ok as I said in the first Pumbaa amking firends post I have wierd **** like that happen to me all the time. This is an incident I had happen at work the other day (Sunday 21 Jan 07) . . .
So I'm at work today (working a 48 hour shift) and we got about 4-5 inches of snow. Sometimes I refer to Wisconsin as "The Great White North" and since we got the snow today it seemed very fitting to use that reference today.
We'll since I am working overtime I'm not with my normal crew and one of the guys I work with seemed to take offense at the term "Great White North" and went running to one of the other Lieutents to complain about it.
Just a little back ground info here . . . about 2-3 months ago I offended a balck female on the job by saying "**** Diversity". She didnt seem to understand what I ment by it and didnt bother to stick around to hear me to go on to say "I dont care what color you are, who you ****, who you do or dont pray to, or any of that other bull****. All I want is to work with the best and most qualified, and if that means I have to work with nothing but a bunch of Martians so be it"
OK back to the point . . . We'll the guy who complained to just happens to be very close friends with the female I ofended and wanted to bring me up on charges. About 8 O'clock this evening the other LT comes and lets me know whats going on and says we should all discuss this in the kitchen to see if we can resolve the issue. OK I can play this game, infact I'm getting pretty damn good at it. I tell the other LT I'll be more then ready to discuss this at 9PM. If this time frame suits the guy complaining let me know and it's a go. Well about 10 minutes later I'm informed he doesnt feel comfortable discussing this without a Batalion Chief present. Well surprize surprize the BC on duty today just happens to be very good friends with the offended female from a couple months prior and is also VERY active in the "International Association of Black Professional Firefighters" . . . I tell the other boss thats fine, call the chief down and let me know when everyone is ready.
Well the BC shows up at 9PM and I am called to the kitchen. Most of the shift is sort of hovering around to see the fireworks . . . I dont know if they expect me to explode or if they are waiting to see the complainer and the BC tear me apart. Well things start and the complainer tells his side of the story and how he felt like his role in the fire house and the local community was being disrespected by the phrase "Great White North". The BC then tells me how he will not tolerate racial intolerance in his batalion of any sort and if I dont satisfactorly explain what I ment and then justify why I said it he would make it his passion to see me brought up on charges and convicted of said charges.
I start by telling the complaining fireman and the BC I dont need to explain myself to them, I absolutely refuse to apologize, and that if they feel that I am racially intolerent to bring me up on the charges, but, just to satisfy their desire I'll make an attempt. I walk over to the window and open the blinds. I ask the BC, the other LT, and the comlaining firemen what they see. They respond with a parking lot, airport, street lights, cars, etc. I then ask them "Well what do you see on the parking lot, airport, street lights and cars?" There was a short pause before the BC looked at me puzzeled and asked me what I ment by that. I repeated my question. The BC paused for a moment and looked at me again and said "Snow?"
I stood there and replied "Snow . . . Welcome to The Great White North. I'll sign those charges whenever you have them ready, Thank You" and walked away to the laughter of of the rest of the shift and the other LT
WTF do they find these ****ing morons?
So I'm at work today (working a 48 hour shift) and we got about 4-5 inches of snow. Sometimes I refer to Wisconsin as "The Great White North" and since we got the snow today it seemed very fitting to use that reference today.
We'll since I am working overtime I'm not with my normal crew and one of the guys I work with seemed to take offense at the term "Great White North" and went running to one of the other Lieutents to complain about it.
Just a little back ground info here . . . about 2-3 months ago I offended a balck female on the job by saying "**** Diversity". She didnt seem to understand what I ment by it and didnt bother to stick around to hear me to go on to say "I dont care what color you are, who you ****, who you do or dont pray to, or any of that other bull****. All I want is to work with the best and most qualified, and if that means I have to work with nothing but a bunch of Martians so be it"
OK back to the point . . . We'll the guy who complained to just happens to be very close friends with the female I ofended and wanted to bring me up on charges. About 8 O'clock this evening the other LT comes and lets me know whats going on and says we should all discuss this in the kitchen to see if we can resolve the issue. OK I can play this game, infact I'm getting pretty damn good at it. I tell the other LT I'll be more then ready to discuss this at 9PM. If this time frame suits the guy complaining let me know and it's a go. Well about 10 minutes later I'm informed he doesnt feel comfortable discussing this without a Batalion Chief present. Well surprize surprize the BC on duty today just happens to be very good friends with the offended female from a couple months prior and is also VERY active in the "International Association of Black Professional Firefighters" . . . I tell the other boss thats fine, call the chief down and let me know when everyone is ready.
Well the BC shows up at 9PM and I am called to the kitchen. Most of the shift is sort of hovering around to see the fireworks . . . I dont know if they expect me to explode or if they are waiting to see the complainer and the BC tear me apart. Well things start and the complainer tells his side of the story and how he felt like his role in the fire house and the local community was being disrespected by the phrase "Great White North". The BC then tells me how he will not tolerate racial intolerance in his batalion of any sort and if I dont satisfactorly explain what I ment and then justify why I said it he would make it his passion to see me brought up on charges and convicted of said charges.
I start by telling the complaining fireman and the BC I dont need to explain myself to them, I absolutely refuse to apologize, and that if they feel that I am racially intolerent to bring me up on the charges, but, just to satisfy their desire I'll make an attempt. I walk over to the window and open the blinds. I ask the BC, the other LT, and the comlaining firemen what they see. They respond with a parking lot, airport, street lights, cars, etc. I then ask them "Well what do you see on the parking lot, airport, street lights and cars?" There was a short pause before the BC looked at me puzzeled and asked me what I ment by that. I repeated my question. The BC paused for a moment and looked at me again and said "Snow?"
I stood there and replied "Snow . . . Welcome to The Great White North. I'll sign those charges whenever you have them ready, Thank You" and walked away to the laughter of of the rest of the shift and the other LT
WTF do they find these ****ing morons?