Southern Change Gonna Come At Last

Not REALLY back. But I have to blog this one just to get it out of my system.

Every @#$% time an Alabama native is interviewed for national television, it bugs me to no end. My home state always comes across as the most redneck, backwoods, uneducated, third-world poor state in the union. Everyone in the country imagines that the welcome sign at the state line says

Welcome to

ALABAMA.

Don't forget to set your clocks back 200 years.

BUT...

Alabama was the birthplace of the civil rights movement. Not because of it was the home of hatred, but rather because Alabama was the first state that was READY for humanity towards all.

We were the leaders in America's flight to outer space. (Just to settle the question of who leads the world in science, a native of my own Huntsville redefined what is and isn't a planet for the entire human race.) We're an AMAZING people.

BUT...

Sometimes I just wanna slap people here into the 21st century, @#$% it!!!!

As you may recall, I'm the shop steward where I work. I need to explain exactly what a shop steward does before I can go on. standard jroberthaga leap in subject (patent pending) My job requires me to enforce the contract and labor laws, regardless of the outcome. Thankfully, I'm one of those people who can argue out of both sides of my face. I'll happily "quote mine" to portray my view as logical meaning of a law or contract. And I'll drop sections just as quickly if need be. (No need to mention it since it's not really relevant. wink, wink. nudge, nudge.) Playing the lawyer game is 99.999 times out of 100 an advantage.

BUT...

Some people I absolutely refuse to help. No matter the justification, no matter the cause, some people I will gladly let the company fire. In fact, I'll even go so far as to HELP them bury these idiots. Does that mean I shouldn't be a shop steward? You decide.

I was the opening checker one morning and was blindsided by a customer who was LIVID. Not your standard "I'm a miserable human being and I want everyone to be as miserable as me" customer. Nor your standard "Yeah, I'm supposed to be on court-ordered meds, but the pretty colors sound so much better when I'm off them" customer. Nor even your standard "I bought this forty-two years ago for nine cents a pound and I want it for the same price" customer.

She was upset because of she what she overheard an employee saying.

There's only a few words in the English language that are 100% never gonna fail to offend. The "F" bomb, "Nazi", and (tv.com bans the word, but it rhymes with trigger). And if "trigger" doesn't offend enough people, why not take it to a place undreamed of by Olympic level asshats and call a pretty blond girl a "trigger lover" in the middle of an aisle at a busy supermarket? Gee, how many degrees beyond "hostile work environment" are there?

Needless to say, I talked to manager about the situation as soon as he walked in the door. I told him that I would be discussing the situation with employees as well, but as shop steward I wanted him to put an end to that sort of customer complaints. (I've got bills to pay and don't want to have a business close out from under me because half the @#$% city is to offended to shop here any more!!!)

While I asked around, I discovered that this was not a one-time problem. This employee had been making racist, sexist, and just plain offensive remarks for quite some time. To give you an idea how utterly beyond the pale of even the most ignorant, weak-minded, delusional, KKK-inspired offensive comments they were, she was quoted as saying "I can tell you slept with that trigger because you clocked in stinking of trigger."

Wow.

Just...

Wow.

I was certain that this had to be an exaggeration. I mean, it just HAD to be, didn't it? But two other people told me that very comment unprompted. And when I talked to the manager, he told me he'd heard the same quote from other sources.

I worked night crew for fifteen long years, and we constantly dissed each other with the "Yo momma's so fat", "You're so ugly", "Yo wife's so dumb" jokes. Every third blue moon someone would cross that invisible line and have to apologize, but we were KIDDING. None of us were so evil and filled with blind hatred that we could even imagine saying what this person was saying.

Company policy, and my personal feeling are to fire people even SUSPECTED of such behavior and ask questions later. But, amazingly the persons being so grievously abused for so long didn't want the person fired. Nor relocated to another store or even a different department. They felt SORRY for this not yet-an-adult, parent of two. They were adamant that they hadn't complained because they knew she'd be fired. And even though the cat was out of the bag, they insisted that she NOT be fired.

Now company policy and federal law is straight forward on this issue. The asshat who does that sort of thing is guilty as are any supervisors who allow it. The night manager and department manager were both aware of the problem, but not as to the degree of how bad it was. Additionally, there were witnesses to the problem who had not informed either me or a manager of it.

The situation quickly grew to have the potential to cost numerous people their jobs. The manager and I discussed the situation and, with HIS boss signing off on it, agreed to an unusual solution.

We'd do almost nothing.

If any one person was disciplined or fired, the paperwork justifying that one thing would inevitably lead to numerous people losing their jobs.

So...The supervisors would be counseled "off the books" about harassment policy, and warned they could NEVER allow it to happen again. The bigot would be counseled, again "off the books". But she was warned that I would retain a copy of all our paperwork, as well as the manager. She was told in no uncertain terms that if a manager even SUSPECTED she looked at another employee wrong she was out the door, no second chances.

And, even though this bigot doesn't read this, I want someone to know.

The main reason she got away with it? Because the people she hates pleaded for mercy on her.

And despite the few people in this state that make me ashamed, there's others here whose kindness to those same people make me so very proud to live here.