“A man who said he found a homophobic slur printed on his receipt from downtown Portland’s Apple Store wants the company to respond by offering cultural competency training for its employees,” Kelly House reports for The Oregonian.
“Adam Catanzarite, who self-identifies as queer… sparked a widespread social media response after he posted a photo to Facebook Tuesday showing a July 8 Apple Store receipt that bears his name,” House reports. “The photo shows ‘f@g.com’ in the space where the customer’s email should appear on the receipt.”
“In his interview with The Oregonian, Catanzarite said the situation arose after he visited the store to buy a $29 earphone set. Catanzarite said a store employee asked him to provide his email address, but he declined to do so,” House reports. “Initially, he didn’t notice the characters printed on the space reserved for his email address. ‘With most receipts, I just stuff it in my backpack and only pull it out when needed,’ he said. Days later, he discovered the characters, which he interpreted as an anti-gay slur with the letter ‘a’ changed to ‘@.'”
House reports, “Catanzarite said he hasn’t heard from Apple regarding how or why the slur appeared on his receipt but in this case, he said, the employee’s intent doesn’t matter.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “The employee’s intent doesn’t matter.”
Life must be so enjoyable for the permanently indignant/perpetually slighted wrapped in their warped cocoons of political correctness gone absurdly amuck.
In the words of good parents everywhere: “Son, you need to grow a thicker skin or this world is going to grind you to a pulp.”
If the intent was there and proven, obviously, Apple should discipline the employee. Nobody should be slurring anybody else anywhere. That’s in bold because it overrides everything else in this Take and we want to make sure that the the permanently indignant/perpetually slighted see it (not that it will matter).
But, as far as employee discipline goes, to say out of hand that “the employee’s intent doesn’t matter,” is stupefying. What if the Apple employee just quickly tapped in a random quick entry to fill the field (the “f” and “g” keys are right next to each other, after all)? Does Catanzarite still deserve refunds and the opportunity to lead “cultural competency training” for the store’s staff (see full article)? What’s next, ‘your employee looked at me funny, so I want a refund and a soapbox upon which to stand, so I can teach your employees how to offer everyone innocuous blank stares? (That’ll work for 30 seconds until the next customer complains of the employee’s coldness and callousness and offers to lead classes in compassion.)
Sheesh. This world sometimes. Would that everyone would just chill for a change. Live and let live. TGIF.
Again: If the intent was there and proven, obviously, Apple should discipline the employee. Nobody should be slurring anybody else anywhere.
Addendum: 12:25pm EDT: We certainly agree with the comment from “macmuchmore” (below) that, regardless of the employee’s intent, Apple should apologize to the offended customer. If any customer claims to be offended, a good business should always apologize, even if it was nothing more than a random entry.
It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that Apple should not require an entry in a field for employees to proceed if a customer declines to give optional information like an email address (if that, indeed is how that system works) and employees should be instructed to simply leave optional fields blank.
Addendum: 12:47pm EDT: We’re dealing with a number of issues here:
1. The employee. Unless they confess, there’s no way to proven they meant it as a slur and Apple should not take action against the employee. If Apple did, the employee could sue Apple. This is where the intent matters.
2. Political correctness. Obviously, we’re tired of it. There’s a line somewhere, but some people live to cross it.
3. The customer. Deserves an apology from Apple if they are offended regardless of the employee’s intent. Does not deserve a refund or anything further unless the employee confesses they intended to slur the customer. Deserves a refund and perhaps a lawsuit win if the Apple employee confesses they intended the email address they entered as a slur.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Let’s leave it to whatever investigation is necessary.
No, let’s not. f@g.com is a very common default entry. “F” on a QWERTY keyboard is one of the easiest letters to type, given that it’s under the pointer finger. It’s muscle memory territory.
Short of the employee coming out and openly admitting something, this is a non-issue.
Poor customer treatment is a non-issue? Sorry, but your wrong.
If this is genuine Apple will take it very seriously. They don’t want random bozos spoiling their carefully designed customer experience with idiocy like this.
And the employee doesn’t need to “admit” to typing f@g, its on the receipt and probably in an Apple database. If there is a good explanation for it being a typo, an apology is still due. Most likely Apple will create a new employment opening for someone who has the sense to treat customers respectfully and pay attention to what they are typing.
And,,,,,
If this is such a “common default” “random” entry, as said, then there should be more of them in the database than other “random” “common default” entries, NO?
the number of john@hancock.com verses f@g.com entries should be the basis for determining intent maybe? (though handcock would be more telling !-)
” f@g.com is a very common default entry.”
Any intelligent person would avoid this supposed “default” entry. In my 37 years, I’ve _never_ typed this, nor even thought to type it. Am I unique among the rest of my race? I firmly believe this was an intentional slur, but that’s just my personal opinion.
you know whats interesting. F & G are next to each other on the keyboard. since customer didn’t want to give an email, employee may have just decided to fill in both sides of ampersand with those letters. just dumb luck it can be interpreted into a slang word for homosexual. guy is probably looking for a freebie or payday
I’m starting to see prominent ads for Microsoft Surface™ Pro 3 at macdailynews.com.
Should really put a dent in sales of Macbook Air.
But, but, but… it’s got a KICKSTAND!!
I am scared of the overwhelming sound of air rushing by me because i did not see a single one of those ads!!!!!!!!
oh wait, that was just the vacuum in the vicinity of the surface, sucking beyond belief, glad i was not closer to the vortex…..
It’s actually amusing in a juvenile way. I tire of the PC mindset. This customer might have been better off talking to the employee directly instead of making a federal case out of it. Tell the guy “I know you thought this was funny but it might be more prudent not to offend customers and Apple, you can well imagine, would take a dim view of employees dissing customers, even if not meant maliciously. So you might worry about keeping your job a little more.” If the guy had done this right we would never have heard of it and hopefully that Apple employee would had learned a lesson.
I have many gay friends and of course Tim Cook is gay but they all deserve as much respect as anyone else. Though I admit a guilty chuckle once in a while at that particular lifestyle. The less insecure gays out there will laugh too, even while shaking their heads.
Ar first i was rolling my eyes thinking this to be another ruse usurp Apples money. But, it is quite clear some stupid employee had homophobic intent. That employee should be tracked down and fired.
If the absence of proof, I’d hesitate to proclaim the employee should be “tracked down and fired,” but that’s just me. I’m not a knee-jerker. Instead, I think things through to their logical conclusions.
Of course, I agree with MDN: “If the intent was there and proven, obviously, Apple should discipline the employee. Nobody should be slurring anybody else anywhere.”
Proof is a crucial requirement, but proving intent is rather difficult. Absent an employee confession, I fail to see how Apple has any grounds to impose any punishment whatsoever without facing a lawsuit from the employee. Without proof of intent, sensitivity training for every employee is the best Apple could do. If they singled out the employee for sensitivity training, and the employee says it was just a random entry, the employee should sue Apple.
This doesn’t look like an innocent typo, but even if it was, customer service doesn’t mean having good intentions it means paying attention to the details that matter. Giving a customer a receipt with a crass slur in a field they didn’t supply is about as careless as it gets.
Unless a computer error or other explanation comes to light, or it really was an honest mistake (and the employee is clearly mortified at what they did), it would be reasonable for Apple to let this employee go.
I don’t know what the system is in America. In the UK, an employer requires only a reasonable belief that the employee has misconducted themselves in order to find misconduct or gross misconduct in order to consider disciplinary sanctions or dismissal.
People rarely make admissions to their behaviour. They rarely leave “proof” in terms of 100% certainty or even 80% certainty. Criminal courts work on a jury being “sure”. Civil courts work on something being “probable”. Employment tribunals work on something being a “reasonable belief”.
When the facts are clear and the explanations are given, we can decide what category, if any, into which this falls.
The MDN take seems to be an over reaction. The customer simply said he “wants the company to respond by offering cultural competency training”. I am sure that sensible Apple employees would agree. The training need not be onerous as the problem should be extremely easy to correct.
To say that a gay person taking offense at the use of “f@g” is “political correctness gone absurdly amuck” is rather harsh to say the least. If a black person took offense at the use of the N word would that also be political correctness run amuck?
Perhaps you missed this:
If the intent was there and proven, obviously, Apple should discipline the employee. Nobody should be slurring anybody else anywhere.
If I didn’t get slurred 5 or 6 times a day on the Internet, what would I do for fun?
Fancy that, you’ve never given me the impression that you are gay. Ya’ learn something every day.
Yeah, depending on how it was used. The word is pretty much every other word in segments of the black culture. I personally find the substitute phrase “The N Word” to be offensive. Am I so sensitive that you have to shudder in your boots when speaking about a racial slur and find ways to say it without saying it? You afraid we might riot in the streets or something? Huh? HUH?
Hear Hear.
There, there.
everywhere, everywhere……
Do The Right Thing
Your are offended when people use a polite convention to refer to a word they consider rude and do not want to say? That is getting really sensitive! 😉
FFS the F and G letters are next to each other on the keyboard.
This must have been Christopher Sholes taking the opportunity to slip in an anti-gay message… All the way back in 1870 when he developed the QWERTY layout…
Seriously this person is just stupid, a characteristic found both in and out of the gay population.
The characters “FG” weren’t typed together. They were separated by “@”. That was done intentionally. Not an error. There is a chance that the employee didn’t intend to suggest the resulting word, but the employee _did_ intend to type those three characters together in that order.
The logic of FG together breaks down when the employee could’ve just as easily typed “g@f.com” and avoided this issue entirely.
I believe there was intent to slur. My opinion.
I guess you’ve never seen an application that allows you to automatically type around a default “@”? I’m pretty sure that’s the case on this Apple form.
But then, all the Gafs would be up in arms, asking Apple to offer Cultural Gaf training.
Good thing b@t.com wasn’t entered, else some masked vigilante with pointy ears and a cape would be upset.
I’ll wait to learn more, but it does seem kinda hard to believe it was inadvertent. Sure, the f and g characters are next to each other, but the @ isn’t that easy to accidentally insert. I’d like to keep an open mind about this. I just can’t figure out how you’d end up with that as an accident. So of course, the intent matters. You don’t need any training if the intent was a slur, you need to fire the person. But if there really was no intent, then the clerk needs a typing lesson.
Probably the @ isn’t actually typed in, he types the first part and then Tabs or selects the domain field. Most data entry systems do this because the @ is always required.
Most data entry systems? That’s a reach.
It wouldn’t be a valid email address without the @. That’s why the .com is there too. Either the employee was very quickly typing a minimum address to me the requirement, or he took his time to plan it out. Either is possible, of course, but considering that he knows the transaction is traceable to him, I’d lean towards the former.
I believe that someone who does this intentionally isn’t that bright or just doesn’t care. If this person did have intent, I wonder if they did it more than once? Apple would have records of every transactions and could search for repeat occurrences.
Pretty sure Apple’s point of sale software does not require entering an email address.
If it isn’t required that changes the picture quite a bit. Why are you pretty sure about that? Do you know?
This sucks. I bought new shoes and I lost one. Where’s that dog? QUINCY!!!!!
No need for training, Apple can resolve this forever by rejecting @g.* emails from their sales system.
What about @gott.com or @gs.com though?
Who needs those few @gmail.com customers — or to make sure employees don’t offend our customers, intentionally or otherwise. Yeah, let’s just program this in and ignore it
Your ‘take’ on this is typical of someone who’s never been on the receiving end of this type of slur. I have and believe me, it sucks.
While this particular incident is relatively mild it doesn’t really matter. When society singles you out for who/what you are and you are belittled and demeaned for it, it is a blow to your dignity.
While you can arrogantly dismiss this to being ‘permanently indignant/perpetually slighted’ I can tell you that if someone is that way, it’s for a reason.
When I was forced out as a gay man in the 1970s I was in college at the time living in a dormitory. I was violently harassed by my classmates, my personal property was destroyed in my dorm room, had my roommate move out, FAG was written on my dorm mirror in lipstick, I was nearly killed when a particularly homophobic student lunged at me with a knife yelling “no fag is going to live in MY school’. Then I was expelled from school because my “lifestyle was incompatible with the school’s mission”. So if I get a little sensitive by being called a fag or homo in a deregulatory way please excuse me but I’m entitled.
While you’re certainly entitled to your opinion, having such an opinion tells me that you lack the life experience necessary to be big or compassionate or have the sensitivity and moral guidance to keep your mouth shut when it should be.
Honey, nobody is gayer than me (I make Liberace look butch) and MDN is right, political correctness has gone amuck and, I quote, “If the intent was there and proven, obviously, Apple should discipline the employee. Nobody should be slurring anybody else anywhere.”
People do need a thicker skin. The final step to real acceptance is being able to deal with comments from neanderthals and not being “offended” over every little thing (while trying to get your EarPods for free).
You have my respect, PRIDE. Well said.
Scenarios abound:
1: Was the Apple employee gay or straight?
2: Was the customer gay or straight?
3: Did the Apple employee know the customer was gay or straight?
4: Did the customer know the Apple employee was gay or straight?
For all the rush to judgement comments here, if you have a PC mentality, sorry to say you are not thinking this through.
Not a surprise at all.
You have no idea how hard it is to be a straight white man.
Yes. Slurs are demeaning. Slurs are insensitive. It is wrong to slur.
I cannot think of any other possible explanation for the word “f@g” being spelled out except as an attempt to slur the customer. If it turns out this is the case, the employee should probably be sent through re-education, not the whole damn company. Get real.
Also, the offended party in this case “self-identifies as a queer.” This is fine. You can identify yourself any way you like. It’s a free country. Nonetheless, a self described “queer” sounds like a person who might prominently exhibit his sexual orientation in an exaggerated or ostentatious manner. It is a way of feeling powerful, significant, and daring anyone to not like it. It is a personal celebration of individuality and freedom. Sometimes, however, such people hope to provoke a negative response in order garner additional attention.
When I was young and stupid, such behavior was offensive to me. I did not understand it. The only way to get over it was to immerse myself in gay culture. I had to get out of my sheltered and inexperienced world. Over time, nothing was shocking or offensive to me. I guess this is what being tolerant is all about. Learning to live with that which is different. The bonus, gay men buy me beers in bars. Complete strangers buying you drinks is the coolest thing in the world.
Not everyone has built up the level of tolerance sometimes needed to ignore “in your face” behavior. Many of my gay friends refer to it as “flaming.” Similarly, black people have a problem with other black people who behave in an excessive “black” way, often calling attention to all the negative aspects of the culture. We call that being a “nigga.” The comedian Chris Rock has a routine in which he says, “Who is more racist? White people or black people?” He answers “Black people cause black people hate black people too.” He goes on to cleverly express that there is a cultural war in the black community between two sides. “Black people,” and “niggaz.” His typically majority black audience roars with laughter at this because they get it.
Now I don’t know what went on between the self described queer and the Apple Employee, but I’m going to guess there was something. It might have been small, insignificant. Whatever it was, the Apple Employee was provoked. Most likely this is a white male, young, inexperienced, culturally sheltered, and he didn’t “Think before he clicked.” He hasn’t had enough time in the world to build up the necessary empathy to appreciate different people.
He attempted to insult the customer in the only way he knows how, attacking that aspect of the person most prominently displayed, or easily attacked. Had the person been overweight, the email address might have been “f@t.com.”
Is it hate? I don’t think so. Is it homophobia? I don’t think so. I think it is ignorance and intolerance. Clearly.
Thelonious Mac – Can I buy YOU a beer? Good assessment of the situation and good context. I think your conclusion is dead-on.
Just one point: Straight people often mis-understand the use of the word queer. In the ’80s when gay people started using that word I hated it (still do btw) but it’s not the same as ‘nigga’ which I’m very familiar with by having several black friends. Queer is more a blanket term meant to accomplish two goals; to take ‘ownership’ of a common slur to diffuse it’s impact and to streamline the concept of lgbt which is awkward.
Personally, I hate the word and never use it but I respect it’s use because I know it’s generally not self-degerratory as is the case of ‘nigga’.
Quick story showing the hypocrisy of the N-word (I’m white, so I’m not allowed to use the actual word).
My son (white guy) attended a week long football camp in Texas. Riding up in the elevator one day, a black player said the N word. Another black player in the front of the elevator whipped around and demanded in an angry voice to know who said that. When he saw it was another black guy, he was basically “Oh, it’s you, OK then”. I’m sure if my son had said the word, a fight would have started.
Words have meaning, but the use of the N word by some black people is troubling to me and most other white people I have spoken to about it. We simply can’t understand why black people would want to call each other by a word that has such horrible historical uses and was intended to inflict such pain when being used, even if it is now being used between black people in a different definition. My son and I both think that word should simply disappear from language, but now it has two very different meanings, and unfortunately one meaning cannot be used without the other, terrible meaning coming to mind.
If only it could disappear. It’s hard to explain. A friend of mine (black) said yesterday, “Nigga you been at that computer for hours.”
I didn’t even really hear the word “nigga” when he said it. Now if a white person, even a friend, had said the same thing, the word “nigga” would have been the loudest word in the sentence.
It’s weird, I know. I can’t explain it. It’s like what Varen says. We’ve taken the word, we own it now, you don’t get to use it. It’s an indicator of kinship. I don’t like it, though I’m accustomed to it. And it’s got to be confusing as heck for white people.
Tell your son, just ignore it. Ignore race all together. People notice when you don’t notice and that means a lot.
I’ll buy ya a beer too !-)
> sounds like a person who might prominently exhibit his sexual orientation in an exaggerated or ostentatious manner
For you. An exaggerated or ostentatious matter as far as you are concerned. Would a straight person making-out with their girlfriend in an Apple store being acting in an exaggerated or ostentatious matter. Do heterosexual men have girlfriends just to prove a political point?
What is ostentatious for you may be normal for you.
“To illustrate the point with trivial stereotypical examples from British society: just as male heterosexuals are free to enjoy themselves playing rugby, drinking beer and talking about girls with their mates, so male homosexuals are to be free to enjoy themselves going to Kylie concerts, drinking exotically coloured cocktails and talking about boys with their straight female mates. Mutatis mutandis – and in many cases the adaptations would obviously be great – the same must apply to other societies. In other words, gay men are to be as free as their straight equivalents in the society concerned to live their lives in the way that is natural to them as gay men, without the fear of persecution.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HJ_and_HT_v_Home_Secretary
You sir, make perfect sense, mirroring my thoughts exactly! I couldn’t put pen to paper better. thank you for your comment.
In my 20 years or more of sales I’ve come across a large number of these type of individuals and your description of the customer is bang on. Lots of times it is very hard to bite your tongue when being provoked, especially if you’re new to sales and customer service. I have no doubt that the sales guy knew what he was typing, just like I have no doubt that he was provoked into that response. Unfortunately if he confesses to the slur then management will have no choice but to relieve him of his duties
You are jumping to conclusions. We don’t know the INTENT of the employee. Innocent until proven guilty — got it?
Ms2sense:
First, it is presumed innocent before proven guilty.
Second, that is a test for the criminal law. Employment law and civil law do not use the same presumption test.
Third, when the explanations are in, we can all reach a decision to determine what is most likely.
Got it?
Im sure they will look into it and do the right thing.
What’s that? Read the employee’s mind? Waterboard him/her to force a confession?
nah, make him watch twelve straight hours of “Moesha” reruns. That’ll do it.
…or “Blossom” I sure don’t wanna be accused of bein’ racist.
oh shit, they’re both female, I could be accused of being misogynist!
oh double shit, they’re both young, age discrimination! It’s a lotta work keeping up with the Thought Police.
I am first off a daily reader of this app and also gay. You have given the soap box to the side of ignorance and blind points of view. You should have stopped after the “bold” logical point of view. Stick to talking apple, not others human rights and dignity.
I’m also gay, a retail worker and I can see how this was an easy mistake.
The employee had to type something in yet the customer didn’t provide an email, it just happened that f and g and right in the middle of the keyboard and next to each other.
I done similar things several times and never even thought about it.
Isn’t the email field optional in Apple Retail’s point of sale app?
…and conversely, should stick to making consumer electronics and not others’ human rights and dignity.
It does not matter what the employee’s intent was. All that matters is that the customer felt it was an anti-gay slur. Apple needs to apologize since it is responsible for how its employees interact with its customers, and then have a serious talk with the employee about what the proper procedure is when a customer does not want to give his email address. Apple cannot force its employees to like gay people, but it can surely enforce its policies on how to treat customers. The employee can be the biggest douche in the world, but as long as he is representing apple, he must follow their guidelines.
I’m not sure what the intent of your post is, but I feel that somebody, somewhere could be offended by it; Actually, as I’ve been typing this response, I feel like I might be offended by your response. You and your family need to apologize to everyone that was offended by your take. There has to be some type of class you can take so that, in the future, your thoughts won’t offend anybody.
I agree with MDN, if this actually happened the employee should be disciplined. But, are we sure this person didn’t actually give the employee that email address?
Sounds like a case of his word against the employee’s? I’m sure there is surveillance video of the transaction but I doubt there is audio. I could easily see someone giving the clerk that email address because he didn’t want to use their real email address and laughing about it. Then later using it as a publicity stunt and extortion.
Just saying, there are a lot of very strange and troubled people out there and they never cease to amaze me.
Not sure why MDN is so hung up on the intent thing. First of all, the idea that he called the customer a fag by accident is absurd. That sounds like some poorly thought out lie an idiot would say when trying to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. Secondly, even if were true, and this employ really is calling people fags at work by accident – that’s just as much of a problem. Whether the cause was his incompetence or his bigotry, the end result is identical, and the employee is still at fault.
MDN is trying to have it both ways. They want to do the right thing and condemn what the Apple employee typed, and yet they seem to blame the victim for saying “The employee’s intent doesn’t matter.” What does that mean? Intent could mean motivation, i.e. it was only a joke. Don’t focus on the victim’s ambiguous choice of words, focus on the clearly printed choice of words “f@g.com”.
I just don’t see anyone typing f@g.com by mistake. We all know this. It isn’t being PC to point out that people shouldn’t say or type such things about people. What happened to common decency and just plain good manners?
” just don’t see anyone typing f@g.com by mistake.”
Really? Have you ever filled in a form on a register, or in a kiosk? The @ and the .com are probably pre-filled in. (Well, the .com would be the default, but changeable.) So the employee would have typed “f tab g tab tab” to finish the receipt, and probably done it without looking, so the fields wouldn’t be blank. Does that seem like an intentional slur to you?
We’re dealing with a number of issues here:
1. The employee. Unless they confess, there’s no way to proven they meant it as a slur and Apple should not take action against the employee. If Apple did, the employee could sue Apple. This is where the intent matters.
2. Political correctness. Obviously, we’re tired of it. There’s a line somewhere, but some people live to cross it.
3. The customer. Deserves an apology from Apple if they are offended regardless of the employee’s intent. Does not deserve a refund or anything further unless the employee confesses they intended to slur the customer. Deserves a refund and perhaps a lawsuit win if the Apple employee confesses.
(We’ve added this to our Take above.)
As to (1):
I don’t know what the system is in America. In the UK, an employer requires only a reasonable belief that the employee has misconducted themselves in order to find misconduct or gross misconduct in order to consider disciplinary sanctions or dismissal.
People rarely make admissions to their behaviour. They rarely leave “proof” in terms of 100% certainty or even 80% certainty. Criminal courts work on a jury being “sure”. Civil courts work on something being “probable”. Employment tribunals work on something being a “reasonable belief”.
When the facts are clear and the explanations are given, we can decide what category, if any, into which this falls.
As to (1):
I don’t know how Apple stores work, or whether Oregon law says otherwise, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple Retail works on an at-will basis. You work until you quit or you’re fired. There should be no legal ramifications as if there had been an employment contract. Federal law generally does not require any cause to fire an at-will employee (though some firings are actionable, this, I don’t think, would be one of them).
MDN: What if the Apple employee just quickly tapped in a random quick entry to fill the field (the “f” and “g” keys are right next to each other
Nah. It’s obvious why the snotty little slur was there. But the clear thing to do is return to the Apple Store and talk to the manager and point out the employee and simply state that this is the modern world of adults, not kindergarten of some primitive age. Treat every customer with respect. Thank you. Be brave and direct.
I don’t understand why this has to become a nationwide issue and article unless it’s a trend going on at Apple Stores or stores in general. It’s all about one snotty bigot Apple Store employee who probably doesn’t belong there. Let the manager decide.
In a customer service position your personal feelings are not part of the job. You respect everyone, maintaining a professional demeanor. If you can’t do that then it is not a position for you to be holding.
In 2014 racial or LGBT slurs are unacceptable. Action should be taken.. If it was your business.. what would you do?
The Great Homosexual Turmoil of 21st Century America is almost as boring as The FIFA World Cup…almost.
Too much free-floating anger. Everywhere.
you prefer anchored anger?
I like your comments…but sometimes you seem stuck in the 1900s. This is 2014, not 1914. As someone who has Aspergers, I know how it feels to experience discrimination. I think you should tone down the hate. 🙂
well, I didn’t bring up “hate” or “discrimination” to begin with…also, I don’t much care for your comments, basically, you are trite and witless. Have a nice day, though.
…also, congratulations on the new calendar.
“Trite and Witless”. Funny, I think the same way of you too! Hope you have a nice day as well.
WAAAY off topic, but –
I have a friend (Hi, Eric!) with the last name of “Whitt”. His brother was dating a girl named Demory. This was some years ago, so I suspect they are actually married by now, as they did start discussing her name when they got engaged. Yes, she goes by Dem.
Not calling anyone a dim wit here. Just commenting on the name.
This is such a non-issue. No reasonable person in this day and age gives a flying fsck what someone’s sexual orientation is, and those that do are unworthy of further comment or consideration. Were I gay, I’d actually find this funny.
By continuing to give the oxygen of publicity to such triviality, it does a gross disservice to, and diverts attention from, the more abhorrent behaviour against those good folk in the LGBT community that happens daily.
=:~)
I agree. It seems like I am the only one who cares with what is actually going on these days. There are people who are trying to bring eugenics back, and are experimenting on autistic people, yet the only thing they care about is being PC. It’s such a shame that it has to be this way
I do not know where you live, but in many places you can be fired for being out at work. No protection under the law.
I work in healthcare where many hospitals are owned by Churches or affiliated groups and are based upon doctrine that teaches being Gay is a sin. Many GLBT employees have to stay in the closet about who they are and who they love out of fear of termination. They can also legally be denied benefits under the law in many places by simply being afraid to go to HR and outing themselves as being in a Gay Marriage.
So much for it not being an issue.
@Darwin, I live in the UK where it is illegal to discriminate against anyone employment-wise because of their sexual orientation. Although I have issues with our current political masters, our general attitude towards those of an alternate inclination seems to be more tolerant than that prevalent in the US. I also believe that there is more work to do in this regard—we are not perfect!
=:~)
My employer follows the principle that anytime you are on the clock, on campuses, in a uniform or wear a badge ID ing you as a staffer you represent the company- not yourself- and holds us accountable for that conduct. They (a hospital system) do not want staff to be publicly seen doing anything they consider negative under a principle they call “on stage”. Professional and hourly staff alike. Many companies follow some policy similar to this.
Under a policy like ours, said employee would most likely be terminated- here is a box, get your things and be escorted off of the campus. An Apple Store employee on the clock certainly represents Apple- right down to the shirt.
GLBTQ people have been subject to a kind of discrimination in our country that few who are not GLBTQ could fully understand the scope and impact of. There are far too many stories to this day of kids on the street, disowned and shunned because they came out or were outed to their parents. Far too many people are still captive to the superstitions that teach being GLBTQ is a ‘sin’ offensive to some sky gawd and that they are willfully choosing to do something that is wrong. Kids grow up herring that at Church, school, in the home and on the playground knowing that they are one of ‘those’ people. Most of us cannot imagine how hard that is to take and how deeply that wounds a person.
Having gay roommates in College and in the Army showed me that all the nonsense I was taught in church about gay people was nonsense. Hearing firsthand and sometimes seeing the hurt and how profoundly deep it can be has changed me and made me far more sensitive to people who are marginalized, taunted and mistreated for being different.
In the Apple context, Woz and Steve Jobs were outsiders, outliers and far from the in crowd growing up. Ron Wayne, the third founder of Apple is gay and we know that he was out to the two Steves before the very beginning of the company. Apple has also had a long track record of extending partner benefits to Gay and Lesbian couples long before it was normative in Silicon Valley or anywhere else. Apple has always been an inclusive culture.
As a shareholder and customer of Apple I would prefer that this person be let go as their world view obviously does not mesh with the values of Apple. I would prefer that they go in peace somewhere else with their bigotry and hatred and deal with it on someone else’s payroll.
“I would prefer that this person be let go as their world view obviously does not mesh with the values of Apple.”
Does not matter what you’d prefer. Sorry, your feelings do not matter. The only thing that matters in the employee’s case is the intent. Absent a confession from the employee, if Apple followed your preference, they’d be slapped with a wrongful termination lawsuit, and rightfully so.
If an employee does not reflect the values and policies of a company they can be rightfully terminated as an at will employee. I am quite sure somewhere Apple has a signed form where said employee agreed to understanding Apple’s stated values and expected conduct.
I have seen otherwise excellent employees terminated for violation of company standards of conduct with a customer or toward another employee. Intent may work in some states, but not any I have lived or worked in.
Why did the customer have to disclose his/her homophile proclivities to the Apple guy? After all, what does that have to do with purchasing a $29 thing? The Apple guy might have been deeply offended at being hit upon. It may be that it is the customer who needs the counselling.
Hmmm my receipts says aa@ss.com. I never thought about what it meant until today. 😜
Until the investigation concludes I think it premature to dismiss this so easily.
Fact is, there are genuine homophobes out there. And right now we have no idea if this Apple employee is amongst them. I’d love to live in a world where these things genuinely don’t matter to the extent where we can confidently chalk them up as idle mistakes and brush them aside. We don’t though. Not by a long way.