Wow. Guess he learned his lesson, then. An example to all staff, perhaps?
Am curious what the consensus is–is that a firing offense or more deserving of a warning?
I would think a (very stern) warning would be appropriate if it’s a first-time offense, but I can see management wanting to cover their asses. I’d like to think the guy was being stupid and ignorant rather than outright malicious.
Warning.
Who knows what this guy’s track record has been in the past except him and his employer. We don’t.
I never heard of the fit of a coat being “gay” or otherwise. It either fits or it doesn’t fit. To be a manly straight man am I supposed to wear a coat whose sleeves extend past my fingers and with shoulders drooping an inch or two onto my upper arms? We don’t have winter where I live so I wouldn’t know, but is there a fashion trend in cold regions of gay guys wearing coats that are too small?
I’d say warning too, but like Harmonious said, there may be other bad history there.
Or the 1970s. Or the 1980s.
The incident reminds me a bit of when someone (often an older or slightly crazy person) comes up close and says something racist about another group of people, as if the two of us share some bond due to the color of our skin and can be our ‘true’ selves when we’re together.
Outside the SDMB, being gay is generally not this universally wonderous and celebrated, community-accepted thing.
As a heterosexual male, If I was trying on clothes at a trendy or upmarket clothing store and the sale associated suggested I get a different size/cut to avoid looking gay, I’d be glad for the suggestion.
And no, that doesn’t mean I’m a homophobe or someone who hates gay people- but it does mean I’m someone who doesn’t want everyone to give me a hard time for looking like Some Kind Of Queer™.
It’d be nice if we lived in a world where people didn’t care about other people’s sexual orientation. Unfortunately we don’t, and the sooner people realise that and stop getting so worked up over it the better IMHO.
My family is South Asian and Muslim and a couple of times, in our old hometown, my mom mentioned people mentioning stuff about “the Jews” and how much they apparently suck, assuming she feels the same way. It’s…awkward when someone sees you and apparently thinks it’s a racist bonding moment.
Way to exaggerate. Telling the manager is a far cry from putting on my multicolored tights and my Captain Offenderati cape.
Exactly.
ETA–to answer the questions in the first quote: I am white. I have been mistaken for a lesbian. I’m a Jew who many people don’t think looks Jewish. So you can imagine that I’ve had heard a few very unpleasant things in my time.
so I take it if your pants made you look “like a black person” that would be OK? It just does not seem right…
Why, are you fat ?
In fact, I am!
I’d like to speak to the manager, please…
Doh! :smack:
So your solution to the fact that people are bigoted, is to stop worrying about it? I think a better solution is to try to let people know that this bigotry/prejudice is wrong instead of just ignoring it and pretending it’s okay.
I like to exaggerate.
And when you hear these very unpleasant things, what do you do? do you call them out? And if so, to what extent? “I do not share your Antisemitism”? “I am Jewish.” Admonishing hate speech? Full-on speech about bigotry?
Ceen, if someone said to me, “Those pants make you look black,” and I were black, I’d say, “I am black,” or maybe, “Yeah, so?” Of course, we’re going to have to pretend in this scenario that one’s race would not be immediately recognizable. You can insert whatever group you wish into the scenario. I’m not condoning the sale’s clerks behavior, or condoning letting his statement stand without comment, but I don’t escalate every idiot thing some retail clerk says to management. I don’t have time.
Well, I don’t know if “This coat/pair of pants” makes you look black makes sense. But if someone said, “Don’t wear your pants like that–you look like a nigger,” I think that would make them pretty bigoted, and it would be something worth calling them out over.
Ignoring it works pretty well for me. My life has been a lot less stressful since I stopped worrying about things I can’t possibly hope to change.
And it’d be nice if people would stop substituting “Black” for “Gay” and saying “Do you still think it’s inoffensive now?? Hmm??” Being black and being gay are two completely different situations.
But I wouldn’t want to look like a “Gangsta”, so again, if the sales assistant advised me that an item of clothing I was trying on was going to make me look “Gangsta”, then I’d thank them for the information, not demand to speak to the manager and harangue them for daring to think someone might not want to appear to be a member of a “disadvantaged” minority group.
Well it obviously doesn’t make much sense in the real world, because whether or not you’re black is almost always something that people can determine right away. Point is if someone said, “Those jeans make you look gay(/Jewy/whateverthefuck),” my response would either be, “I am,” or “So?” My response would not be, “I would like to speak to a manager… Hello, Manager, your sales clerk said my jeans were too small and they made me look gay.”
I disagree. In this context they are both minority groups that are struggling for rights and are discriminated against. Where is the difference exactly?
I don’t see them as different. Discriminating against them both is still bigotry.
Anyway, as for changing them–fifty years ago things were a lot different. And I’m sure a lot of people thought things would never change back then…but isn’t it a good thing that people took the steps to try and change things?