Ander Christensen is a Lincoln, Nebraska, man whose passionate speech to the city council went viral on Twitter Wednesday morning, September 2. Christensen told his local officials that the city had a chance to lead the country and spark change for the better … if restaurants only stopped using the phrase “boneless chicken wings.”
Christensen’s speech was delivered absolutely straight-faced. In fact, when the city council chamber threatened to erupt in laughter at times, he sternly asked for the audience to hear him out.
As of Wednesday morning, Christensen’s diatribe had been viewed 1.2 million times.
Christensen Is Deeply Concerned That Children Are Not Being Taught That Boneless Chicken Wings Are Not Wings From a Chicken & Said the City Should ‘Take a Stand’
Lincoln, Nebraska:
Finally, someone with guts.
Speaking truth to power…
Christensen spoke during pubic comment at the August 31 Lincoln City Council meeting. With fervor, he told the city council that their city can be a leader in the country by abolishing the term “boneless chicken wings” from public dialogue and restaurant menus.
“We need to raise our children better,” he said at one point, and when the audience of Lincoln residents began to laugh, he implored them to take him seriously.
Here is the boneless chicken wings speech the country didn’t know it needed right now:
Lincoln has the opportunity to be a social leader. We have been casually ignoring a problem that has gotten so out of control that our children are throwing around names and words without even understanding their true meaning, treating things as though they are normal.
I go into nice family restaurants and see people throwing this name around and pretending as though everything is just fine. I’m talking about boneless chicken wings.
I propose we as a city remove the name boneless wings from our menus and from our hearts. These are our reasons why:
Number 1: Nothing about boneless wings actually come from the wing of a chicken. We would be disgusted if a butcher was mislabeling their cuts of meat, yet we go around pretending as though the breast of a chicken is in its wing?
Number 2: Boneless wings are just cuts which are already boneless. I don’t go and order boneless tacos. I don’t go and order boneless club sandwiches; I don’t ask for boneless auto repair. It’s just what’s expected.
Number 3: We need to raise our children better. They are raised being afraid of having bones attached to their meat. That’s where meat comes from: It grows on bones. We need to teach them that a wing of a chicken is from a chicken, and it’s delicious.
I propose we rename boneless wings in the city of Lincoln. We can call them buffalo-style chicken tenders. Or wet tenders. We can call them saucy nugs — or trash.
We can take these steps and show the country where we stand, and that we’ve been living a lie for far too long. And we know it because we feel it in our bones.
Rex Chapman Tweeted the Speech Wednesday, Quickly Garnering More Than 10,000 Likes & 3,000 Re-Tweets; Christensen Then Said, ‘A Storm Is Brewing’
A storm is brewing. The Lincoln City Council has yet to make a public statement but they can see the writing on the wall. #SaucyNugs
Former NBA player Rex Chapman tweeted a video of the speech Wednesday morning, saying, “Finally, someone with guts. Speaking truth to power.”
The video has been viewed more than 1 million times and been re-tweeted 3,000 times, attracting praise for Christensen’s message, as well as befuddlement.
One user said, “Sir, I respect your courage,” and suggested Christensen run for president. Another, meanwhile, said, “That’s 2 minutes I will never get back!”
@Handsome121Duck Sir, I respect your courage. Christensen 4 prez #saucynugs
Christensen, who goes by Handsome121Duck on Twitter and describes himself as a “husband, chemical engineer and storyteller,” seemed pleased at the attention he had brought to the issue.
“A storm is brewing,” he said. “The Lincoln City Council has yet to make a public statement, but they can see the writing on the wall.”
Roy Christensen — Ander’s father and a member of the city council — told Heavy on Wednesday, “The Lincoln City Council will take this issue under advisement.”
“I had no idea what [Ander] was going to say,” he added.
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