firehose

sociolab:

Do you ever think about the fact that the US has created and legitimized a system of institutionalized inequality by funding schools through property taxes?  That basically a child’s education is only as good as the value of the property in their neighborhood.  Funny how education is so often viewed as an equalizing factor when there is nothing equal about it.

peterscapaldis:

#MAKING FRIENDS WITH CERSEI LANNISTER

caseymalone:

For those not keeping up on Drama With Places Casey Used To Work Like 10 Years Ago, last weekend a woman at Harrison’s Comics And Collectibles in Salem was fired.

She alleges that during her second day of work the manager gave her an orientation tour of the store and jokingly referred to a room in the basement as, “the rape room.” When she told him he couldn’t call it that, he made another tasteless joke. She says she brought this up to the store owner and she was fired.

She took to Twitter, where the owner of the store eventually replied, saying: 

I was not even aware that she had been let go but according to others it was just that they feel she wouldn’t work

…which like, come on. “She’s just not working out…” is 100% the code people use for, “This woman isn’t tolerating my shit, so she’s got to go.” 

(For what it’s worth, I personally believe her account of events, for a bunch of reasons. I’ve worked in a few comic stores including this one - granted, that was about a decade ago at this point - and it’s often a shitty environment defined by juvenile attitudes and this weird sense of con-man/carny hucksterism. )

Anyway, pressured by media attention (including a really irresponsibly written Jezebel article) Harrison’s released an official statement on their Facebook and wow. I’ve got a really low bar for businesses responding to these kinds of things, but even I was surprised by this total fiction. Here it is (emphasis mine):

Dear Fellow Comic Lovers and Gaming Enthusiasts;

As you may have heard, there are allegations of sexual harassment and unfair termination against Harrison’s being circulated by a former employee on social media.

Harrison’s takes these allegations seriously and denies them all. We do not condone inflammatory, intolerant, sexist, racist or family-unfriendly language or behavior in any of our stores. We are committed to running an inclusive, family-friendly business.

The individual making the accusations, Ms. Williams, was terminated for documented, performance-based reasons only. This was explained to her at the time of her termination, when she was given full pay for her time at Harrison’s. Her employment was terminated in a professional, impartial manner in the presence of another employee.

There is certainly no “rape room” at Harrison’s Comics (or anywhere, we hope!). Unfortunately, because this repulsive term has been so heavily publicized in connection with our stores, we feel compelled to explain how it originated:

Ms Williams was hired on a 30-day trial basis, as were five other employees she was being trained with. Training includes a tour of the store, including a room we call the “statue room.”

If you’ve been in our Salem store, you know we have many statues displayed in locked cases throughout the store. They are displayed behind glass because statues are fragile, valuable collectibles that can easily break if improperly handled.

The boxes these statues come in are specifically designed to protect them, so the boxes are stored in the “statue room,” a practice that’s been in place for at least ten years. When a buyer purchases a statue, an employee goes to the statue room, finds that statue’s box, and repacks it for safe travel to its new home.

While the group of trainee employees were being shown the room it was referred to only as the “statue room” or the “stat room” for short. This prompted one of the new trainees (not Ms. Williams) to question “Stat, like stat rape?” The group trainer frowned at the employee who mentioned rape and sternly said “We do NOT have a rape room.” This was the last first and last time “a rape room” was ever mentioned in Harrison’s until Ms. Williams’ took to social media and we were put in the position of having to defend ourselves.

I have been a comic store owner for 21 years and this is deeply disturbing to me. If anything like Ms. Williams described did occur here, the employee responsible would be terminated immediately. I ask that people look at the facts before concluding I am guilty. I have 9 female employees and 10 male employees presently working in my stores. The previous manager of our flagship Salem store is a woman, and she managed it for two years before leaving to open her own store.

We have an exemplary reputation in Salem, Massachusetts and the comic and gaming community as a professional, respectful, fair and welcoming workplace. We appreciate the support of those who know and defended us against these allegations while others leaped to judgment. We wish Ms. Williams the best in her future endeavors.

Larry Harrison

1. You didn’t even know that she was fired, but it was for well documented reasons? At a store that’s basically a cash business? After two days? 

2. Uh, that story about “the stat room”? That never happened. I haven’t been in that store in a long time, but I exist in the world as a human being with the ability to reason and… that never happened. I don’t even know which part of it is the least believable. I do like the detail of “the group trainer frowned” to make it EXTRA CLEAR that he was unhappy with this suggestion that no one made ever. 

This one manager acting like a piece of crap and making this terrible joke and then abusing his power to fire a woman who called him on it is really bad, but Harrison’s could gracefully recover from that. The store owner just making up this insane story, thinking we’re all stupid enough to believe it, all for the sake of defending and protecting this dude? Come on. 

The right thing here is to fire that manager and apologize. 

Until that happens, if you live in or around Boston, consider getting your comics somewhere else. I love Comicazi and HubComics, but Comicopia, WebHead, or even Off The Internet are better options.

If you’re a comics professional and have an appearance or signing planned with this retailer, consider working with one of the other stores in the area. 

blkdzn:

Can y’all actually believe a man shot and killed someone and he isn’t in jail yet after nearly a month? Like really let that sink in. A man killed an 18 year old child and he is on paid leave from his job. Really think about that.

lookitscolette:

TRU

September 2009: The cellars at Cognac Tesseron. These are very old glass demijohn bottles, wrapped in something and covered in dust in basically a cave beneath the house. Read about the visit here.