May 31, 2004
T-shirts and jerks
So just a few days ago, Friday the 28th to be exact, I went to the MU Games Area with Chase, Sean, Diana, Ave, Oliver, and Joanna. Now at the MU, there really are only two things I will ever do there: play pool, or bowl. Seeing as how Sean has a hernia, and it'd be rude to exclude him, I went up to the desk to get a rack of balls. The guy working that particular night is that one guy that's there nearly all the bloody time. I believe he's gay, he usually puts on a lot of Carpenters, and errrr.., yeah. And I refer to him as being gay because it's an identifier that many people might recognize.
Anyhow, I go up to the desk, give him my ID card, and he turns around and gives me the rack of balls. As he punches in the stuff, just before I leave, he says to me, in a very unfriendly manner, "I see you coming in here with that shirt all the time, do you know anything about communism at all?" Now, to be entirely fair, I don't study forms of government in any significant amount, although I don't consider myself entirely unknowledgeable about the subject. In any case, it didn't matter on whit since the shirt had absolutely no meaning whatso-fucking-ever. Anyone who'd be offended by the shirt probably needs to pull the rod out of their ass and get a sense of humor. Non-confrontational as I am, I simply said "It doesn't matter either way since the shirt doesn't mean anything", and walked away. The shirt was a shirt I bought from a webcomic artist whose comic I read fairly often because I thought it was amusing. It was gleaned from a particular strip entitled "Heavy-Handed Political Metaphor Comics", and that was more or less the spirit I wore it in. It really had no meaning whatsoever and any meaning one might glean from it would have to have jumps in reasoning that the normal human being would falter upon encountering. So, I was kinda irked, but I figured that it was just water off my back, since I didn't even know the guy. Personal insults on my character mean very little to me, especially insults from people who I don't know and don't have a professional relationship with.
Chase however, seemed very irked by it. He felt that the guy, as a service person of the MUGA, had no right to treat me, a patron of the MUGA, in such a way. His attitude and comments were not respectful towards me either as a server to a patron or even as one human being towards another. As a representative of the MUGA, his actions were very unprofessional, and Chase would have nothing to do with it. So Chase grabbed the rack and went to talk to the guy at the front desk again.
I should have went up to the front desk, but I figured that the guy would simply apologize for his outburst as most reasonable people do and give me back my card. However, from my vantage point, it looked like Chase and the guy got in quite an argument. When it had gone on a while, I went up there to see if it could be resolved in any sense, so I went up and asked them what the issue was. The guy replied, "Your friend here is trying to speak for you", and then he gave Chase some change, which Chase left on the counter as he led me away.
Out of hearing range as I was, I don't know exactly what words were exchanged, but it seems as though Chase went up and asked for an apology or a refund. The guy was adamant about providing neither, and accused Chase of trying to speak for me. Chase asked him what his name was, and the guy replied that it was against policy to give out his name. In the end, Chase returned the pool balls, and was forced to pay something like 23 cents for the time that was spent, which included the time that was spent at the front desk.
Really, I suppose I just wonder what the hell the guy was thinking. Why would he accost a patron of his workplace in such a way over a shirt that, if you thought about it at all, didn't really make any sense. If any other person came up to me and did such a thing, I'd think to myself "Bite me" and walk off. But as someone who is supposed to be helping and assisting me, I don't believe that he should be acting in such a way. But in general, what the hell was his problem? I suppose I'll never know, but I do know that I'm going to wear that shirt every time I go to the MU from now on.
Anyhow, I go up to the desk, give him my ID card, and he turns around and gives me the rack of balls. As he punches in the stuff, just before I leave, he says to me, in a very unfriendly manner, "I see you coming in here with that shirt all the time, do you know anything about communism at all?" Now, to be entirely fair, I don't study forms of government in any significant amount, although I don't consider myself entirely unknowledgeable about the subject. In any case, it didn't matter on whit since the shirt had absolutely no meaning whatso-fucking-ever. Anyone who'd be offended by the shirt probably needs to pull the rod out of their ass and get a sense of humor. Non-confrontational as I am, I simply said "It doesn't matter either way since the shirt doesn't mean anything", and walked away. The shirt was a shirt I bought from a webcomic artist whose comic I read fairly often because I thought it was amusing. It was gleaned from a particular strip entitled "Heavy-Handed Political Metaphor Comics", and that was more or less the spirit I wore it in. It really had no meaning whatsoever and any meaning one might glean from it would have to have jumps in reasoning that the normal human being would falter upon encountering. So, I was kinda irked, but I figured that it was just water off my back, since I didn't even know the guy. Personal insults on my character mean very little to me, especially insults from people who I don't know and don't have a professional relationship with.
Chase however, seemed very irked by it. He felt that the guy, as a service person of the MUGA, had no right to treat me, a patron of the MUGA, in such a way. His attitude and comments were not respectful towards me either as a server to a patron or even as one human being towards another. As a representative of the MUGA, his actions were very unprofessional, and Chase would have nothing to do with it. So Chase grabbed the rack and went to talk to the guy at the front desk again.
I should have went up to the front desk, but I figured that the guy would simply apologize for his outburst as most reasonable people do and give me back my card. However, from my vantage point, it looked like Chase and the guy got in quite an argument. When it had gone on a while, I went up there to see if it could be resolved in any sense, so I went up and asked them what the issue was. The guy replied, "Your friend here is trying to speak for you", and then he gave Chase some change, which Chase left on the counter as he led me away.
Out of hearing range as I was, I don't know exactly what words were exchanged, but it seems as though Chase went up and asked for an apology or a refund. The guy was adamant about providing neither, and accused Chase of trying to speak for me. Chase asked him what his name was, and the guy replied that it was against policy to give out his name. In the end, Chase returned the pool balls, and was forced to pay something like 23 cents for the time that was spent, which included the time that was spent at the front desk.
Really, I suppose I just wonder what the hell the guy was thinking. Why would he accost a patron of his workplace in such a way over a shirt that, if you thought about it at all, didn't really make any sense. If any other person came up to me and did such a thing, I'd think to myself "Bite me" and walk off. But as someone who is supposed to be helping and assisting me, I don't believe that he should be acting in such a way. But in general, what the hell was his problem? I suppose I'll never know, but I do know that I'm going to wear that shirt every time I go to the MU from now on.
# posted by Yann : 14:38
Comments:
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Hah!
Loved your post on a couple of different levels.
1.when I was about 18 or 19 A friend and I designed a series of shirts which included one with a design that pictured the classic Hammer and Sickle design with the legend underneath "The New Bolshiveks" we were being tongue in cheek and really meant it in spirit of revolutionary ideas more than overthrow. However, this being the late 80's before the fall of the iron curtain, people were very upset by these shirts.
2. Your friend was absolutly correct. A person in a position of customer service has no place in commenting on or questioning your political views. He should keep his mouth shut and make change.
Keep wearing the shirt.
D-
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Loved your post on a couple of different levels.
1.when I was about 18 or 19 A friend and I designed a series of shirts which included one with a design that pictured the classic Hammer and Sickle design with the legend underneath "The New Bolshiveks" we were being tongue in cheek and really meant it in spirit of revolutionary ideas more than overthrow. However, this being the late 80's before the fall of the iron curtain, people were very upset by these shirts.
2. Your friend was absolutly correct. A person in a position of customer service has no place in commenting on or questioning your political views. He should keep his mouth shut and make change.
Keep wearing the shirt.
D-
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