Baltimore Restaurants Offer a Big "Fuck You" to Ray Rice

“Dear Lovers of Women, Not Hitting Women, Non Violence and Just Generally Being a Good Person, come trade your Ray Rice Ravens Jersey in for a free pizza at Hersh’s. These jerseys will save us money on toilet paper this week.”

So sayeth a post on the Facebook page of Hersh’s Pizza of Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood. The restaurant was apparently so incensed by the recently-released TMZ video of Rice attacking his then-fiancee Janay Palmer that they decided to do something about it: as the quote above indicates, they are offering a free pizza (dine in only) to anyone who donates a Ray Rice jersey, presumably so they can wipe their asses with it.

I’m ordinarily loth to give plaudits to anyone associated with Baltimore, but I have to say, this is thawing even my cold, blatantly biased heart, especially considering Hersh’s wasn’t done. From a follow-up post on their Facebook page:

“Suggestions for what to do with all the Ray Rice jerseys we collect, since there are only so many we can use for toilet paper? Let us know! Also, Hersh’s will donate $2.70 to House Of Ruth Maryland, Inc. for each jersey we receive. Eat in only.”

The best part? Hersh’s isn’t alone. Their neighbor No Idea Tavern decided to join them:

While this is definitely good press for both places, I also strongly doubt that’s the reason they’re doing it; offering free pizzas and bar tabs for jerseys you plan to desecrate isn’t going to be great for the bottom line of either place.

Not that I’m criticizing them for that — just the opposite. It’s pretty great to see restaurants so publicly say “fuck you” to a scumbag like Rice, and their outright seething contempt for a domestic abuser is actually kind of heartwarming (this probably only applies if you’re a jaded, cynical misanthrope like me, though). Add to that the fact that they’re donating out of pocket to a worthy cause, and I have to say, Hersh’s and No Idea have earned a fan (no small feat considering how I generally feel about Baltimore).