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Harvard Square store clerk to lose job for kicking out gay couple kissing in olive-oil aisle

The Crimson reports.

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Comments

I wonder if it occurred to the little Harvard know-it-alls that maybe firing someone over such an incident isn't going to help?

I doubt that employee is now going to think "oh, gay people are swell, and I should respect them and treat them fairly." No. Gay people are going to be "the people who got me fired", and he's now probably filled with a deep personal rage - for Harvard students, gay people, his manager, etc.

It's going to come out some time, and it's going to be a lot worse than "get out of the store".

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...you would've found out that the "Harvard know-it all" didn't want the employee to be fired.

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I agree. The employee should have been warned, and maybe given training if available, but not fired.

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Its naive to think that a small business is going to put an employee into "sensitivity training." This is a small shop, not a large company with an HR department inclined to do such a thing.

The employee did deserve to be fired for a reason that has nothing to do with sensitivity (or lack thereof). Its business, pure and simple. An employee drove away a customer and, because of a backlash the owner risked losing the all-important patronage of the student community.

In an internal matter? Maybe a stern lecture and warning is sufficient. But when money is lost because an employee messed up, you fire him.

Is it fair? Sure. Don't bemoan the "in this economy..." and "deserve a second chance" BS. In this day and age, sensitivity isn't just a nice idea, its a business imperative.

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Yeah, yeah, tell it to the gay kid whose head he cracks open when his unemployment checks run out. And don't tell me I'm the one who's naive.

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....before two years pass by.

But seriously, mandatory sensitivity training and a suspension would have been the way to go. That way he'd be punished, and would be 'forced' to deal with the true problem by going back to that same working environment to do things correctly from now on.

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a severe reprimand and a stern warning that the employee would be fired if s/he displayed any overt homophobic behavior in the future would've been the way to go.

Without knowing all the facts, however, I, myself admittedly don't enjoy being captive audience to a couple sucking face in public, whether they're gay or straight.

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There's no reason why any retail store should ever fire an employee for being a douchebag.

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Either this guy uses this as a learning experience and grows up or he doesn't. There's no reason his employer has to tolerate his homophobia in the meantime if he chooses not to grow up. On top of that, the employee lied to his boss when first confronted with the security tape where he confronted the gay couple. Why should the employer have to tolerate his employee lying to him (because he knew damn well his action was wrong)?

This guy was a homophobic bully. You don't concede to a bully or you just reinforce their actions with reward. Assume he doesn't get fired. I doubt that employee is now going to suddenly think "oh, gay people are swell, and I should respect them and treat them fairly". What impetus would he have to change anything he did if there were no serious repercussion for his action?

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I see what you're saying.

My concern is that the
store owners intolerance for the clerk's intolerance is no way to help the clerk learn tolerance for people who he doesn't understand
and believes should not be permitted to stay in his bosses store if they kiss.

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Doesn't mean he hates the gays. Would he have asked a straight couple to leave for a public display of affection? That's the litmus test here.

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Booted for a "brief" boy-girl peck? When has that ever happened in the history of the world? This sounds like the clerk's gut reaction to something he found instantly threatening. Too bad his higher thought processes didn't kick in before he acted. I'm not sure I'd agree with firing him, but that's the manager's decision based on information we don't have.

On a side note, I must say I've been heartened lately to note the number of same-sex couples walking down the street holding hands, something that's been extremely rare in the past. No shame.

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...no longer use the wood "breeders" in public.

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On a side note, I must say I've been heartened lately to note the number of same-sex couples walking down the street holding hands, something that's been extremely rare in the past. No shame.

Hear! Hear!! :-)

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A brief guy-girl, girl-girl, or guy-guy peck in public is not the same as total face-sucking, or other types of behavior that really arouse the heartbeat, blood-pressure, or libido in public.

Moreover, a brief peck on the cheek, or a brief exchange of cheek pecks is not be grounds for either a gay or straight couple to be kicked out of a store or any other public place.

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he would not.

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If someone lynches a Black dude and writes slurs all over his house, is that OK as long as the person also has killed white people?

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I still recall hearing a story from my parents about the time that they were at a meeting somewhere in my old hometown during the height of the anti-war movement, in the 1970's, when a young straight teenage couple were in a corner of the room, not only sucking face in public, but feeling each other up to the point where it was so bad, and so obvious that other people in the room were making like they didn't notice, but it created an extremely uncomfortable atmosphere, nonetheless. Unfortunately, nobody in the room had the gumption to do what really should've been done in that situation; say to the offending couple "What the hell's the matter with you two? Get out of here!"

I was not present at that meeting, and I was much younger back then, but I know that if it were to happen now, I'd probably tell the couple to either knock it off or get the hell out, whether they were straight or gay.

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What the clerk will do or won't do in the future we can't possibly know. But now he knows that when working with the public, if he reacts with homophobia to a "gay sighting", he will be called on it. The world is changing whether he likes it or not.

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no one needs to be sucking face in a convenience store @ 3 in the morning.

Get a room.

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