Poor Customer Service Or Prejudice?

[bonobo]

Just in case anyone wants to see the shirt, here it is (I blurred out the company name):

is that a sweat stain next to the star of david?

Believe it or not, after I took the photo, I had to go look at the shirt again as I wondered the same thing. That is actually the shadow of my head being made by the kitchen light behind me.

But then again, I did admit that I stank at the time!

[VintageTQ]

I have to agree Richard_Smith , i cannot understand how you didnt react either. Even the most mild mannered of people would have taken huge offence at what he did and at the very least given him a severe verbal drilling.

I am the most non-confrontational person i know and i just wouldnt have been able to stand for it

[robblok]

I find it difficult to picture how someone lets someone else spray the with air-freshener then accuse them of stinking without reacting in anyway, without asking why they are behaving in such a manner. As someone who avoids confrontation until its necessary, I would consider this necessary - How did the Op not hit the guy for spraying him with air-freshener ?

Go back - Ask the guy what on earth he was thinking. Then tell him he's lost your business and that of anyone else you know - Then spray him with air-con and tell him his attitude stinks !!!!...

I think I was too puzzled at first, then shocked by the whole thing and didn't really figure it all out until after he had gone back to the counter. It was later after I left that it all started to sink in.

Yea its a pretty big insult, i don't know how i would react im mild mannered like you it was probably the shock that you did not react.

[biggunguy]

maybe he was afraid, that some of his customers could take offense in wearing religious symbols so openly at his gym...

i dont think, he necessarily is an israel-hater...

if you had come with a kefiyah, maybe he had reacted the same way...

Edited August 8, 2012 by biggunguy

[biggunguy]

Edited August 8, 2012 by biggunguy

[nocturn]

i think the picture of the shirt pretty much clears it up.

bigotry is a strange animal.

its also a pretty fair example of the ignorant appropriation of a symbol that can and often does occur in this region.

it could just has easily been a swastika and you would have been fine.

Edited August 8, 2012 by nocturn

[bonobo]

i think the picture of the shirt pretty much clears it up.

bigotry is a strange animal.

its also a pretty fair example of the ignorant appropriation of a symbol that can and often does occur in this region.

it could just has easily been a swastika and you would have been fine.

If you look at it closely, it is not a Star of David. It has interwoveng threads, which is appropriate for a weaving company with "Star" in the name. However, yes, it does look like one at first glance give the six points.

When I told them we needed new shirts and brochures for the foreign market, another star was immediately selected, which looks rather like the star for an American football team. I was in good fun jeered while walking through an airport in the US on the day that city's team clobbered the team whose star it looked like I was wearing.

[biggunguy]

its also a pretty fair example of the ignorant appropriation of a symbol that can and often does occur in this region.

it could just has easily been a swastika and you would have been fine.

star of david and swastika are BOTH symbols, used in asia for hundreds if not thousands of years already......

maybe not thailand, but india, nepal they are all over the place...

star of david isnt a jewish invention and swastika wasnt a german one...

both (uncreatively) copied...?

Edited August 8, 2012 by biggunguy

[endure]

He probably thought you were a jew.

I got a client who is a mussie and hates jews with a passion.

He obviously took offense to your shirt.

Next time bring him fried pork skin as a gift for being such a nice guy.

You could introduce him to your big slobbery dog too. French mastiffs are big on the slobber.

[sbk]

I find it difficult to picture how someone lets someone else spray the with air-freshener then accuse them of stinking without reacting in anyway, without asking why they are behaving in such a manner. As someone who avoids confrontation until its necessary, I would consider this necessary - How did the Op not hit the guy for spraying him with air-freshener ?

Go back - Ask the guy what on earth he was thinking. Then tell him he's lost your business and that of anyone else you know - Then spray him with air-con and tell him his attitude stinks !!!!...

I think I was too puzzled at first, then shocked by the whole thing and didn't really figure it all out until after he had gone back to the counter. It was later after I left that it all started to sink in.

Yea its a pretty big insult, i don't know how i would react im mild mannered like you it was probably the shock that you did not react.

I know bonobo personally and he is one of the nicest men around, Most guys would think twice about giving him a hard time because he is a pretty big guy but I guess anyone who is this nasty wouldn't necessarily be using his brains.

But actually, no I am not surprised he didn't react. He is a real gentleman.

[GuestHouse]

He's eiher screwed up with racism or he's screwed up with some other crippling personality problem.

But I'm guessing he's an employee.

A polite letter in Thai language to the owners complaining about how you've been treated might help him sort himself out.

Edited August 8, 2012 by GuestHouse

[phuturatica]

You should have punched him in the face. I would have done.

Sounds like a kn*b.

[brit1984]

You should probably inform Mossad.

[Beetlejuice]

You say the guy is a foreigner. What nationality is he?

To be honest if some guy began spraying me with air-freshener I would have either punched him in the face or demanded my money back, gave him a two fingered salute and walked out of there.

The guy had attitude and I would never tolerate that sort of treatment from anyone.

As for the reasons, we will never know.

[jacktrip]

the shirt does not really say jewish to my eye, and the religious problem i have never encountered in thailand before.

spraying someone while they are working out with a comment like that is just short of violence. it's just not done in a gym environment where people are working out, conversation is also a no-no unless you have a clear ok signal.

i'm not sure if you are out a yearly membership fee, or just paid for the day. definately a no return if you are not out money. forget his reason, it's probably better not knowing what he's dealing with.

[biggunguy]

the shirt does not really say jewish to my eye

i thought it was suitable for a flag rising... (even in one of the israeli settlements in palestine)...

Edited August 8, 2012 by biggunguy

[Shot]

Judging you from you avatar, I have a few suggestions.

1. Quit picking your butt in public.

2. Stop eating your own lice and poo.

[pattayadingo]

You did not describe what he looks like but I get the feeling he might be one of those White Supremacist type people from his attitude and anti Jewish. Sadly, there are also plenty of this type of person about in certain political parties across Europe and America. Like the BNP for example.

Seems to me he was okay until he saw the shirt then he saw you as some dirty Jew or - if you do not look Jewish - as having empathy or similar and he took great pleasure in making you as uncomfortable as possible. Not a lot you can do except avoid his business in the future and leave him to it.

[thenervoussurgeon]

...

I got a client who is a mussie and hates jews with a passion.

...

Many people do. Not only Muslims. It's just an (unpleasant) fact of life.

To be honest i doubt if many Thais know what a Jew is ,they ceertainly know who muslims are and i have not met one who likes them.especially because of the trouble they cause down south.

[travelmann]

Get 2 t shirts printed............no make that 3, first one "i hate jews" 2nd "I love jews" 3rd "do I smell awful please let me know?" go on 3 days an gauge the response.

OR just go elsewhere where they arent judgemental morons?

[bonobo]

I should make it clear that he did not spray it directly on me. I was lying on the bench, and he sprayed in the air around the foot of the bench and in the air four or five feet above me. Except for the smell of the stuff, I might not have thought it was aimed at me were it not for his comments or the fact that he didn't spray it anywhere else in the gym.

As for his nationality, I would have guessed some eastern European country, but he could have been some sort of Middle Eastern. But I am not an expert in judging that based on an accent alone.

[biggunguy]

robertcompassion....

[biggunguy]

I should make it clear that he did not spray it directly on me. I was lying on the bench, and he sprayed in the air around the foot of the bench and in the air four or five feet above me. Except for the smell of the stuff, I might not have thought it was aimed at me were it not for his comments or the fact that he didn't spray it anywhere else in the gym.

As for his nationality, I would have guessed some eastern European country, but he could have been some sort of Middle Eastern. But I am not an expert in judging that based on an accent alone.

maybe he is on the run coz the mossad is after him, and so he was afraid, when you wrapped in the israeli flag walked in...?

[Jingthing]

i think the picture of the shirt pretty much clears it up.

bigotry is a strange animal.

its also a pretty fair example of the ignorant appropriation of a symbol that can and often does occur in this region.

it could just has easily been a swastika and you would have been fine.

If you look at it closely, it is not a Star of David. It has interwoveng threads, which is appropriate for a weaving company with "Star" in the name. However, yes, it does look like one at first glance give the six points.

When I told them we needed new shirts and brochures for the foreign market, another star was immediately selected, which looks rather like the star for an American football team. I was in good fun jeered while walking through an airport in the US on the day that city's team clobbered the team whose star it looked like I was wearing.

I'm actually not an expert on Stars of David, but I would say it IS a Star of David.

This is a variation of a Star of David. There is not one approved style. People play with the design quite a lot.

If I saw someone on the street with that shirt I would think member of the tribe (M-O-T).

Now that we're talking Star of David, someone mentioned the use of the symbol before the Jewish use. A quick wiki says the Jewish origin as a meaningful symbol started about the 11th century (with earlier decorative uses). So what other cultures have used that symbol and starting when?

Edited August 8, 2012 by Jingthing

[nocturn]

the shirt does not really say jewish to my eye

i thought it was suitable for a flag rising... (even in one of the israeli settlements in palestine)...

it is significantly more ralph lipschitz than ralph lauren

[shiroboi]

I'd say that symbol looks an awful lot like a star of david. Blue six-pointed star on a white background. I'd say its a lousy company logo unless you guys were jewish affiliated. Glad you changed it.

From my wife who's Thai, a good amount of Thai people consider Jews/Muslims all nutters who like to kill each other in the Middle east. Obviously, that's not usually true and living in a heavily populated jewish area cured her of that really fast.

[submaniac]

Well Bonobo, the shirt looks like a Star of David to me. I can't tell how it's not a Star of David. And when you add that the guy was Eastern European or something...we have the winning explanation. The Eastern Europeans still have the anti-semitism thing going on.

[Ohyesuare]

Here is a picture of what I was talking about if anyone cares.

[thaifkrlim]

of all the extreme fanaticism that plays havoc in man’s nature, there is not one as irrational as following the course of their holely books

the idiotic adherence to these sacred ideological stances will bring mankind to kill each other to extinction

[Lite Beer]

A post containing a profanity has been removed