I work at a 3rd-6th public school in MA. I wore this hat to celebrate Pride month and last week of school. I am known for my 25 days of holiday hats I wear around the winter holidays. I do mostly Santa hats but also make sure to include secular hats/Hanuikka hats. No one has a problem with it and the kids LOVE it because the hats get progressively more outrageous the closer it gets to break.
So yesterday I get in the door and My Lead says “Do you have to wear that hat?” I replied “What? Its a rainbow hat for pride month?” And shrugged. Then my most vocal and conservative coworker came in and told me that “my hat is inappropriate”. I replied that d"iversity, tolerance, and inclusion is ALWAYS appropriate". She came back with " if it was just a rainbow hat but with the Pride sticker on there its not ok. You want tolerance and repect but you aren’t respected the other side. You know I dont believe in that and in front of the kids, its bad enough in front of us knowing we don’t believe in that." So I asked her if she wanted to bring it to HR. She said no and i offered to turn my hat around. Then My called HR who told her that my hat is fine. Lol.
The kicker is the coworker was wearing a Black Flag hat!
edit Black American Flag hat worn by conservatives in the US
You know I dont believe in that
Yeah, that’s why the hat is necessary.
And if they tried to use the same logic with the Santa hat it would sound crazy.
Seriously. OP should strike up conversation next Christmas time while wearing the Santa hat. Causally ask them if they believe in Santa. Then when they inevitably say they do not, ask why the hat doesn’t offend them just as much as that rainbow pride hat did.
Exactly what doesn’t she believe in?
That gay people don’t exist?
Honey, have I got news for her.
I suspect she believes they shouldn’t be allowed to exist. 😮💨
“Next thing y’all be learnin’ kids that Santa be gay, too!!”
–
JesusMAGASanta is SUPER gay.
“Don we now our gay apparel, fa la la, fa la la, la la la!”
You want tolerance and repect but you aren’t respected the other side
By “other side” I’m assuming she means heterosexuals? If so, I’ll tell you as a member of that side that I think the hat is fabulous.
The other side is bigots. Literally the intolerant asking for tolerance of their intolerance. Blows my mind.
It’s sort of ironic, isn’t it? Tolerance and respect work both ways. Like we all have to tolerate these homophobes. So she is arguing against her own argument by making the argument.
No, she doesn’t mean heterosexuals. Because most heterosexuals don’t have a problem with LGBT+.
She means bigots. She means that she expects tolerance and respect for the bigotry, so that she can continue to tell people being LGBT+ is a sin and bad for children or whatever.
It’s an argument in bad faith.
Your coworker doesn’t know the first fuckin thing about Black Flag, apparently. I really hope she doesn’t ever find out about Rollins’ op-eds from LA Weekly or she might have a heart attack.
Can’t handle it? You move. Trust me, Canada won’t take you.
I got a good chuckle out of that particular line.
I had to reread that part of the post a couple times. Try to think of some other Black Flag it could mean. OP please read this if you don’t know what Henry Rollins and Black Flag stand for and educate your coworker!
Different Black Flag. The American one conservatives like to wear.
Ah ok since you capitalized it we thought you meant the band. Too bad.
PLEASE leave a copy of the U.S. flag code laying around somewhere. An all-black American flag ISN’T an American flag, and showing them how they’re breaking the rules of the flag they pretend to care about breaks their brain.
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding or drapery. The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.
Dude black flag is a punk band
I was 50/50 on if it was the band or not. It didn’t seem to make sense for a callout for a band hat, so I assumed it was a black American flag. Could be wrong, though.
How likely is it that a Conservative Christian type is into Black Flag?
About as likely as a highly conservative states person saying that their favorite band was Rage against the Machine
Touché
You want the family man or the swinging man?
Offering to go with her to HR about it was the right move. Let her dig her own grave right in front of them. With any luck, she’ll get fired.
The “other side” is the very definition of a lack of tolerance and respect so get bent, coworker!
Yeah like what exactly would a hat representing this other side look like?
Kinda white and pointy I’d imagine.
They’re like thinking (OMG. Someone is different from me… someone doesn’t believe the same as I do … I can’t ever feel secure with that … got to … got to fix that … )
That is the most obnoxious hat I’ve ever laid eyes on. Well done.
At least she has good music taste, I guess…surprising though considering her background.
Oh, you meant a different Black Flag, didn’t you…?
Oof it would have gone down very differently in a public school in Texas/Florida. Be grateful you’re in MA.
“the other side”, I hear that and my eyes begin to roll into the back of my head.
The kicker is the coworker was wearing a Black Flag hat!
The band? The one that had Henry Rollins in it?
No. The American flag but all black/gray. Its a right wing conservative american thing.
Ohhh yeah. That thing is a straight up “I approve of cops murdering POC for no reason at all and would like them to do more of it.” symbol. Right up there with the punisher skull.
And Mike Vallely? Mike would straight up knock a homophobe out under the right circumstances.
When you asked if she wanted to bring it to HR, she probably thought you meant Henry Rollins and she knew that wouldn’t go well.
HR of Bad Brains
That hat is made out of the same material as Marty McFly’s baseball cap in Back to the Future II.
How many hats have you accumulated by now? Or do you sell them away once the holiday is over?
I have about 30. They fall apart amd get lost so I dont have too many saved.
