# Politically hostile work environment, or over-sensitivity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125 "2019-02-07T16:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/81 "2019-02-07T18:50:53Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t mean to put too fine a point on it, but you seem resentful of your employer because you apparently lack the marketable skills to find employment elsewhere and / or the financial means to weather the transition. Given those apparent circumstances, I’d suggest you might try having a bit more gratitude towards your employer for providing you the means to support your family that you apparently can’t obtain elsewhere. I will give your advice all the attention it de… > [@septimus](#): > > If your job required you to drive a truck inscribed “Republicans are Nazis” would that also be a trivial situation? Hell, _I_ would be upset if that message was being spread by the company I work with. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/82 "2019-02-07T18:51:52Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Most likely not. > > An assumption based on??? On the assumption the truck drivers spend the most time with the trucks than any other employees. I put all of 1 sec of thought into thinking this because it doesn’t really matter which employees are doing it. Management isn’t doing anything to stop it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/83 "2019-02-07T18:55:01Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t mean to put too fine a point on it, but you seem resentful of your employer because you apparently lack the marketable skills to find employment elsewhere and / or the financial means to weather the transition. Given those apparent circumstances, I’d suggest you might try having a bit more gratitude towards your employer for providing you the means to support your family that you apparently can’t obtain elsewhere. This was completely uncalled for. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/84 "2019-02-07T18:55:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 20 minute ago, in post #67, you said that they _are_ doing it to yank your chain: I was questioning the “logic” used by the person I was quoting. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/85 "2019-02-07T18:57:57Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Man, I’m a Democrat and I’d be super uncomfortable if the company I worked for allowed something like “Republicans lie” on their public-facing property. Heck I’d be uncomfortable if someone posted it on the corkboard in the break room, even. There we go! It’s unprofessional and reflects poorly on the company, clientele, and employees. That’s all that has to be said. As for how OP feels about it on a personal/political level, well, yeah something about buttercups, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/86 "2019-02-07T18:58:20Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This was completely uncalled for. Agree and reported it. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/87 "2019-02-07T19:07:28Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Agree and reported it. I guess we’ll let the mods decide, but he previously posted: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are you hiring? I am 62 years old with a family to support, so it’s a little late in the game to start at the bottom rung wage-wise. Have you got any _practical_ solutions? I don’t see how that’s all that different from just restating what he already told me. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/88 "2019-02-07T19:14:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > They are doing all this to yank my chain because I asked someone, months after it started, why it is happening? Or because you aren’t as good as you think at concealing your politics back when they started putting anti-abortion stickers on the trucks. > [@](#): > > Wouldn’t it just be easier if you just said that you don’t see a problem with what is being written because you agree with it and/or you like it because it it gets the right people upset? I find it easier to post what I think rather than what you think. YMMV. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/89 "2019-02-07T19:14:28Z")
I don’t feel this is a hostile environment, but one way to combat it would be to go totally over the top with it. Go out to the dirty trucks and cover them in similarly-aligned slogans like “Republican’s Rule” “Democrats are the Devil”, etc. Eventually management will notice and make an ultimatum that writing in the dirt on the trucks is prohibited. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/90 "2019-02-07T19:18:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Or because you aren’t as good as you think at concealing your politics back when they started putting anti-abortion stickers on the trucks. What the fuck are you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/91 "2019-02-07T19:21:05Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I don’t feel this is a hostile environment, but one way to combat it would be to go totally over the top with it. Go out to the dirty trucks and cover them in similarly-aligned slogans like “Republican’s Rule” “Democrats are the Devil”, etc. Eventually management will notice and make an ultimatum that writing in the dirt on the trucks is prohibited. It sounds like a hostile environment to me - _especially_ if these slogans are being done specifically in response to him, as **Shodan** seems to be suggesting. And screwing around like that seems like a good way to get fired, just for screwing around. (Also your suggestion presumes it’s possible to say anything too horrible for a Republican to happily accept without treading into some other sort of auto-firing territory, which I’m not sure is a safe assumption.) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/92 "2019-02-07T19:26:40Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t mean to put too fine a point on it, but you seem resentful of your employer because you apparently lack the marketable skills to find employment elsewhere and / or the financial means to weather the transition. Given those apparent circumstances, I’d suggest you might try having a bit more gratitude towards your employer for providing you the means to support your family that you apparently can’t obtain elsewhere. This is IMHO, so you are free to express your opinion, but this is demeaning enough to be in personal attack or insult territory. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t see how that’s all that different from just restating what he already told me. All he said was that he is 62 years old and it’s a bit late to start at the bottom rung of the ladder. You are the one who turned it into a demeaning comment about a lack of skills. If you don’t understand that what you are saying is an insult, then maybe you should restrict your comments to the Pit where insults are allowed anyway. To everyone else, this entire thread is getting too snippy. Let’s all dial it back a bit, please. All of you know the difference between IMHO and the Pit. Post appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/93 "2019-02-07T19:29:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What the fuck are you referring to? I misread your OP. My apologies - you said you did not work at a trucking company with anti-abortion stickers, but one with Trump slogans written in the dust. My belief in the possibility that you might not be the soul of discretion at work about your politics remains, however. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/94 "2019-02-07T19:33:11Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > … If you don’t understand that what you are saying is an insult, then maybe you should restrict your comments to the Pit where insults are allowed anyway. … I understand the admonishment and will endeavor to adhere to it (by avoiding comments that come across as “demeaning enough to be in personal attack or insult territory”), but wasn’t a poster banned for doing exactly this (restricting himself to only the Pit) recently? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/95 "2019-02-07T19:38:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I misread your OP. My apologies - you said you did not work at a trucking company with anti-abortion stickers, but one with Trump slogans written in the dust. > > My belief in the possibility that you might not be the soul of discretion at work about your politics remains, however. > > Regards, > Shodan If this mistaken belief and disregard for all the times I have said that I do not discuss politics at work somehow gives you a reason to feel their actions are justified, then there is nothing I can say to you in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/96 "2019-02-07T19:42:10Z")
I will try to put this as simply as possible: I think that the attitude my company has and the political intolerance they openly allow(if not actually encourage) would be be there whether I worked there or not. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/97 "2019-02-07T19:49:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If this mistaken belief and disregard for all the times I have said that I do not discuss politics at work somehow gives you a reason to feel their actions are justified, then there is nothing I can say to you in this forum. I will just say this: even if you steadfastly don’t discuss politics at work, it may be possible that your co-workers are reading body language, lack of willingness to engage in political discussion, and lack of hearty agreement with them when they’re talking politics, as signs that you aren’t “one of them.” Also, in your OP, you noted: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I made a _very_ discrete inquiry as to whether there were any complaints, and was told that The Powers That Be see no harm being done, and that there have been no complaints from either other employees or from the public at large. I obviously cannot know for certain, but it may also be that whoever you talked to did not treat this conversation as discreetly as you did. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/98 "2019-02-07T19:54:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I will just say this: even if you steadfastly don’t discuss politics at work, it may be possible that your co-workers are reading body language, lack of willingness to engage in political discussion, and lack of hearty agreement with them when they’re talking politics, as signs that you aren’t “one of them.” > > Also, in your OP, you noted: > > I obviously cannot know for certain, but it may also be that whoever you talked to did not treat this conversation as discreetly as you did. Once again, you are confusing possible cause and real effect. The dirty graffiti was going on for months before I asked about it, therefore I CAN’T be the reason they are doing it, can I? As much as people would like to excuse what they are doing by somehow transferring the blame to me, it just could not have happened that way. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/99 "2019-02-07T19:58:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Once again, you are confusing possible cause and real effect. The dirty graffiti was going on for months before I asked about it, therefore I CAN’T be the reason they are doing it, can I? As much as people would like to excuse what they are doing by somehow transferring the blame to me, it just could not have happened that way. And if it _was_ happening in response to your political beliefs that they’d found out one way or the other, it would _definitely_ be a hostile work environment. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125/100 "2019-02-07T19:59:32Z")
If your co-workers were doing this to yank your chain, to me that would actually make their behavior more indefensible not less. I doubt they were doing that, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-hostile-work-environment-or-over-sensitivity/829125.md?page=6)