i've been following this thread at another site & wanted to get the opinions of my fellow posters here. this woman got a job & was fired the same day for her "political bumper stickers". in theory, i don't think that's right, however, after reading the whole story, i think i agree with the employeer in this case. here is her story:

I consider this post to be about a conspiracy, against me, and my politics. Also, I simply cannot believe what happened to me is legal, or could happen in the USA. Yes, I was Fired from my brand new job today, because of my bumperstickers, this is not a joke.

I was hired Thursday at the daycare, and began this morning, Monday, at 8 a.m. Got there early, filled out paperwork, was given the passcode to the doors, and was told who I would be training with. "Jenny" and I worked in the toddler room, and after we got them down for nap, I went to lunch, then, Jenny went to lunch. When Jenny came back, this fat redheaded girl peeks her head in my door, and crooks her finger, and said, come here.

So, I do, and Redhead says,

"The staff are all gossiping about your bumperstickers."

"So, I am , "Why?"

Redhead asks me what "Goop" means.

I said, "Its GOP, which stands for Grand Old Party". She had no idea what I meant. So, as the bumpersticker says, GOP=Gay Old Pedophiles, I explained the political joke to her.

Redhead says, Well it says gay pediphile, and I have my son in this daycare..."

To which I repeated, well, its just a joke.

I thought that was the end of it, until Redhead shouts at a coworker across the hall for me to explain it to her.

Finally, I go sit back by the cribs, as it is still naptime.

No sooner than had I sat down, then here comes my boss, the owner of the daycare, who had parked next to my car Thursday before she interviewed me, and from the door, she says,

"I wont be able to use you." To which I say, gobsmacked, "WHY??"

"Because of your bumperstickers."

I was told to leave immediately, and a full days pay will be sent to me.

I am in shock that I was fired for my bumperstickers. I want to discuss the conspiracy against me as a liberal, I reckon. The GOP bumpersticker is on the top of my trunk hiding a rust spot. I was parked in the middle of three rows of employee parking BEHIND the building, and the only way the GOP bumper sticker could be seen is by someone standing over my trunk. The employee parking lot is where people smoke(I dont).

Like I said, I am in shock and wondering if this has happened to anyone else before, and is it not a violation of my civil rights? What does bumperstickers have to do with my job performance? Was I targeted because I dared to flaunt my political ideals from my bumper?

I told the owner I could remove them, or cover them up,and I could drive my sisters car, but she said she was sorry, I had to go.

I will answer any questions anyone has, and here is the link to my pictures of my car and the bumperstickers. The pics are too big to post here, I think. Thanks for anyone who reads my story, I cannot believe I was fired for my political bumperstickers.

Only in America.

here are her bumperstickers:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k48/cory...mperst_1786.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k48/cory...mperst_1788.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k48/cory...mperst_1789.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k48/cory...mperst_1795.jpg

i believe in freedom of speech as much as the next guy. i actually think her bumperstickers are pretty funny, however, i think she is a frickin' idiot for thinking she could have stickers joking about pedophiles on her car when she works at a DAYCARE CENTER. my god, come on now. how much more tasteless can you be.

the replies seem about 50/50 in the other discussion. what do ya'll think ?? ?? ??

here is the link to the post over at the other site, if anyone wants to read the comments there:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread354911/pg1

Might get a thump'n for this but I believe that she got what she deserved. This hate and attack the other party trend has to stop. To say Grand Old Pedophiles = GOP is a twisted hateful slogan and would you like to be called a pedophile? I just ranted on the "subliminal message Fox news" thread about these same kind of things. Childish, ignorant, demoralizing, hypocritical nonsense this is and anyone who goes below the belt to attack anyone with opposing view should be shown to the door.

Even if it said Grand Old Potheads it is still bashing and chasing away customers.
She should have been asked to remove them if she wished to keep working there, or if there had already been complaints and they would still recognize her car, then told to use a different car as well or be fired.

Freedom of speech does not mean the right to put your employer out of of business.

i agree with you in theory but for different reasons. i think she got what she deserved too. i couldn't care less about her political beliefs though. i just can't believe ANYONE wouldn't see the problem with mixing pedophile jokes & children. there are just certain things that aren't done & that's one of them. maybe anywhere else besides a daycare center & it wouldn't have been as big of a deal.

^ ^ ^ true

Tough one here because poor taste should also be protected free speech. ( And it is when it comes to not being criminal )

But I think an employee / employer situation is different. I'm sure she had to sign paperwork acknowledging the rules for which she was to follow. Most companies have rules which pertain to the public things like this. Things which although are legal, cause cause detriment to the company and hurt their credibility. And thus, are againt company rules.

She should look at her employee manual and see if she was fired for breaking a rule which she knew to be in existence.

OK...pedophile and daycare just don't go together...so I understand the discharge. Joke, Freedom of Speech, many people and parents aren't gonna see it that way.

Exactly..If I took my child to their daycare and saw this sticker, belonging to a teacher I would have a hissy fit and see the Director right away...I can see them discharging her, it was either that or guaranteed parents would be pulling their kids out of the school...

thank you - this is exactly what i'm saying. it's just insane to me that she can't see the problem. OMG - what a fool.

it's her right to have what she wants on her car. nor should one be fired for ones' political views. As for the GOP ( Gay Old Pedophile) if you can't understand what that refers too you shouldn't be allowed to vote. If you can't see that is the sarcasm of the GOP and it's values as so many seem to be busted for pedophilia ...............

no she should not have been fired because some are too think to get it.

now does the employer have a rule about political bumper stickers? if not she was within her rights.

Has he lost business ? can he prove he has ??? or is that an assumption ?

are there cars with anti dem stickers ? are they acceptable ?

I think this is more of a problem for republicans than anything else.

Dont get me wrong, I vote democrate but it seems that liberals are the ones always attacking anything and everything that has anything to do with republicans. I do not see republicans consistantly resorting to this B.S. If democrates would have kept their childish tantrums to themselves I believe that our nation would be in a better place and be ran by Democrates. Some people are so turned off by this childishness that they automatically will vote for the other side.

ummm - i think everyone "gets-it". it is true & it is funny. that's not the point though. the point is - how classless does someone have to be to have crap like that on their car at a daycare center!!! it just doesn't get anymore stupid & tasteless than that. it's rediculous to think it wouldn't cause a problem. in most states, you can get fired for anything/nothing. this idiot deserved to be fired & hopefully she learned a valuable life lesson in the process. this isn't about rights, it's about common sense & being a responsible human being. in particular, when it comes to the child abuse.

I'm a firm supporter of private business owners being able to fire or hire anyone they want.

Also... freedom of speech does not mean you can say (or display) anything you want to and not have consequences. It means the govt. can't arrest you for saying something they don't like.

She has the freedom to display her bumper sticker. The business owner has the freedom to fire her.

No, actually it is not true.
The largest pedophile organization in the USA, NAMBLA, is clearly among the Democrats in events and is protected by the ACLU, even when children are used for sex and murdered.

i mean it's true that it's funny & it's a joke. i get the humor of it. it's just the wrong place & wrong time for it.

OK, I'm from the UK and not aware of the GOP thing, so I apologise for being ignorant on that part.

For me, just the line of work she is in and the sarcastic statement in the bumper sticker is cause for the employer to say something. I don't think she should have been fired over it, just given the option of removing it. I don't think the issue here is freedom of speech...had a parent of one of the children seen it and taken offence then I don't think the lady would have had the opportunity to explain her reasons for having the bumper sticker (again, I dont know anything about it..I will look it up.) before the offended parent could kick up a fuss.

I am aware that the lady probably didn't see why it would cause offence as its from what I can tell not a 'support sticker' in favour of Gay Old Paedophiles, so I think firing her was a little hasty.

That said, I have quite a few 'rock' tshirts that could cause offence and I wouldn't wear them to take my kids to school its just common sense and decency.

It's the republican party in politics. I guess it's referring to the flordia guy who had sex with his 16 year old male aid.



She shouldn't have been fired, it's her car and it's her right to say those things. It's just stupid. If anything she should sue now for wrongful termination.

Is it the word Gay or the word Pedophile that has everyone in arms ?? should those words be illegal to say or state in a child care area ? Do those words scare you ? or is it fear that the woman who has that sticker might be seen as a gay pedophile ? ( that's just laughable)

How does that sticker affect the care of those kids ? is she capable ? Other than political , why should it bother anyone ? Or is it the words themselves are causing and uncalled for paranoid reaction ?

and by the way - pedophilia should be on the minds of those parents and workers and owner. not sushed away. ( while the equating of gay and pedophile however doesn't speak to facts since most pedophiles are straight men. but that's another matter)


what if someone had this on their car while working there ? acceptable ?

Click to view attachment

or



I've seen them both - Worse I think for kids since it pushes violence. But it's a joke right ? no one would take it seriously right ?

Freedom of speech can not go too far.

lol XD I like that first one.And my mom has been looking for the coexist one.Bumperstickers tell alot about a person.Safer than going onto myspace.

freedom of speech isn't the problem here..its the freedom to be offended over something as silly as a bumper sticker.

you are WRONG. you probably don't have kids, therefore you don't understand.




i don't think freedom of speech is the problem here either. the girl that this is about thinks it is though - she is an idiot. if you think someone being offended by pedophile jokes at a daycare center is silly - something is wrong with you too. you probably don't have kids, therefore you don't understand either.

Someone has already summed it up - Gay old pedophiles is hardly the type of thing a parent wants to see when they're dropping their children off at daycare. Personally, since she was hired by a day care, it was in poor taste, considering the type of job it was.
That said - someone else also mentioned she should've been given the opportunity to remove the bumpersticker. I agree with that. Had she refused - then I, too, would've had her removed as an employee.

Pedophiles and daycares - that is no joke.

Yeah I couldn't possibly comprehend this issue because I don't have children. Right.

Contrary to what some people may believe the fact that you have children does not make your opinion any more valid than my own or anyone else's.

i am a father of a 6yr old little girl and i couldnt disagree more,just because we have kids dosnt mean we can tell the rest of the world what is funny or what crosses the line...there should be nothing that we as adults cant joke about ..when adults talk about adult things children shouldnt be around anyway.(kids arnt reading the bumper sticker and if they could they wouldnt understand it,,,,from the sounds of it the un-educated adults didnt understand it either)...she should never be fired for a bumper sticker on her car,not like she wore a shirt with the slogan into the place of bussiness..but the owner has the right to fire anyone he/she wants to and i support that also...

people are so worrid about being p.c. they forget how to laugh,the also forget that laughing can ease the pain of almost anything,,,givin enough time.

wrong again. the fact that i have children & you do not does make opinion more valid when it comes to the subjects concerning children. sorry, but it does. you have no idea the physical, mental & emotional effort that raising children requires, therefore, you don't see the "big picture" when it comes to things like this. maybe one day you will. there is NO circumstance that would make crap like that OK at a daycare center. you & your friends may think that pedophile & child molestation jokes are funny. apparently, nobody at the daycare center did though & that fool got what she deserved. you & several others on this message board just don't get it. i don't hold it against you though buddy. it is a grown-up subject & i wouldn't expect kids to totally understand

Having children doesn't give you the authority to act as 'moral police' for the rest of society.

Also some may argue that your experience with children clouds your judgment in the matter.

congrats on being a father "rudeboy". fatherhood is a wonderful thing. i'm not trying to tell anybody what's funny or not. i personall think that bumpersticker is very funny (as i have stated berfore). that's not the point. obviously, the children aren't reading it & as you stated, they wouldn't understand it anyway. i think you are in the minority if you say that if you went to your daughter's daycare center & an employee's car was proudly parked there displaying bumperstickers with foul language & references to gays, as well as, child molesters, that it wouldn't bother you. come on now . as a father, you
have to understand that. that girl showed her immaturity & her total disrespect for her employer. this place of business would have lost customers/clients left & right with car parked there. you have to question the ethics, mental capacity & plain common sense of this person. i have 22 people who work for me & none of them would ever be dense enough to think something like this is OK.

What's wrong with children being introduced to the concept of homosexuality?

i'm not the moral police for anyone, except myself & my children. that's what adults do. your parents should be policing your morals because i don't think you're mature enough to do it yourself yet. somewhere along the line here, you seem to have gotten the idea that i give a damn about you or the other kids on this message board &/or what ya'll do. i DO NOT. i remember what it was like to be young & have the "screw the man" attitude, not caring what the establishment thinks, saying & doing whatever i want to. those are good times, however you have to grow up sometime. youhave to take responsibility for your actions. this girl didn't & reality bit her in the a$$. my whole point of this thread was agreeing with the daycare center for firing that idiot. i'll bet she learned a lesson & will be taking those bumperstickers off of her car. now that she has to be a responsible member of society & she has seen 1st hand where that kind of attitude gets you, she will take a personal inventory, learn from it & move on. you could learn from this too.

She has every right to say what she wants. She is given that right as a citizen. She is also resposnsible for the results of her words. (In this case a bumpersticker). She has the legal right to stand on the streetcorner and talk about her dislike of the GOP. She can apply for permits and hold rallys and demonstrations. She however cannot drag other people into the discussion without their consent...

There are limits to the freedom of speech in that you are held responsible for the rammifications of your words. You have the freedom of speech to tell a lie, however, if that lie causes damages for another person, then that person has the ability to persue legal action against you, and you will pay. You have the freedom of speech to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, but you will be held legally responsible for the injuries that result as people try to escape. It is not the words themselves, it is the results of the words that are the issue.

In this case, that bumper sticker created a HUGE liability for the daycare. Any parent driving into the lot seeing a worker with a bumper sticker with those words on it would instantly raise red flags and get police involved, get kids taken out of the daycare to never come back, ruin business...it would have a negative impact on the business. Again, this lady has every right to speak out against the GOP, but when she involves someone else without their consent(in a very big way in this case), all bets are off.

dude - try to keep up here. we're NOT talking about the children. we're talking about the children's parents & how they would feel about having that type of material at their kids daycare center. geez

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ fluffy bunny gets it ! ! !

i said the owner had a right to fire her,and i stand behind her right,but i think people are way to uptight and are almost looking for reasons to be offended now adays...

back in my damn the man phase,i knew everytime a cop wrote me ticket with a smile on his face it was because of my "BAD COP NO DOGHNUT" sticker on my rear window,,i knew it was funny but i also knew i would never got out of any ticket again with that sticker,haha....i dont agree she should have been fired like i said it wasnt something she wore into the daycare..
if the bumoer sticker would have said

"i kill babies for fun and profit"
killjoys abortion clinic
or
"i went to get a abortion and all i got
was this lousy bumper sticker"

would those be reasons to fire her,,crude sence of humor dosnt mean she wouldnt be a good child care provider,,and if she was parked in the back where only fellow employees could see the sticker then her bussiness wouldnt be affected..where do you draw the line,,im just giving food for thought..i havent found anything that truley offends me in the realm of humor and i wouldnt let it be the reason to trust or not trust someone with my child,,,im sure 100% of real child molesters wouldnt have a joke bumper stricker about it..no matter the refrence...


the bigger reaction to harsh or crude words the more power you give it. treat a ignorent comment like what it is something to be ignored or laugh at,, nothing to get all fired up about....

how long do you think you would keep your job at a recruiting office with anti-military/anti-war bumperstickers on your car? or how about at a mental health care facility with reetard joke bumperstickers on your car? it's a matter of common courtesy, common decency & common sense. some people obviously have none of those .

im not saying its not in poor taste,,im just saying everthing cant be so offensive or over the line..i think we as a people should learn to relax and stop impowering these things...and hope i dont offend anyone but i find most people that get easily offended are the soccer mom typ that have limited contact with other adults and have no excitment in their lives and need to find something to fight for...they need to be offended to have something to talk about..

for example,
yesterday we were at the park taking t-ball team photos,there were 2 teenage boys al ready at the park eating lunch..now they were just being boys dropping the f bomb and talking harsh to each other just clowning around..not so loud that we could hear every word but sometimes loud enough to hear if you were paying attention to them..one mother found it nessary to go tell them they should leave because kids were present and they should take their behaivor somewhere else,the kids left with no argument,,but when she came back to the crowd of super moms you would have thought it was the worst thing she ever experinced and all the mom fell into it just couldnt believe kids would act like that,,,even tho it didnt bother any of them until one of them decided it was wrong then they all were worried..not one of the younger kids even looked twice at the teenagers...now before she went to the group of moms she stopped by me and another father wanting to know our opinion on her actions and we said they wernt bothering anyone...so she went streight to the hens nest getting them all sturred up..

Oh because a GOP bumper sticker is going to scare these children for life right? When would a child even see this? Do the teachers let these children just run widely around the staff parking lot?


Your right I don't have any children but I do look after my cousins and was once a lil baby myself. I knew what a pedophile was when I was five because the principle at are gradeschool was outed and also experienced a lot of other adult things at a very young age...and I turned out well enough.

Somebody lost their job over a bumper sticker...more precisely, someone lost their job because over a bumper sticker that someone became a little offended over and then made a big deal about it.

I don't care that she was offended or not, I care that she made a big deal about it. It just seems that people's feelings are more important then freedom of expression these days.

Pfft! So she had a bumper sticker.. what about the fat redhead? Isn't that as influential as the bumper sticker? Telling the kids, even the ones who can't read "Eat all you want!" (mind you I'm a pretty big girl myself and have NOTHING AT ALL against anyone because of their weight, but if they can use a bumper sticker as bases, why not that?) It doesn't end there, it starts there and gets worse and worse.. I have one that compares the Chinese to roaches... I work at a grill that serves a lot of Chinese business men. People know its a joke. Though personally... I wouldn't want to work in a place with THAT much gossip, prolly a good idea she got out while she did. What state was it? If she only worked one day she doesn't have to put it on future applications in some states.

I am offended that you view fat people as bad influences and therefore you should be banned from the forums.

hehe

look she has the right to her belifs, but the bottom line is she had offensive material on her car and it looked bad as her being a representative of that day care center.


u forgot about the sticker that said asses on it, im sure that caught the eyes of parents before they started questioning the rest of her bumperstickers.

I'm sorry it was stupid of me to think you would start a discussion on a message board to give other members a chance to express their opinions.


It has nothing to do with 'sticking it to the man', it's to do with a person being able to express themselves without facing persecution for doing so. Yeah I may be young, but why should that make my opinion any less valid? If that's the only way you seem to be able to discredit my argument; I think that says a lot about the strength of your own argument.


I still don't see what your gripe with a reference homosexuality is. I don't see why a parent would (or even could) find this to be unacceptable.


I can see what your saying but the problem is words like 'offensive' and 'inappropriate' are all very subjective terms, as this thread has proven there is very rarely a consensus on what can be considered 'offensive'.

Wouldn't it be ironic if a parent of this daycare came forth and said that they found it offensive that this person was fired?

Just like political correctness. Was it bad taste? No clue. Does she have a right to have it on her car? Yes, Its her car. Does the daycare have a right to fire her? No idea, that sounds like a job for a Judge and jury in a civil action to decide. IMO. I say its her choice. But like everything in the world people over react to the smallest things.

I really have a dislike for this, because its not necessarily chasing away customers, I doubt many of them are going to care because most of them might not even think that its a workers car for starters, this comes back to my theory of people being to damned offended about stupid things these days, unless its directed at you e.g someone calling you a pedophile then you shouldn't care, its not your car, you don't have to look at it if you don't want to...perfect example of why I hate socializing with people...

while I don't agree with her bumper stickers and they make her look like a hippie, I have no problem with them being out on her car, freedom of speech.

I've read it and I understand why did the owner fired her. I mean, it's her right to put whatever bumperstickers she has, but putting that one about GOP (of which I don't know much about since I live in this corner of the world) or "May the Embryo You Save Grow Up to be Gay and Proud" to a daycare center is just bad taste.
If I had been the owner of the place I would have asked her to remove those two bumperstickers if she wanted to continue working there and giving her a day to do it, otherwise she would get fired. I think the decision of the owner was too hasty, but I understand why he did it.
This isn't about PC or nothing like that. It's about good taste.