That's still essentially condoning the behavior because it pushes it to the side rather than addresses it head-on.

Does a person's unvoiced, unheralded opinions or mindset affect, in any way, how well he can paint a rail car, repair a diesel engine, weld, swing a spike maul, run a train, or sort hundreds of rail photos/timetables/books?

If a chef prepares exquisite cuisine or a brewer brews terrific beer, does it matter if he is an anarchist, a libertarian, a Republican, a BLM supporter, or whatever? Or, even worse in some people's eyes, a Yankees or Cowboys fan? (Note: I'm talking the chef/brewer, not necessarily the business's owner.)

There's a vast difference between keeping someone who spouts potentially offensive opinions or rhetoric from interacting with the public, and persecuting him and kicking him out for what you think are the "wrong" views. It's flat-out WRONG, whether the hat is "MAGA" or sequins saying "OBAMA."

There is currently a rail preservation organization in a heap of pending legal trouble for doing the latter, according to reliable reports.

This is NOT the "social justice" hill you want your organization to die on.

Everyone is going to judge based on their own experiences. Sure you look at others from a white male point of view, but a black woman is going to look at the world from a black woman's point of view, and an Asian man is going to look at the world from his own unique point of view. So what? When a black man interacts with me and judges me based on his life experiences, is he not negating my life experiences? I'm not really sure what the concept of "life experiences" really means. Each of us lives a life that is unique from anyone else. That is what makes us all different. But we all have enough commonalities to form the basis for individual interactions. I thought we all knew and accepted that fact long ago.

So since it is impossible to know anyone's life experiences other than my own, I will just treat others based upon what I know, while everyone else does the same. We just have to relearn the concept of real tolerance, where we overlook the small stuff and focus on the bigger concepts that unite us.

I am disturbed by your equating crude, abusive, discriminatory behavior with the wearing of a MAGA hat, or your blanket condemnation of people who would wear such a hat. Now I don't wear a MAGA hat but I do share many of the same conservative values that such people have. Does that now make me persona non grata at the Naugy? You are a well respected "elder statesman" of rail preservation and I would hardly think that you would be willing to write off a huge swath of your peers because they dare exercise their right to support a political candidate of their choice.

Rick and ADM:

I think you are misunderstanding my point. Politics and the display of political symbols have no place at a non-profit heritage railway. At the very least, it may put your 501 (c) (3) status at risk. At our organization, we have volunteers and employees from all across the political spectrum. They work together, and leave their politics at the door. The same holds for political symbols of any stripe: they don't belong at the museum.

How many visitors do you want to alienate? Do you want your place to always be known as "that place where old white guys play with trains"?

Howard P.

Perhaps your example should have included the wearing of Biden/Harris apparel so as to not appear to be singling out one side over the other. Then it would not have looked like an attack. Sorry but years of constant bashing makes me hyper sensitive to such things.

We have done very well at YSH to remain politically neutral. We do not officially take a position on politics. We just focus on our mission. It may strike some as strange, given how political I can be on social media, but I refuse to talk politics in real life. It is a good policy.

What you SHOULD have said:

"You want to wear a MAGA hat? Fine, just not here while you are representing in any way the organization as a member, volunteer, docent, or staffer.


What you stated literally said that someone wearing a MAGA hat is not welcome on your property.

MASSIVE difference.

Yours,
The Pedantic (But Right) Copy Editor

You are correct, sir. That's exactly what I was attempting to say. My fat fingers exceeded the speed of my old brain.

Now I'm going back to researching various oil-burning setups for small steam locomotives. I probably won't get into too much trouble doing that.

Howard P.

Looks like my posts got cancelled... LOL

Last time I saw nude pinups is in the year 2000, when I was working at a tire shop changing out semi truck tires. To say these people who I worked with was a rough group of people many of them fresh out of jail is a understatement. However the days of the pin ups are long, long, gone and will never return. Now days that is considered sexual harassment. I do remember a employee putting up one of those little calendars you get from the Matco tool truck in the lid of his tool box. It was up for about 10 minutes before the boss took it off and threw it in the trash. The employee said "that's my tool box and my property". The boss said "then you can take your tool box and your property right out the front door".

I worked several jobs in the last few years where no male employees was allowed to be in a room with another female unless the door was open. 5 years ago when I was working on a cruise train in Alaska I was told to not even talk to any females employees unless it was business related and then to be brief. I was also told to not help them carry anything, or assist them in their jobs. Dating or hanging out after work with any female employee was forbidden with penalty of termination for both employees.

The company had a good policy and one I agree with. If you upset a woman she can say anything she wants about you (true or false) and you will get terminated no matter how long you have been there. Nobody is going to stick up for you. Nobody is going to believe you. I couldn't even imagine harassing anyone or telling a dirty joke in this day and era. It's pretty much like tying a rope around your neck and pulling the lever.

Back when I was in the Navy I worked on a drydock. About half the employees were women. One day I was told I was in deep trouble and I needed to attend a hearing with the Captain (Captains mass). I was told I was sexually harassing a woman. Turns out I had never even heard of or met this woman. She was upset over one of the guys in our division and filed sexual harassment on all 30 of us. It was ridiculous. After about a hour I was dismissed with no charges but that was still on my record! I kept telling them "I never met her get this off my record".

I was denied a great job working for Amtrak because of Affirmative action. I was hired by Amtrak as a carman and was told I would go to work in a week. Three days later I got a call from Amtrak and they said "due to affirmative action we can not hire you as a Asian janitor applied for the position". I said "what does he know about working on railcars". She said "nothing but the law says we have to give him a chance". She said if he doesn't work out she will call me back and I can re-apply.

So two weeks go by and she calls back. She said he didn't work out so go re-apply and we will hire you. So I did and I was hired again. Four days goes by and she says "sorry but a African American woman applied and she has to be given the job". She said if it doesn't work out blah, blah, blah. I said "forget it. I already lost a lot of money quitting my job and waiting weeks for nothing. I am finding a new job".

Believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg in stories I can tell about women, minorities, Affirmative action, and other laws that overwhelmingly favor their view in the 50 plus companies I have worked for over the years. I have no problem working with either. However they are believed no matter how ridiculous their story is. I don't mean to rant but women, minorities, and gays in the workforce have moved up into a class in the workforce that is untouchable. You don't upset them, you don't criticize them, you don't even question them. If you do you are fired or possibly go to jail and nobody is going to care.

That ALSO means not having such endorsements on the vehicle you drive to the museum, yard, etc...for some, especially someone you want to attract, that would be an instant turn off...

Then perhaps the price is too high. If I must give up my beliefs and my freedoms to attract someone, then perhaps that person isn't worth attracting. At some point we all must decide how much of ourselves we are willing to sacrifice for the cause.

And that is the crux of the problem right there. How welcoming is your organization to prospective Black members when the organization allows the display Confederate flags on the vehicles of their members?

Okay, this is what we're up to by now.



I recently had someone in car sales tell me that he had someone on the verge of buying a new car when, on the test drive, they turned on the radio (an increasingly archaic concept now, don't you know?), and by random chance the radio fell on the local station that played Rush Limbaugh's program.
Even though my salesman friend quickly switched to FM (and I think he said it went to an NPR station), the woman immediately turned around to drive back. She was NOT taking THIS car--her actual words, according to my friend, was that the car was now "contaminated!"

The "problem," such as it is, is NOT that people hold offensive ideas (even the REALLY offensive ones).

The problem has become that we have become so %$#)*&! polarized as a nation, in part because we have been and are being trained to BE offended by anything that conflicts with our own worldview.

In the past week or so, I have watched railfans verbally crucify other railfans who DARED to question the newest proposals of President Biden with regards to not only expanding Amtrak service, but a "new generation" network of apparently superspeed ("as fast as a jetliner" or the like) trains nationwide:
"How DARE you be anti-rail in this railroad forum!!!"

Besides which, how are we supposed to distinguish a volunteer's car from that of a visitor's?

The rail volunteers I have worked with have, of the ones I could identify over lunches, run the gamut from "redneck Republican country/bluegrass music fan" to "bleeding-heart Jewish liberal ACLU member," from Christian to atheist, from government worker to government-worker-hater.
So what?
We like trains.
We come here to get AWAY from this crapola.
And I'd like to think many/most of our riders/patrons do as well.

Re read my previous post. Never once did you describe having any sort of relationship with a person of color. The dynamic and the experience is different, which was the basis of my posts.