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The Waffle House restaurant chain, which has often been used as a proxy to judge the severity of natural disasters, just issued a code red, and that’s a big deal to its devoted fan base.
As you can see, the Georgia-based company, long known for keeping its doors open through hurricanes and tornadoes, has closed hundreds of restaurants to deal with the coronavirus.
The Waffle House’s history of serving the community in crises led former FEMA boss Craig Fugate to create the “Waffle House Index.” When it’s “green,” diners get the full menu, “yellow” means limited and “red,” which we’re seeing a lot of now, means its closed completely.
“If you get there and the Waffle House is closed?” Fugate once said. “That’s really bad.
Just last week, there was no red on the map as the Waffle House said all of its restaurants were at least open for to-go service. But that has changed amid the pandemic.
What do loyal customers make of all this? Here’s just some of the reaction:
