Brookstone can have my business, too

I love silly persecution stories. This one I find via World Net Daily. Apparently a man was ejected from his job with Brookstone for telling a gay co-worker how wrong it is to be gay.

Peter Vadala was fired, and the company says he violated a tolerance policy. But Vadala reports his dismissal came because he expressed his Christian view of homosexuality after a female manager made repeated references, as she approached him four times during work hours, to her plans to marry her lesbian partner.

“At the start of the day, she told me she was getting married. I told her ‘Congratulations,’ and asked, ‘Where’s he taking you on your honeymoon?’” Vadala said.

“She replied that her partner was a ‘she,’” he continued, “So I immediately tried to change the subject.

“I think she knew I was uncomfortable talking about it,” he continued. “But, she brought it up to me three more times during the day.

Girls tend to do that when they’re getting married, so I gather. Rather than try to change the subject, Vadala could have asked her about the honeymoon destination, if it was going to be a large service or elopement, and be cordial and politely interested for a few moments before wandering off. What did he do instead?

“After the fourth time she told me about her plan to marry her partner, I told her, ‘I think homosexuality is bad stuff,’” Vadala said.

“That’s what I said. I wasn’t rude about it and I didn’t act disrespectfully to her,” he said. “All the woman said to me as she left the store was, ‘Human Resources buddy. You keep your opinions to yourself!’”

As well he should have, whether this is precisely how the woman responded or not. His opinion of her lifestyle doesn’t need mentioning while on the job. He and his homophobic cronies can gather at the local brew pub after work to rail against the hell society is becoming instead.

Vadala said when he was hired he went through the company’s training program, including a requirement to watch a video.

“In the video, there was a homosexual man who said he overheard two workers talking. One man in the outsourced video tells the other, ‘If a homosexual man hits on me, he better watch out.’

“The homosexual man in the video said he was offended, but I’m not allowed to be offended by a homosexual … I was told that since homosexual marriage is supposedly legal in Massachusetts, that I was wrong for being offended,” Vadala said.

He’s not wrong for being offended. He’s an ass for being offended, but he’s not “wrong” per se. His co-worker has no control over what’ll offend this guy. Purple socks worn with khakis might offend this guy. Who knows? That said, there’s a difference between a lesbian cooing over wedding plans and him possibly getting hit on by a gay guy. Being offended isn’t a nice response in that case either, which was the point of the video, probably. Not just homophobia, but the possibility of violent reaction toward homosexuals. Nobody deserves to be assaulted because of their sexual preferences.

A Brookstone human resources staffer called a few days after the incident and Vadala said he told the caller he wanted to resolve the matter.

“I spoke to (the human resources staff member) and I wanted to resolve it. I said that for his sake, the matter needed be resolved because this manager will be around customers who, chances are, will be offended by the types of things she is saying,” Vadala said

But during the course of the conversation Vadala said it became clear the call wasn’t about resolving the issue.

Maybe she shouldn’t be shouting all over the store about her upcoming wedding, but it’s what excited women do. She’s happy. If customers have a problem when they realize they’re in the vicinity of a “lesbo” that’s their problem, not hers. And if they want to take it up with management, hahaa, joke’s on them. She’s management. Obviously Human Resources has no issue with her. He should have offered to apologize to her, not tell HR that she should watch her mouth around customers. Numbskull. Cabbage head. Doofus.

The rest becomes a bit of He Said/She Said stuff with Vadala claiming the HR department’s putting words in his mouth and he’s claiming he’s been wrongfully dismissed.

McGrath refused WND’s request to comment on the dispute. Instead she suggested Brookstone’s legal department be contacted. That department did not respond.

When contacted about the firing, store manager Katelyn Woodard said, “You need to speak to human resources about this and if you call this number again, I’ll file harassment charges.”

Vadala said it’s clear to him he was fired for his faith.

“Absolutely,” he confirmed.

Because his faith lets him wander around believing it’s okay to insult gays and lesbians by claiming their lifestyles are “wrong” no matter what the situation. Had he just kept his mouth shut, he’d still have a job. If he didn’t like having a gay manager, he could have perhaps requested shifts where he wouldn’t see her, or switch locations, or switch jobs entirely. He’s the one who chose to make a value judgment during work hours about how she leads her life, and HR was right to give him the boot since it appears he never had any intention of apologizing or admitting to any wrongdoing. As far as he’s concerned, he did nothing wrong.

Ass.

On a lighter note, I was amused to discover Sir Ian McKellen’s delightful solution to bibles in hotel rooms – rip out any offensive pages that include verses like Leviticus 18:22. It never would have occurred to me to do that. I’d never willingly deface a book, no matter what trash is written in it.

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edit Nov. 7 2009: Just noticed I had the verse wrong. I had 18:12 in there before. Ah well, they’re both awful and both in the same chapter so probably both on the same page. It all works out in the end.