Thursday 5 February 2009

Oddball rules

I'm at a site at the moment where I have a number of tradies doing some work for me. The site manager turned up today and booted a few of them off - they were contravening the "no shorts" rule, which was news to me. I'd never heard of it.

I found out later why this site has a no shorts rule. It's nothing to do with safety.

A few years ago, a tradie was up a ladder fixing something. As a woman walked by, she looked up and noticed his tackle was hanging out. It was not a good day to be free-balling at the office. She kicked up such an almighty stink, all tradies were banned from wearing shorts from that time on.

I guess it is easier to ban shorts as an official policy than having a document that states "free-balling, going commando and letting the lizard loose are not allowed on these premises". I'll have to ask tomorrow whether it is ok to free-ball if you're wearing pants. And if kilts are permitted.

The ridiculous thing is that we are working 2 floors underground, and in the year or so that I have been visiting this site, I have never, ever seen a woman anywhere near our work site. They never venture down our way. The entire site also appears to be at least 90% male. So men who work in hot conditions are forced to be uncomfortable because there is a 1 in a million chance that a woman might descend into our work area, and a further 1 in a million chance that a tradie will be up a ladder at that time. But I reckon there is a 1 in 5 chance some bastard will be going commando at any given time.

Obama has more chance of finding an honest Democrat to serve in his administration than a woman has of seeing a one eyed trouser snake on our site.

I think it's a terribly discriminatory rule. Would Sharon Stone be banned from visiting as well? I bet they'd welcome her with open arms (and legs?), making this a decidedly oddball rule.

4 comments:

An Irritating Truth said...

One word: Prrruuuddeee!

Seriously, it's not as if the guy whipped it out or made inappropriate gestures.

A friend of mine (who also happened to be pregnant at the time), her nipple accidentally slipped out of her bra (being that her breasts were full of soon to be baby milk, she'd gone up a size and hadn't had a chance to go bra shopping). The top of her nipple was slightly exposed through her "sheer shirt." These terms were used in an email from the HR department saying that they had recieved a complaint, requesting that she not wear such "revealing" clothing in the future.

She sued their asses for discrimination.

One guy's dick happens to fall out of his shorts (whilst being on a ladder) and all hell breaks loose?

Gimme a break.

It's going to be 46 degrees on sunday and thanks to that woman you're going to have a bunch of over worked and potentially over heated tradesmen.

I gotta say, just how close was this woman standing that she got such a clear view?
If he was on a ladder, and she glanced up, at the most you'd get a brief glimpse - unless she clambered up the ladder to get a better look?

1735099 said...

Years ago, I had to field a complaint from a mother in a different city to the one I live in now, about a taxi driver. (Many of the kids with disabilities were conveyed to and from school on taxis).
Whilst waiting in her car outside the school, she'd noticed a taxi driver get out of his car in the queue, and put one hand down the front of his strides to adjust his furniture. He's been sitting in the cab for a while and was obviously a tad uncomfortable. Funny thing was, I'd seen the same incident from my office, and apart from being slightly amused thought nothing of it - the kids were still in class I wasn't aware anyone else had seen it.
Right or wrong, she demanded I report him to the manager of the taxi company.
She was a bit lost for words when I asked what exactly he had done which was either unlawful or offensive.
After a fair bit of carry-on she accepted my assurance that I would speak to the driver about it. I did, but simply suggested that next time he did some anatomical adjustments he should make sure he was behind something opaque.
There's a heightened sensitivity - much of it media driven about this stuff. It sells newspapers.

Anonymous said...

One word: Prrruuuddeee!

I think you misconceived the problem BOAB described. The problem was not that the woman overreacted; it's perfectly normal to not want to see knobs hanging out of pants. The problem is that the company overreacted to what was probably a case of some guy not zipping his fly up.

A friend of mine (who also happened to be pregnant at the time), her nipple accidentally slipped out of her bra (being that her breasts were full of soon to be baby milk, she'd gone up a size and hadn't had a chance to go bra shopping). The top of her nipple was slightly exposed through her "sheer shirt." These terms were used in an email from the HR department saying that they had recieved a complaint, requesting that she not wear such "revealing" clothing in the future.

She sued their asses for discrimination.


So your friend took one indignant, gratuitous overreaction and countered with... another indignant, gratuitous overreaction. Workplace harmony fail.

Boy on a bike said...

My assumption is the bloke must have been wearng 1970's style shorts (Paul Hogan shorts) that were cut very short. I am typing this in cargo shorts - you need to have a knob like Joel Garner for it to peek out of the pants leg.

My Druncle (drunken uncle) had a drinking buddy who had this problem (back in the 1970's). He's slouch in his chair with his beer, legs spread, and his tackle would flop out of one side or the other - or both at times. Those old Yakka workshorts always suffered from this problem.