Does that make it okay?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I think appropriateness is important in the workplace and whatever your sexual orientation you should stick to the rules. But, what were the rules? Were there any spelled out for everyone?

There were specific guidelines laid out for the costumes...but general "work appropriate" was assumed. And while the "work appropriate" line gets blurred when costumes are involved, this went well beyond the blur.

Also, keep in mind that the comments you heard were not his. He was not saying that he got away with it because he was gay, other people were saying that.

No, he didn't say it, but he's not the one who decides whether he "gets away with it." It's his superiors. And I was baffled until I heard those comments and suddenly the general attitude I saw towards him by others who knew him better than I made sense and it became painfully obvious that it was only because he was openly gay that he was not reprimanded for wearing something well beyond the limits of appropriatemess.

I'm also thinking that the costume was pretty clever and if you were there 10 years ago, it might have been funnier.

It was, but it could have been done more tactfully (did the sagging boobs HAVE to be completely bare, or could they have been under a shirt? Did his bare ass cheeks have to be exposed, or would a slightly longer skirt that kept him covered worked?). I'm all for funny, heck, I'm all for slightly inappropriate. But this crossed a line that no one else would have been allowed to even come close to and that kinda irked me.

Not to mention that several employees had their young children present.

Speaking of which, in a more light-hearted vein of outrage, I wanted to call shenanigans on one of the costume contest winners. Including a 2 month old baby dressed as a lobster (while mom was dressed as a chef with a large soup pot) in your costume should be banned. Illegal foreign substance. Like anyone stood a chance of winning against a feaking baby in a lobster costume! Cheater.