world, I’m not naive. I know what happens to any group of people when it starts to expand drastically. Especially on social media. Negativity seeps in.

The sad truth about human beings (according to “experts”) is that 87% of our thoughts are negative ones and we've been conditioned by society to be this way. Let that sink in for a second. 

But don't worry, help is on the way. This is something that can be treated with happy hormones like dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins or . . . wait for it . . . the conscious decision to think happier thoughts and actually be happier. One thing you probably don’t know about me is that I’m a master of the latter. Yes, that’s my super power. I’m the happiest person in the world.

Which brings me back to Wingaddicts Community. It may be our glowing attitude, or it may have just been good luck but up until now we haven’t had any real issues in the group. We’ve had to block out a couple of spammers (but that’s to be expected). We’ve had a couple of nasty name-calling incidents between members on a comments thread, and we’ve had a few people that got upset with us when we deleted some comment they made. 

Full disclosure; we believe in free speech. We don’t want to be deleters and remove you when you have opinions that differ from ours. And we won’t do that.

That said, we know everybody needs a little reminder once and a while. Let’s keep it classy! 

We all have different likes and dislikes.

It’s perfectly okay if somebody doesn’t like the wings a particular restaurant that you happen to love.

It’s okay if somebody likes “chain restaurants,” swears by the wings at Domino’s, and claims that Buffalo Wild Wings is the mecca of chicken wings. It's okay if somebody likes chicken nuggets (well, as long as they don't call them "boneless wings.") The heart wants what the heart wants! 

Some people eat candy corn at Halloween. 

Some people like vegetables.

Some people like ranch dressing. (Haha, see what I did there?)

Some people think Tom Brady is a Hall of Fame quarterback. But wait! He threw two interceptions and lost to lowly Washington on Sunday. How much of a clown would I be if I said, “Yeah I finally made it out to see Tom Brady play and he sucks.”

On that note, it’s fine if somebody wants to vent about a bad wing experience they may have had somewhere. We’ve had that happen to us too. But let’s keep our senses. Restaurants are run by human beings and human beings can have bad days. I’ve had a few myself.

Here are a few points to consider next time you feel your veins pulsing in your forehead:

1) When eating out, consider that most restaurants have help issues and so service might not be what you’re used to (especially if you’re there on a busy night). 

2) Prices on everything are soaring (especially food and kitchen items), so the menu prices may have risen to help reflect that.

3) And I’ve said this a million times; if you order takeout wings, expect that they may not be the crispy and perfect wings you’re used to. They don’t travel well!

4) Nobody wants you to have an excellent experience more than the owner of that restaurant. Nobody.

Those are four simple tips that can truly help everybody’s blood pressure numbers and improve mental health. Deep breaths. It’s going to be okay. 

Now that I’ve come off as preachy and holier than thou (I’m not, I get pissed too. I swear!) let’s just promise not to make Wingaddicts Community into a bitch fest. Let’s keep it fun. Let's keep it 100% about wings and wing-related things, and let’s respect that other people have different opinions. 

Even when they’re wrong! 

Stay classy Wingaddicts! Wings up!

In addition to being co-founder of Wingaddicts, Tommy Wyatt is the author of the best-selling book "Appreciation Marketing; How to Achieve Greatness Through Gratitude." He's a world-renowned expert on the science of happiness, and has lectured at major universities and trained sales professionals across the US and in eight countries.