BAN HBO and other PORN from EMS/Fire Stations

[firedoc5]

not sure where we got off point -- but i did read the whole thread, so to save you the trouble:

I think what the OP was trying to say was:

1. You can not watch nudity on tv in any other business, and in most businesses if you were caught doing so, you would receive disciplinary action.

2. Wathcing nudity in the workplace at best was unprofessional in his/her opinon, could be possible sexual harassment.

3. Most people who have replied thought there was nothing wrong with the practice and that the original poster was an idiot, religous zealot, or a virgin.

I think that sums it up.

You have to remember that this is not a typical workplace. It's like comparing apples to avocadoes. I can see no porn, or even TV for that matter during what would be considered "business hours". But you are there for a much longer time. You are actually living there. So I can't see where anything should be said about what is being read or watched after those business hours. At the sub-stations you could have the TV on, but only news or weather. But if you were at the main station, no TV at all.

I believe that unless a "hard nose" Chief or City Manager can ban any such material after business hours.

I know of some guys, usually rookies that first came on, would complain to the Chief that they didn't like porn in their work area at anytime. The Chief would usually tell them to just not look at it and ignore it.

[Zach Smith]

Some weeks I spend more time at work then at home, and it becomes your home away from home sometimes. You get close to the people you work with, and you often know who has the same interests or is on the same wave length. If my partner and I want to watch a movie or talk about something "R" rated, we'll do so in front of the appropriate company. And I don't know about your station, but if there were going to be a tour or anything of that nature, we would be told in advance to ensure everyone was in full uniform just to provide a more professional appearance rather than people sitting around in socks and with their dept. t shirt rather than the whole shebang.

My view is that I'm going to be there for 24 hours, therefore I'll watch what is on tv if desired, and when time permits, we'll plug in the XBox, bust out GTA4, and practice driving our ambulances while shooting on the move. You've gotta stay sharp.

[fireflymedic]

To the OP :

First let me say I am the only female within an all male department and have been for several years so I have seen and heard just about every discussion known to man. Some I really didn't care to hear, so guess what - I GOT UP AND LEFT ! Didn't take a genius to do that. I didn't care to know about some aspects of their lives, so yeah, I left it to them to discuss by themselves. Tactful way to handle it. No one was offended and all was taken care of.

Second, HBO has a variety of shows on, not just porn, though I do admit some things are questionable at best. However, many of the movies that people state they are fond of have an R rating. They are for mature adults and again, if it offends you, just don't watch it. The language typically stated on any show on tv involves cursing (unless it's Little House On The Prairie okay?) though it varies to what extent. If people want to watch stuff at night, okay whatever, just in our station majority rules. We had a similar situation with two very religious coworkers that wanted it on the Jesus channel day and night - I think that presents just as much of a problem as anything else. Though I have yet to see a post about remove the Jesus channel on tv and what would your mama say if she walked into you watching Creflo Dollar (name alone lets ya know where his mind is)? We're pretty considerate of each other for the most part and we pass the remote around, so perhaps we are a little more progressed than other departments?

I'm sorry if you are offended by what you coworkers have chosen to watch, but in an adult environment, there must be some give and take. And this isn't related to EMS only. I worked in other venues prior to my EMS employment and the guys there made the comment that when I was there they had to hide the porn (and yeah, we're talking real porn here). I made the comment if you feel the need to do so fine, but I appreciate the respect you showed by doing that, but when I'm not around feel free to have whatever you like. It was a give and take and ultimately in the end gained their respect more than had I walked in showing my disgust at everything. Sometimes a different approach gives you a better starting point ?