Who here has been suspended?

Geez I worked in Animal House compared to some of you guys... for better or worse.

I've seen blatant sexual harassment go unpunished, screaming matches, f-bombs flying on deadline, publishers cursed out loud and in front of editors who couldn't bring themselves to disagree, nerf footballs thrown around by guys off deadline (directly over the cubicles of guys on deadline). Nothing sacred. Good times.

 

Sounds a little like my last paper.

We had an city editor, who was later ME, who would just throw herself at some of the staffers and try to get them to take her home. Which would be good except she looked like Joey's agent on Friends.

The former ME was allegedly having a fling with said city editor and one night when he was wasted at the bar shouted out they'd already had sex once that day.

We used to toss a football around after deadline, but we never bothered anyone who was working.

I've seen plenty of sexual harrasment go unpunished, from both genders.

I"ve never been suspended, or gotten close to it really. But I've thrown a few f-bombs at people, one of which quieted an entire newsroom. Never had a word said about it, and it just kind of blew over.

Papers with tension seem to be more fun to me. At least as an observer.

 

But I was representing the paper and apparently not doing it in a proper manner by having the nerve of using naughty language after getting hit in the face with a drink.

A writer from my competing paper had to drag me into the press room.

When I went in to be disciplined, I sat there silently, signed some form that went in my folder and walked out of the building without saying a word to my SE, who totally had my back.

He called me the next day and said, "How come you didn't say anything?"

I said, "If I opened my mouth, I probably would have quit."

 

Everyone ought to be severely reprimanded at least once. It's good life experience.

 

It is. I have a friend in the biz who was busted for something really bad and through the grace of God kept his job. It made him a better person and a better reporter.

But if you don't deserve the suspension, it just pisses you off. Both times I had to take "unpaid vacation" I had people calling me over and over telling me what bullshit it was.

It didn't help.

 

If you go after a guy while you're working, you probably deserve to be suspended. I know some guy threw a drink, but getting into it with someone at a game and it just looks bad.

 

In case some missed the point -- editors and publishers absolutely have the write to edit or even kill stories as they see fit. Only governments can "censor" stories.

 

OK, I'll hit you in the face with a full cup of soda with ice and expect you to just walk away.

Yes, it looked bad. There was hardly anything ideal about the situation.

 

I wouldn't have walked away. Fuck that. Nobody deserves to get that, especially not anyone working for chicken feed in print journalism.

 

I don't blame you, Mizzou. It's hard not to man up in a situation like that, but the smart thing to do would have been to have security haul him away.

 

I regretted it. Nobody wants to be in front of their peers screaming "FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" as they're trying to go to the press room for halftime.

Sometimes you lose your temper and it's not entirely your fault.

 

I agree that the guy's action is not excusable and merited punishment. But I also feel that the punishment was ridiculously disproportionate.

Here's what happened. The context for the whole thing is that Dude was very into the whole gay pickup/cruising scene and was in the habit of finding sex partners from public encounters. Dude's in the Target, sees a cute younger guy and makes eye contact. He thinks that the younger guy is giving him a "Come and get it, Tiger," kind of look. So Dude goes over and- swish- brushes the young guy's ass with his hand as he walks by. The guy freaks, calls security, who call cops. Dude enjoys the next week in the County Jail. Eventually he gets family to post the immense bail and is out, but awaiting trial.

Turns out later the young guy that Dude thought was a horny twink actually has Asperger Syndrome, which can make one's social behaviors a little odd or inappropriate. Whether that was a factor in the apparent confusion about the eye contact, who knows.

So, Dude gets an expensive lawyer but it doesn't keep him out of jail. State of Washington charges him with "indecent liberties," a felony. The event was preserved on the Target's security video, so there's no weaseling out of it. Lawyer advises him to plea out, since there's no chance he'll be found innocent and he might get the full penalty- five years- if he goes to trial. So Dude pleas out, gets a year as the honored guest of the State of Washington's prisons.

He just got out. But now Dude's a convicted felon and his career is ruined. He's on probation of course, which involves mandatory counseling, individual and group, that he has to pay for. Piss testing weekly, including testing for alcohol, as he'd been drinking when he felt the ass. So now he can't drink and will go back to prison if it's discovered that he buys or drinks alcohol. Can't leave King County. Has to register as a sex offender. And so on.

Many morals to this story, but one that stands out to me is that pickup scenes and anonymous sex are dangerous in many ways, not just because of disease. If one gets into the habit of taking liberties with strangers- homo, hetero, whatever- there are many ways that things can go very wrong, very quickly.