A clerk said this

[GeneF]

I am not posting this to start any controversy in any way but this did happen and I was surprised that it did.

Ds was recently shopping for a new suit with his gf. They were in a men's clothing shop in an upscale college town.

Most of the stock had only pants that had pleats in the front which is what ds did not want.  The clerk offered to show him some pants in some catalogs.

While going through the catlogs, ds noticed that some of the pictures showed the model having the end of his tie tucked into the front of his pants.

DS asked the clerk if that was a new style as he hadn't seen it before.

The clerks reply:  "He wears it like that because he is a fag."

Ds and his gf were both surprised by this comment.  DS told the clerk that his remark had just cost him a sale and they both left with the clerk trying to apologize.

Personally, I wonder what training that clerk had on how to talk to customers.  I agreed with ds that the remark was in poor taste.

[4campinfoxes]

That really is in poor taste.  I would expect much better of a person in an upscale store.  I applaud your DS for telling the clerk why he had just lost a sale.

My guess is they don't really get any training on how to deal with customers, this situation shows that they really should have!

Sharon

[Dee4j]

How Rude...Pat your boy on the back...I would have left too...actually I probably would have  :swear:  then left :eek:

[brainpause]

......

[NCSunshine]

No matter what you believe or feel, that was in very poor taste.  I would have left too.

[Calstate361]

Ditto to all the above.   He should now contact the store management and let them know what the clerk said and to suggest some training.  Management can't rectify the problem unless they know about it.
 
Joan

[barbjeff]

Wow! talking about rude! You would think that management would have trained thier staff a little better than that. If the sales clerk was trying to make a joke it surely was in poor taste to say the least.
Kudos to your son for leaving without hesitation. I hope that he also contacted the store management to inform them about this clerk.

[dee106]

i hope you drop a note to the manager!

[beacher]

Please calm down everyone.

I live in Long Beach California.  We have quite a many well dressed homosexual males in this town.  And yes, some do indeed tuck in their tie.  It's not a universal sign, probably dosn't really mean anything, and not everyone homosexual does it.  The practice has been around probably as long as people have been wearing neckties.  It keeps the tie from bunching up if your not using a tie tack, (which went away with vinyl records).

And, the term used by the clerk is not necessarily derrogatory.  If it is said by a member of that group it's acceptable.  It all depends on the context.  Maybe the clerk felt DS was "cool" and not assume it was derrogatory?

[GeneF]

"And, the term used by the clerk is not necessarily derrogatory. If it is said by a member of that group it's acceptable. It all depends on the context. Maybe the clerk felt DS was "cool" and not assume it was derrogatory?"

Beacher

Thanks for the enlightenment but I cannot agree with you on its acceptability. A person in public service has no need to make these types of remarks to complete strangers who he/she might feel is   "Cool" or not.

I have asked some gay friends their opinion of this incident and they felt the clerk was out of line.  

DS and his fiancee were both offended by his remark.

Also, NH tends to be a bit more conservative in these matters than California.