The American Spectator

Before he was elected to the House, I was writing about Tim Scott, now the Senator-designee for South Carolina. Here is his great story of how Chick-fil-A changed his life.

Young Mr. Scott did, however, hold down a part-time job taking tickets at a movie theater. The Chick-fil-A was next door. He bought fries there regularly. The restaurant’s proprietor, a guy named John Moniz - a “Christian conservative white Republican, although I didn’t know it at the time,” Mr. Scott said - “just started recognizing me, and one day he came up and sat down next to me and started talking.”

Moniz (now deceased) somehow struck a chord with the young customer. Moniz talked about the virtues of discipline and concentration. They talked often and built a cross-generational friendship. Something clicked. Young Scott started applying himself to his studies. He earned a partial football scholarship to Presbyterian College, transferred (leaving football behind) to Charleston Southern University, and earned a degree in political science.

“My mother taught me how to shoot for the stars, but [Moniz] taught me how to think it through,” Mr. Scott told me. “It’s about thinking your way out of poverty.”

Scott should make a great U.S. Senator.