Is US Flag offensive?

[Smoke]

It said the other supervisor from Africa "placed" the flag and pole on the floor.

Actually, it doesn't say who placed it on the floor.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

According to Channel 11's reports, the African co-worker has lived in the U.S. for 14 years and has had family members serve in the U.S. military. We have no reason to believe that the co-worker was offended by the flag as such; the co-worker was apparently offended at Debbie McLucas' taking it upon herself to install a flagpole in the office they shared. All this crap about hating America and hating the flag is just spin.

“I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been multiple complaints, that people found the flag very offensive and it had been taken down,” McLucas told FOXNews.com.


“I was told that as long as my flag offended one person, it would be taken down,” McLucas said.

I find it rather ridiculous to believe that people were offended by the flag pole and not the flag.

 

[linwood]

Is this where you work?

YouTube - Joe Versus the Volcano

Sarcasm aside I`m a manager in a corporation that does business.

I don`t tolerate anything stalling the production of that business.

I decide what is displayed in my department on my companies property regardless of popular opinion.

If something is creating a problem among my employees and that "thing" can simply be eliminated with little or no problems then that "thing" will be eliminated.
Immediately.

I`m not employed to pander to my employees religious or nationalistic foolishness.

My employees know very well where the door is if they dislike it.

 

[Smoke]

I find it rather ridiculous to believe that people were offended by the flag pole and not the flag.

The flag and the pole go together in this case.

The fact is, we don't know what the co-worker's objection was, and McLucas herself said she didn't know and had not even had the opportunity to talk to her co-worker about it.

So I guess you're entitled to believe her co-worker was offended by the flag, and goes around complaining wherever she sees one, but it seems more likely to me that the co-worker was offended by McLucas' presumption in installing it in their workspace.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

So I guess you're entitled to believe her co-worker was offended by the flag, but it seems more likely to me that the co-worker was offended by McLucas' presumption in installing it in their workspace.

I can't imagine any situation where someone would describe that as being offensive. Annoying? Disruptive? Perhaps inappropriate? Sure. But, it seems rather naive to interpret an explicit complaint of being offended in relation to an American flag as anything other than finding the flag offensive. Nobody would describe the installation of a flag pole as offensive.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Nobody would describe the installation of a flag pole as offensive.

Not even if you work in a small office, the flagpole gets in the way, and you feel it was put there without regard for the people who have to work in that space?

 

[Smoke]

I can't imagine any situation where someone would describe that as being offensive. Annoying? Disruptive? Perhaps inappropriate? Sure. But, it seems rather naive to interpret an explicit complaint of being offended in relation to an American flag as anything other than finding the flag offensive. Nobody would describe the installation of a flag pole as offensive.

I'd complain if one of the women with whom I share a small office installed a flagpole with a 3x5 flag in our office. I wouldn't complain if she had a small flag on her desk. Do you see the difference?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I'd complain if one of the women with whom I share a small office installed a flagpole with a 3x5 flag in our office. I wouldn't complain if she had a small flag on her desk. Do you see the difference?

I see the difference between lodging a complaint and explicitly stating that you find something offensive.

 

[Smoke]

I see the difference between lodging a complaint and explicitly stating that you find something offensive.

We don't have any idea what the co-worker explicitly stated. What we have is Debbie McLucas' account of what their boss said, and even that isn't a direct quote.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Not even if you work in a small office, the flagpole gets in the way, and you feel it was put there without regard for the people who have to work in that space?

No, I still can't imagine the primary complaint would be that it was "offensive". Offensive is a word that has specific connotations, and people generally use it to communicate them. All these arguments just seem like a stretch to me.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

We don't have any idea what the co-worker explicitly stated. What we have is Debbie McLucas' account of what their boss said, and even that isn't a direct quote.

Then what are we arguing about? Yes, if, in fact, nobody complained that they were "offended", then I would change my opinion on this particular situation. Unfortunately, we can only go on the information available. I can speculate on all sorts of things that people may or may not have done or said, but that isn't very useful in determining an opinion about something.

 

[Smoke]

Then what are we arguing about? Yes, if, in fact, nobody complained that they were "offended", then I would change my opinion on this particular situation. Unfortunately, we can only go on the information available. I can speculate on all sorts of things that people may or may not have done or said, but that isn't very useful in determining an opinion about something.

Exactly. We have nothing to go on in forming an opinion of the co-worker. I formed my opinion of Debbie McLucas based on my impression of her in the interview, my mental picture of her walking into the hospital carrying a 3x5 foot flag on a pole, her overwrought reaction to the incident, and the fact that she took the story to the press without even bothering to talk to her co-worker first.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Sarcasm aside I`m a manager in a corporation that does business.

Just teasing, I have no problem with your approach. As long as the rules are explicit there is usually no problem.

So far most people see this situation and either believe the woman's rights are being trampled or she's trampling someone elses rights. I believe this is a case of really poor management.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Exactly. We have nothing to go on in forming an opinion of the co-worker. I formed my opinion of Debbie McLucas based on my impression of her in the interview, my mental picture of her walking into the hospital carrying a 3x5 foot flag on a pole, her overwrought reaction to the incident, and the fact that she took the story to the press without even bothering to talk to her co-worker first.

Okay, but, in fact, none of this back-and-forth has much of anything to do with my original post you responded to:

"If something as simple as a country's flag offends you so deeply, why would you make it your home? Perhaps a different country would be a more suitable place for you to live."

I still hold this opinion, even if it doesn't apply in this case. Since we apparently can't know much of anything factual about this particular case, then it becomes about a fundamental expression of opinions about this type of situation.

I can't tell whether you agree or disagree with my opinion.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Actually, it doesn't say who placed it on the floor.

Actually, it does.

McLucas said the supervisor who complained has been in the United States for 14 years and is formerly from Africa. McLucas said that supervisor took down the flag herself.

 

[Smoke]

Okay, but, in fact, none of this back-and-forth has much of anything to do with my original post you responded to:

"If something as simple as a country's flag offends you so deeply, why would you make it your home? Perhaps a different country would be a more suitable place for you to live."

I still hold this opinion, even if it doesn't apply in this case. Since we apparently can't know much of anything factual about this particular case, then it becomes about a fundamental expression of opinions about this type of situation.

I can't tell whether you agree or disagree with my opinion.

I agree with your opinion; I'm just convinced it has anything at all to do with this story.

 

[Smoke]

Actually, it does.

Actually, it says that McLucas said her co-worker had taken it down, but the story doesn't quote McLucas. In the interview, McLucas say, "I was told by my immediate boss that the flag had offended several people and that it needed to be removed, and so they had taken it down."

She says she was "completely speechless." There's no indication she had any further conversation with her boss about the matter before going to the press, and she says explicitly that she went to the press without discussing it with the co-worker.

On the other hand, the statement from the company does say that hospital management didn't take it down.

Watching the interview makes me feel very sorry for anybody who has to share an office with this woman. "I was even telling my husband, I'm really just a very ordinary person, that, for whatever reason, got put in this extraordinary situation." Give me a break.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Actually, it says that McLucas said her co-worker had taken it down,

So my statement was actually correct. Look, I know that there has been different versions reported, so what? I accurately portrayed what was posted in the OP from the article. If the article was wrong that's fine but you weren't correcting the article, you were correcting me, saying I had gotten the facts wrong. All I was doing was asking what people would do if they were in the situation outlined in the original OP and I listed that situation correctly according to the OP. If you don't want to play my silly little game that's fine, but why try to make me look like I'm misrepresenting the truth?

 

[blackout]

Just don't ask/expect me to salute it,
wave it, sing songs about it,
or pledge my allegiance to it...
and we're all good.

 

[linwood]

So far most people see this situation and either believe the woman's rights are being trampled or she's trampling someone elses rights. I believe this is a case of really poor management.

I agree .