Alright, I've got a head-scratcher for you all. Whilst working at my seasonal retail job earlier this week, I found myself with a brief moment where I had nothing to do, there being no customers in my area and all of the ties already having been sorted. To pass the moment, I decided to try and improve my frankly awful penmanship by writing down random phrases on a piece of printer paper I happened to have on hand, but after a few minutes I found a job to do and moved on.
Today, however, I was approached by one of my immediate superiors, who asked to speak with me about something. While I had conjured any number of uncomfortable possible reasons for me to be fired on the way up to the office, it turns out that she actually wanted to discuss the sheet of paper I had written on, since I had forgotten to throw it away and left it to be found by a co-worker.
Now here is where things get strange. My expectation, at this point, was that I was being asked to not scribble random things during work again on the grounds that I should have found some other busy work to do and should not have been distracted. That would be entirely understandable, of course. But actually, my superior told me that she did not care at all about me writing random words on a sheet of paper at work, but that one of my co-workers had found said sheet, believed what was written on it to be offensive, and reported it.
Now, this is not some "PC gone mad"-complaint thread. I'm not angry or anything, and I didn't land myself in any kind of trouble. I am very confused, however, because I honestly don't remember what I had written on that sheet of paper, or what the offensive passage might have been. On my honor, I swear that the only things I can remember copying onto it are these three items:
1. The phrase "Six and One," multiple times in varying styles.
2. Little pictures of Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark.
3. The last stanza of "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which I was trying to commit to memory.
I've been racking my brains ever since this strange meeting, trying to figure it out ever since. Did I write something potentially offensive and then forgot about it? I think I would have remembered that, but maybe. Did my superior just say that someone was offended as an excuse? That seems unlikely - saying they didn't want me distracted seems as valid a reason as any to call me up to the office. And if that were so, why would she state that management didn't care? So was there something about those three things that someone might misinterpret?
My two leading theories are that either someone misread the poem and thought I was writing some kind of horrid chant to a pagan demon-god, or that someone in my place of employment really doesn't like Coleridge.
Anyways, since I just had a weird experience of my own today, I thought I would ask: what are some odd complaints you have received in your time? Either ones that were concerned specifically with your performance at work or school, or ones that you have heard given about other people. Also, any hypotheses about my own complaint would be appreciated.
Today, however, I was approached by one of my immediate superiors, who asked to speak with me about something. While I had conjured any number of uncomfortable possible reasons for me to be fired on the way up to the office, it turns out that she actually wanted to discuss the sheet of paper I had written on, since I had forgotten to throw it away and left it to be found by a co-worker.
Now here is where things get strange. My expectation, at this point, was that I was being asked to not scribble random things during work again on the grounds that I should have found some other busy work to do and should not have been distracted. That would be entirely understandable, of course. But actually, my superior told me that she did not care at all about me writing random words on a sheet of paper at work, but that one of my co-workers had found said sheet, believed what was written on it to be offensive, and reported it.
Now, this is not some "PC gone mad"-complaint thread. I'm not angry or anything, and I didn't land myself in any kind of trouble. I am very confused, however, because I honestly don't remember what I had written on that sheet of paper, or what the offensive passage might have been. On my honor, I swear that the only things I can remember copying onto it are these three items:
1. The phrase "Six and One," multiple times in varying styles.
2. Little pictures of Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark.
3. The last stanza of "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which I was trying to commit to memory.
I've been racking my brains ever since this strange meeting, trying to figure it out ever since. Did I write something potentially offensive and then forgot about it? I think I would have remembered that, but maybe. Did my superior just say that someone was offended as an excuse? That seems unlikely - saying they didn't want me distracted seems as valid a reason as any to call me up to the office. And if that were so, why would she state that management didn't care? So was there something about those three things that someone might misinterpret?
My two leading theories are that either someone misread the poem and thought I was writing some kind of horrid chant to a pagan demon-god, or that someone in my place of employment really doesn't like Coleridge.
Anyways, since I just had a weird experience of my own today, I thought I would ask: what are some odd complaints you have received in your time? Either ones that were concerned specifically with your performance at work or school, or ones that you have heard given about other people. Also, any hypotheses about my own complaint would be appreciated.