I guess I don't know why the restaurant even bothered all the other years since Act 10, but in 2015, Applebee's has finally abandoned its free meal for teachers in Wisconsin, according to Cheapolife. Drew says the Applebee's Facebook page has more information, but it's been canned and sanitized, so I will infer what that information might really be: either the chain lost a lot of money on the deal or never really appreciated teachers and were waiting for Walker to win one more election.

When my wife and I went several years ago, right after Act 10 happened, I left a really big tip. Like 30% of what the original bill would have been. She got upset and said we were there to save money. I told her what Applebee's was doing was supporting teachers, and I wanted to support their staff (who also vote in elections). I guess I wonder how many cheapskate teachers who showed up and waited in a line for an hour at a West Allis Applebee's left nice tips. How many, having to teach the next day, had a few too many at the bar? How many came back within a month to show appreciation back? Not many, and it wasn't really the teachers' faults, since we were being told we were going to make around $5000 less each year. My wife and I did stop going out, and it was nice to have a freebie. However, I could see the the restaurant wanted returns for its investment, like when Coke and Pepsi compete to put vending machines in schools.

The second option is that someone in charge of Applebee's really likes Scott Walker, was using the teacher appreciation thing as a guise, and felt that Walker being re-elected was proof enough that more people in the state like Walker than teachers. It's funny how social media will blow up a little every few weeks when some new national or local Walker supporter is revealed, most recently being the owner of Menard's. I guess I always knew the owner of a store like that would be a Walker supporter, but a lot of people seemed surprised and claimed it was time to venture to Home Depot other national chain stores that are likely paying for Walker's presidential run. Applebee's at least pretended for a while, and I guess I can appreciate the way the six menu items they allowed me to choose made me feel better about myself when I was teaching.

I wonder if, now that they've come out of the conservative closet, Applebee's will offer special discounts to military or those with conceal-and-carry weapons. Maybe CEOs. That would be nice.