corporate america has gone gonzo

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

Ok as I probably mentioned sometimes here, I work for a home improvement retail warehouse. Recently they adopted the policy of wearing company only bearing logo and/or plain solid color hats. Now up till now, I was wearing my hat, emblazoned with USA, was told that this hat was not permitted. I could realize that if I had worn a hat with another company's log on it, this may have been justified, however my hat did not represent a company nor institution; it bore the symbol of a proud nation which I could not wear during company time.

Corporate America, you got to love them.

 

[prepstudinsc]

That sucks. Why is it wrong for you to proclaim some pride in your country? We're in the USA, what's the problem. I could see if you were in a foreign country and wore a USA hat, but come on, this has gone too far.

 

[BobLeeSwagger]

Playing devil's advocate here for a moment....

What if it were a hat that said "USS Missouri" on it? That would be patriotic in a more specific way. They really have two choices if they're going to have a policy on what hats can be worn:

(1) approve an employee's hat on a case-by-case basis, which has a high potential for biases and disgruntlement

(2) pre-approve only certain hats ahead of time and take a hard line about it.

Obviously they went for (2). Seems kind of silly, but there is a logic to it. If they say yes to your USA hat, then what about the guy with a March of Dimes hat? That would be another great organization with almost no chance of offending a customer, but at some point it gets hazy. An Audobon Society hat? A Nike hat? A Chicago Cubs hat? At some point an employee would wear a hat that endorses something that the company or store does not. It would be difficult to be fair about telling that person to take the hat off while letting someone else keep theirs on.

Again, it seems like kind of a silly rule to me, but at least they're enforcing it equally. If they make an exception for you, then they have to let others do it too.

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

That's not the absolute same as wearing a hat that symbolizes a country as opposes to wearing a hat that represents a company.

And like I said, USA is NOT a company, nor institution, so i'm not offending anyone, except if i was in say england. I don't know whether or not HOME DEPOT is there.

 

[prepstudinsc]

The thing about it is that if you were in England, you would wear something that symbmolized Britain, like the British flag. Home Depot has chosen to draw a hard line company policy, which is absolutely stupid, but I guess it is to weed out anyone trying to wear sports team logos, brand names, etc. They should just give you store caps to wear and be done with it.

 

[D_Barbi_Queue]

I think Allof makes a good point. While I think USA is a grwat nation (and I know that some don't agree), I can see how the company is making that choice. Once they make an exception for one, the flood gates may be opened and cause a bigger issue than they are willing to deal with. It seems the simplest to say "company logo and solids only" instead of coming up with a list of all approved hats.

On the other hand, if I were you, I'd get a hat with a company logo on it and add a small embroidered US flag on the back or side.

 

[Shelby]

There's a store in the mall that has ties with prints of classical nude art. I always thought it would be the shit (if I worked for a govt. agency) to buy one and wear it to work.

For sure someone would find it offensive and file a complaint. Then I could get the ACLU involved defending my First Amendment rights. Then some women's advocacy group might bitch that it objectified women.

I could argue that it's ok for the general public (including children) to view a huge painting of the image at a museum but a small fascimile on my tie is obectionable to working adults?

Hilarity would ensue no doubt.