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I wasn't there, I don't know the context, I can't judge how offensive this person was. I don't really see why you think it's somehow more likely that it's just

I wasn't there, I don't know the context, I can't judge how offensive this person was. I don't really see why you think it's somehow more likely that it's just "gay bashing in good fun," but that's really immaterial to the situation, since neither of us was there. What I do know is that it is absolutely reasonable for an offended listener to talk to HR honestly about the situation. Not everyone is comfortable being directly confrontational about that kind of thing, and people in HR are paid to address exactly that kind of situation. > Pull the guy aside at least, this is just another person, not a tiger, not a snake, just a human. Tigers and snakes generally don't make racist/sexist/gayist remarks. Anyway, humans are far more dangerous...

runawaybottle 13y ago
>Tigers and snakes generally don't make racist/sexist/gayist remarks. Anyway, humans are far more dangerous... No, they bite your face off instead. It'd almost be better if the snake said something racist and moved along lol. You know what humans do? They make mistakes, and are often reasonable and have the possibility of changing. Pull the guy aside, he's not a snake.
- edavis 13y ago
  > You know what humans do? They make mistakes, and are often reasonable and have the possibility of changing. When I was 5 or 6 I put my hand on a coffee pot warmer because I thought it was a scale. That was a mistake. Going on a five minute rant against gay people that made (at least) one person very uncomfortable? That's not a mistake. That's creating a hostile work environment. This is why HR departments exist. Let them evaluate what happened and determine if any guidelines set by the company were broken.
  - ACow_Adonis 13y ago
    That's why HR departments exist? Jeeze. And here I was thinking it was to create a line of obfuscatory defence between employees and management :P /in all seriousness though, approaching HR with a complaint against a workmate is just as likely to get YOU in trouble and make work for you as it is to actually work in your favour. If you're going to approach HR, please please please do it with a bit of knowledge about how it works in your company, and not just because you believed the spiel they delivered during orientation about being there to serve you. (hint: Unless you're their boss, you are not the one that HR serves).

runawaybottle 13y ago

>Tigers and snakes generally don't make racist/sexist/gayist remarks. Anyway, humans are far more dangerous... No, they bite your face off instead. It'd almost be better if the snake said something racist and moved along lol. You know what humans do? They make mistakes, and are often reasonable and have the possibility of changing. Pull the guy aside, he's not a snake.

edavis 13y ago
> You know what humans do? They make mistakes, and are often reasonable and have the possibility of changing. When I was 5 or 6 I put my hand on a coffee pot warmer because I thought it was a scale. That was a mistake. Going on a five minute rant against gay people that made (at least) one person very uncomfortable? That's not a mistake. That's creating a hostile work environment. This is why HR departments exist. Let them evaluate what happened and determine if any guidelines set by the company were broken.
- ACow_Adonis 13y ago
  That's why HR departments exist? Jeeze. And here I was thinking it was to create a line of obfuscatory defence between employees and management :P /in all seriousness though, approaching HR with a complaint against a workmate is just as likely to get YOU in trouble and make work for you as it is to actually work in your favour. If you're going to approach HR, please please please do it with a bit of knowledge about how it works in your company, and not just because you believed the spiel they delivered during orientation about being there to serve you. (hint: Unless you're their boss, you are not the one that HR serves).