A Catholic friend in Dallas lost his sales job recently, at a shop I used to frequent, but won't anymore. Why?
"I couldn't take the constant discussion about porn among the workers," he said. "Even the women got into it. It got to the point where everytime a customer would walk in, they'd be talking among themselves about what that customer would look like undressed."
He took it for a long time, because he felt embarrassed as a male to be complaining about this kind of thing. But finally, he called the company's human resources department and told them he couldn't take working in that kind of atmosphere, and was going to quit. They talked about transferring him to another location of the store, but once he assured them he wasn't going to file a lawsuit, they dropped him.
That store used to get my business. It won't anymore. But if you are a north Texas employer and want a hard-working, honest young Catholic family man who left his job over his principles, e-mail me. My friend didn't ask me to put this notice up, but I'm so angry over what his employer did to him, and why, that I wanted to see if there was anybody out there willing to give this good man a job -- especially because he's got a wife and kids to support. E-mail me at rdreher (at) dallasnews.com if you can help.
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"I find this article to be rather self appointedly precious. First, the author says that the subject of the article is a "Catholic friend". Why is his religion germaine? I'm not Catholic and I don't like porn talk either, so what."
It's not germaine legally, but it most likely pertains to the situation (just as a person's gender may pertain to a particular sexual harassment situation). I'm not sure if his fellow workers were aware of his religion or beliefs, but if they were it is pretty likely that it was a "big" factor. I related a situation I had a few years back--and I can tell you that once they realized that I wasn't going to join in and (through an offhand comment) that I was religious, it was open season. For a classmate of mine, when some of her co-workers realized she wasn't on the same wavelength, the comments started turning toward whether she was a virgin.
So while it's very "precious" that you don't like porn talk, there is an element of a person's religious identity that is relevant to our discussion here.
Does anybody know about any jobs for this guy?
Good lord! I've never worked in a place like that! Those people seriously need therapy or something. I'd quit, too, (or take a small recording device in there and put it on YouTube)!
Rod, is there any way you throw some broad hints about where this place is, so us Dallasites can stay away?
Linda, Rod's opposed to boycotts and blacklisting. He sees them as a threat to free speech, so I can't imagine he'd want to ruin this company's reputation by blacklisting it.
I'm not opposed to boycotts, and you know it, Daniel, because you read this blog and I've said it over and over in this discussion. But I know how you operate, so I don't expect honesty out of you on this question.
Anyway, my friend has just sent me an e-mail clarifying his situation. It's a rather remarkable piece of sociocultural commentary. I'm closing this thread and invite you to continue this conversation on the new one.