No Brains For Oil
Moral Dilemma alert!
OK, not really. But I had an unsettling moment at work today. I work for a sign company, as a customer service rep. We get a lot of people in here asking about short-run and unique stickers, which we can do. Which means we get people in here lately looking to make Pro- and Anti- war statements on their bumpers/windows/etc. I don’t really have a problem with either one, despite the fact that I’m a strongly Anti- guy myself.
Now this guy comes in today, and asks about bumper stickers, and we talk prices and he decides to place an order. When I ask him what he wants the stickers to say, he replies, without a trace of irony “Kick their ass and take their gas!”
I only paused for about a second, and in that second I considered A) telling him we have a no-profanity rule (which we don’t) and sending him on his way; B) handing him off to another CSR; and C) telling him he’s a discredit to the human race and to get the fuck out of here, and take his blood money with him. I took the order without protest or comment and sent him off though.
I felt guilty at first, but then I thought about it. He has every right to say what he wants to say, and we have the right, as a private business, to turn away his business for whatever reason. We have made political signs in the past, and will continue to do so, and in all the time that I’ve been here, the only times we’ve turned someone away for reason of content have had to do with copyright/trademark issues. I eventually decided that it’s not really my place, as an employee, to limit people’s expression, no matter how asinine, uninformed, or offensive. Besides, he’s the one who’s going to look like a jackass driving down the street with that nonsense on his bumper.
And then I cheered myself up by finding a shitload of good records on my lunch break. I got the Beatles White Album, Jesus & Mary Chain, the Sex Pistols, and the new White Stripes. I also special ordered the new Cex and Autechre records. So that took my mind off things.
More later…
