It’s getting increasingly easy to subscribe to the feeling that people nowadays can find a reason to be offended by pretty much everything.
While it may be a stretch to label this generation the “snowflake” generation – as some have done – there is a definite sense of change enveloping the world at the moment.While in some cases that’s a good thing – I mean, there are things that used to be accepted as the norm that have no place in modern society – there are other instances where one can’t help but get the feeling that we’re going a little too far with our need to police one another.
One liquor store in Oklahoma found themselves at this very crossroads after they put up a sign that generated backlash …
While we all want to live in a world where prejudice, hate and bullying have no place, I think we can all agree there’s a difference between stamping out genuinely offensive things, and pretending to be offended to generate some sort of drama.
These days it’s fairly common for people to end up ‘outed’ on the internet for something they’ve said or done. Becoming the controversial center-piece of an online storm really is just a few clicks away …
One liquor store in Oklahoma, Midwest Wine, and Spirits, found this out after putting a sign up in their shop window that read: “Pull your pants up or don’t come in.”
The sign further read: “Try to have some decency and respect for others. No one wants to see your underwear.”
Not that offensive on the face of it, right? I mean, they’re not directly attacking any specific group or discriminating based on political or religious views or anything like that.
Even so, a number of people were clearly angered by the sign, as well as the notion that the store thought they had the right to tell people what they could and could not wear.
It wasn’t long before the sign was uploaded to the internet, where online denizens could continue the debate at large. And continue it they did.
As per reports, the debacle quickly went viral. One of the store’s managers, Chad Gilbert, defended the sign, saying: “I realize wearing pants low is a fashion statement for some, but it doesn’t work for me and I find it somewhat offensive.”
An employee at the store added: “Usually, when people come in with their pants sagging, it’s easier for them to steal bottles.”
A local customer of the store, Sunshine Weatherby, commented: “I can see that if it was like a church. There are families there, you might have a problem with that, but this is a liquor store. I’ve seen worse at a liquor store.”
