Home Depot, put to the stake

Rules are to be respected, even when it’s about something as simple as a dress code. Actually, the dress code of any business is pretty easy to follow by any person in his right mind.

Guess this might not be that case.

A couple of days ago, a West Palm Beach, Florida Home Depot fired an employee for not following the store’s dress code. Trevor Keezer, a self-described “American patriot who loves his country” was fired from his job at Home Depot for wearing an American flag button on his Home Depot apron that read “One nation, under God, indivisible”. And that is not allowed by the store’s dress code. Furthermore, he started to bring a bible to work, which attracted the attention of his managers.

I tend to think that every person who describes him or herself as a “patriot” is an idiot. An idiot who under the excuse of loving his country thinks he can do whatever he wants and, if someone complains, accuse the complainer about being unpatriotic.

This guy totally fits that description. But there is more:

"I've worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God," Keezer said Tuesday. "I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country."

This guy thinks that he can do whatever he wants in the name of his country. Well, first thing he should do is respect his workplace’s rules. Home Depot rebuts:

If Mr. Keezer wanted to display his patriotism, he could have worn an authorized "United We Stand" pin on his uniform's apron.

But Mr. Keezer, a deeply religious Christian who took his Bible to work, wanted to wear a pin that showed his devotion to God.

And that's the problem.

Just because the words of the pledge are recited every day doesn't make them true: Our nation is clearly divisible, especially when it comes to religion.

And there is no litmus test for Americans to believe in anything, despite the constant pressure by some to turn this country into a theocracy.

I have known Home Depot for being an awesome store for home improvement. Now I’ll think of it as one with a very rational and fair management, brave enough to put religious nuts in their place. Not because they discriminate against christians (which is something they love to think and feel victimized about), but because Home Depot acknowledges what kind of society we live in.

We operate in a pluralistic society, and people who have different or no religious beliefs should expect to shop in our stores without being confronted with employees who look at their jobs as an occasion to turn their uniforms into religious billboards.

The memo finishes with a great display of awesomeness that uncovers how much of a hypocrite these kind of people is:

The Christian Bible (Matthew 6:5-6) warns against people who make a public spectacle of their piety, saying that it's private prayer that really counts: "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet."

It doesn't say to pray in the closet remodeling section.

Yet, Keezer is suing the store and is on the way to become a martyr for believers who are stupid enough not to understand a dress code.