It may have come from a routine on the old Keenan and Kel show. It was one of our lovely daughter's favorite shows when she was growing up. It was a pretty funny
Posted on 10/07/2017 2:14:34 PM PDT by TigerClaws
DETROIT (WJBK) - Fired before he officially started.
Last Monday, 41-year-old Robert Pattison went to introduce himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield in Detroit.
Second Battallion Chief Shawn McCarty calls it a tradition for firefighters.
by Taboola Sponsored Links Ad Content U.S. Trust: The Growth of Wind Power & Its Economic Affects From U.S. Trust The States Most Affected by Rising Sea Levels Zillow "It's not mandatory, it's voluntary," he said. "You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in."
photo And Pattison, a probationary firefighter, decided to bring a watermelon wrapped in a pink ribbon.
We're told some African-American firefighters were instantly offended since 90 percent of the people who work at Engine 55 are black.
"When you get your first detail at a firehouse you pretty much know what you are getting yourself into," said Patrick Trout. "So you would have to say it was probably a bad call."
FOX 2: "Is it racially insensitive to bring a watermelon into a fire house?"
"To some people," McCarty said.
FOX 2 spoke to Pattison by phone who claims it was not a joke - and he did not mean to offend his fellow firefighters. But he clearly did.
Fire Commissioner Eric Jones says the Fenton native was officially discharged.
In a statement Jones says: "There is zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department.
"After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the best course of action was to terminate the employment of this probationary employee."
In a world where racial tensions run high, some tell me the trial firefighter should have known better. Trout doesn't know if he meant anything by it - but feels it was a bad choice.
"For sure by far it was,"
The question is did DFD take it too far?
FOX 2: "Should he have lost his job over a watermelon?"
"I don't think so," McCarty said. "Between what he did and what was there are a few things that could have been done."
These people will never let this BS go.
Its too handy a bludgeon for the protected classes.
We’re all supposed to get beyond race, except them.
Looks like insanity rules. Watermelon is a great snack and healthier than donuts.
We eat a lot of watermelon, love it.
Your comment about Blacks getting orange drinks actually can be considered offensive and racist to the ultra sensitive. You see President Donald J. Trump’s hair color is orange and his detractors refer to him as Cheetos or something else orange in a derogatory manner.
Well that sure lasted a whole 12 hours or so...
Tear down those watermelons!!!
Now I see how hurtful Glenn Beck was when he put on the orangeface.
True story: many years ago, someone in the office where I was working decided to make a "milkshake run" during a particularly tiresome day. The "someone" happened to be a black woman. When she came to ask me what flavor, I said "vanilla", because that just so happened to be the milkshake flavor I like. She just about fell on the floor laughing. "What's a white girl like you doin', drinkin' a VANILLA milkshake?!" she hooted. I was dumbfounded. But, apparently -- as I learned that day -- black people drink vanilla, white people drink chocolate. And THAT'S the way it is.
I remember it as a "teachable moment" in my life, but maybe not for the reasons she thinks. /sarc
p.s. we can only imagine if the tables were turned and I was the one laughing at a black co-worker who had the audacity to choose a chocolate milkshake.
Good grief - just the kind of firefighters I want coming to help me. “Why do I have to go in the burning building first?....it’s because I’m black, isn’t it?”
And how exactly is bringing a watermelon to work discriminatory?
Is fried Chicken out too?
At this rate, in a decade or two we will only speak to those closest to us and avoid strangers for fear of their imagined “offense” at a word, look, gesture, tone or the color of our shirt.
Truly we live in the age of the Crybully Snowflakes.
I tried to avoid this thread because of the Detroit FD stupidly, but I can’t...
I, my wife and our black relatives like fried chicken, collard greens, potato salad, corn bread and WATERMELON.
Thanks for listening.
5.56mm
This is easy to figure out. They wanted another black firefighter to be hired instead of a token white guy, so they found a way to make it about race.
Nobody cared, they just wanted another brother.
I wouldn’t want to work there. What a bunch of pussies complaining about delicious watermelon.
Does this mean I was supposed to get triggered and offended whenever someone brought bagels to work? My Dr told me I should eat more watermelon, it may help me lose some weight.
Hair triggered, actually. Watermelon is now in the same category as a banana peal or an errant shoe lace.
When there’s a black worker at Chipotle and they ask which rice I want, I feel like instead of “white,” I should answer, “Umm, the one that’s not brown?” ;)
White people, males in particular, need to not be afraid to sue. More whites must sue to force the system to treat them equally.
This is scary because like in Mao's Chine one can make up any kind of excuse to fire somebody. "You brought oatmeal cookies, you are fired." "You drank Cool Aid, you pose a danger." Etc.
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