people at photo lab gave my mom a hard time

[sandy4570]

I gave my mom a roll of film to be developed at her work place ( she work at the chain drug store -I don't want to give out the name and get my mom in trobuble ) .When she went to pick up the photo after her shift the assistant manager pulled her aside and questioned her about who is this picture belong too ? he told my mom that the pictures scared his employee etc. All of the pictures were mostly rifles posted with shot-n-c target and nothing of offensive nature ( Marlin camp 9, Kar98,Remington 870, Springfield '03,
Marlin.444 and other WWII era bolt action rifles) .My mom explained to him that I am a collector , military veteran and also an employee from other branch .He told my mom that "make sure he did not have any plan "( I guess he refered to VT massacred and our own De Anza college attempted massacre) .Now I know not to go to that branch any more and will drop my film at my branch .
Has anyone here experienced something like this ? How you go about deal with this kind of harrassment ? If I run into this kind of incident again I will request to speak to store manager and may be even tell him to call the police and have them take a look at my pictures to determine if "I have any plan " (I want them to get cite for false alarm report ) .

 

[Snake Eyes]

How you go about deal with this kind of harrassment ?

Digital cameras are a beautiful thing.

(I want them to get cite for false alarm report )

Good luck with that.

 

[Xenia]

Sandy, I suggest you just keep doing what you are doing... get the photo's printed elsewhere and try not to give this any more thought. I think it is just too bizarre a thing to worry about.

(After all, what you discribed is not much different then the various shooting shows on the Outdoor channel and no one is claiming they have "plans".)

Some people are just so brainwashed and get frightened easily but I think that most people are not like that at all. I would not assume that it will happen again anywhere. Also, consider how you respond in light of breaking their negative views of gun owners. If you respond by ignoring them and essentially giving it only the attention due (which is none) then that will calm the situation. If instead you become confrontive with them this might feed into the false stereotype that gun owners are hotheads and dangerous.

Just my two cents. That and a dollar might get you a cup of coffee.

 

[skinnyguy]

Sandy, there is a person I know who isn't against guns, but was surprised that I owned them. He honestly asked if I was planning on shooting him. I looked at him and in total seriousness said, "If I was going to shoot you, Dan, I would have already done it."

If there is a next time this happens, maybe you or your mom should tell the assistant manager, "Sir, these guns have been owned for many years, if there was a plan, it would have been carried out already, now, may I please have my pictures and I'll be on my way."

Just a suggestion, you can take it or leave it as you like, I just hope you aren't in that situation again.

 

[kungfuhippie]

The world is full of ignorant people that are afraid of nothing. The manager was acting that way because he has be feminized by the culture that now teaches men to act like women. The sight of a man with a firearm scared him and sent mixed feeling through his head. He reacted with fear and used what little authority he has to turn that fear into power and try and control others. Making a comment that eludes that you would be a school shooter is workplace harassment, good luck finding any lawyer that would take you case though. Everyone would side with his "concerned statements". Now had the pictures been of you with a boy friend and he had made some insulting remark you'd own that pharmacy chain.
I left my last job over firearm related harassment. I walk talking about hunting with a fellow worker on our lunch break and another coworker overheard us and freaked out. (Nothing graphic or strange, he was relating his last deer hunt to me,) I got called into HR and was told that if I took my gun to work I would be fired. That this was company policy. I explained that I had no intention of doing so, that I felt I was being singled out and harassed because of my personal life and basically let them know how dumb they were being. I got another job and was gone 3 weeks later. Never looked back, my new boss shoots, as do a few other coworkers.

So learn two lessons of life.
1. Life isn't fair and never will be.
2. You will find that most often your boss didn't get to be boss because he was smart or good at his job.

 

[Edmond]

Wow, a mere picture of a gun scares them.

I wonder if we could just show pictures of a jail cell to criminals and scare them from commiting any crimes?

 

[torpid]

there is a person I know who isn't against guns, but was surprised that I owned them. He honestly asked if I was planning on shooting him.

I would have been tempted to ask him if he was planning on using his male endowments to indecently assault my cat.

After all, why should he be offended by my question since he just implied that I was a potential murderer?

 

[WESTTX357]

Go to the store and tell the dude to go pound sand. I guess if you had taken pics of your car collection that would mean you were preparing to go run people over

 

[jungleroy]

Take the higher road, avoid a confrontation with the irrational guy, and go to the store and fill out a customer comment card on him.
Some of your friends might feel like doing the same.
Just my 2 cents on the matter, I think it best to avoid irrational people.

 

[BigBlock]

It is an unfortunate fact that most people in the world are hopelessly stupid. There's nothing you can do but learn to ignore it. :banghead:


(and yeah, get a digital camera, it's nearly 2008 for crying out loud!)

 

[XavierBreath]

Find this assistant manager's boss. Speak to him. Then write the corporate office and seek to have him removed. I would request an accounting of his formal training in psychology and hold the store accountable for his actions. surely the corporate office endorses his actions, or they would put a stop to it, right?

He should not be playing amatuer psychologist. Your mother should not have to defend anything.

These people have a history reporting photos of naked babies taken by proud parents to law enforcement, and now I suppose they are on to the next crusade. It's time to put a stop to it.

If I took a photo of my car, would they accuse me of speeding?

 

[Geno]

I agree. I would in no way, shape, or form would over-look this action. What the manager did is wrong, period!

 

[News Shooter]

I have the exact opposite story

And in downtown Boston of all places

I had taken some pictures of some friends with my digital camera and emailed them to CVS. They called a few minutes later and said the margins wouldn't work on an internet picture for some reason and that I would have to come in and bring the pix in on a flash device which I did.

I had forgotten that I had backed up several pictures of my guns on the flash and when the guy plugged it in they all popped up on the screen. His eyes got big and he said "Nice! Is that a Colt?"

 

[JWarren]

I agree with those advocating not letting this go.

Think about it.

We see people who hold certain views about firearms and we say nothing. Those people let those views intruded into places of business and we say nothing.

And then those views make it to mainstream media where people get strange ideas such as:

-- If a person has a gun, they automatically will kill me.
-- If a person has a gun, they MUST be a criminal.
-- If a person has a gun, they are bloodthirsty and looking for an altercation.


And then we wonder how there is a groundswell of people wanting to ban guns.


So many of us don't want to rock the boat or become percieved as something of a threat by those people. So we let them win or do nothing to remind them that this is OUR country, too.


His supervisor should be notified immediately.

I personally would favor going back and having a discussion with this manager. I'd ask him-- just to be sure-- that the wasn't planning on molesting any little boys. After all, he does (presumbably) have the tools to do so. And we all know that having the tools to do something means that you WILL do that thing.

I imagine he would not appreciate this line of questioning.


-- John

 

[cane]

I think I've still got my old SLR, think I'll take a couple of rolls of various firearms and people shooting them. We are going out for a informal machinegun shoot in a couple of weeks, that should be good for a few nervous bladders.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

It's unfortunate that a mere picture of a gun leads to worries that you
re "planning something." Many people now equate guns exclusively with criminal violence, and that's a shame.

But what do you want from this manager? An apology? An understanding that you're offended by his insinuations that you're dangerous? Sure, he's injured your dignity, but has he damaged you in any other way?

In any dealings with the manager and his superiors, strive to be the bigger man. Be assertive, but not aggressive. Obviously, he's already scared of you. Try not to be scarier.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course, you could simply ignore his B.S. reasoning and give him some more "scary" pictures to look at next time you go to the range. Just because he's a paranoid infant doesn't mean you have to hide your reality from him.

You've done nothing wrong.

 

[fletcher]

I would speak to the manager about it this time - don't wait for this BS to happen again.

Also, digital cameras are great.

 

[230RN]

Xenia:

Sandy, I suggest you just keep doing what you are doing... get the photo's printed elsewhere and try not to give this any more thought. I think it is just too bizarre a thing to worry about.

Agreed and seconded. But you can toy with the idea of sending the manager a pack of disposable diapers sometime.

Skinny guy:

Sandy, there is a person I know who isn't against guns, but was surprised that I owned them. He honestly asked if I was planning on shooting him.

Gawd amighty, that's happened a couple of times. I was sitting under a tree in the National Forest once, just "grokking" the forest. A pair of girls of the "steel-rimmed glasses" type came by on the trail and saw my .22 rifle across my lap.

"Oh, you've got a gun! Are you going to shoot me?" one girl gasped.

"Do you have a car? Are you going to run me over?" I asked.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard," she said, and they both flounced on by.

Looking back at me, as if...

 

[GhostlyKarliion]

I would call the corporate office of the chain and, without mentioning that you work there, railroad them with complaint about how you were treated, tell them about your dear old mother who was "interrogated" by one of their managers, give his name, demand his job.

give'em hell, soldier.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

for some, ignorance is bliss. All these mass shootings have people on edge. Just develop them where you work and leave the other manager alone.

This reminds me of a time before I had a digital camera....I had pictures of me from a recent hunt with the 8 point buck I shot. When picking up the pics from the local pharmacy I got a "it's not nice to kill animals" lecture from the 16 year girl working there.

 

[donkee]

I'll shoot a roll of film and send it to you. I think a couple ARs, an UZI, and a couple SKSs with kids shooting them would cause the asst mgr and the easily spooked employees to have heart attacks......

Problem solved.......

 

[springmom]

I agree with those advocating not letting this go.

I would too except for the original issue:

gave my mom a roll of film to be developed at her work place ( she work at the chain drug store -I don't want to give out the name and get my mom in trobuble

If Sandy goes in and makes a fuss, mom is going to catch it. That is unfair and is not right, but we all know it's going to happen. Particularly if Sandy were, say, to:

I'd ask him-- just to be sure-- that the wasn't planning on molesting any little boys. After all, he does (presumbably) have the tools to do so. And we all know that having the tools to do something means that you WILL do that thing.

I imagine he would not appreciate this line of questioning.

or to

Go to the store and tell the dude to go pound sand.

Sandy didn't say how old he was; that too might factor into the appropriate response.

The best answer is, get a digital camera. Send your pix to one of the online printers if you want hard copies of them. There are some good, cheap, and pretty quick services out there.

And on a side note:

The manager was acting that way because he has be feminized by the culture that now teaches men to act like women.

Would that be like me, like Pax, like Xenia, or who? Please don't use the idea of being a woman as a derogatory, or of being afraid of guns. Some of us don't take too kindly to that, being women, shooters, and unafraid.

Springmom

 

[TacoMalo]

I thought the employees weren't supposed to analyze customers pictures for content just processing and photo quality? I've heard of sex offenders with child porn getting busted for developing their film, I can see something obvious like that getting the red flags but a day of shooting and you're labeled a terrorist? I can imagine what they say if someone brings in a roll of pics from a WWII museum or Air Force Museum, "Oh my god, they're going to hijack those SR-71's to recon and B-52's to drop dirty bombs on the local Pig Stand!"...roger, Roger what's our vector, Victor? That manager sounds like the guy from Chochtky's in Office Space.

 

[ECB]

That's the reason we have the Second Amendment, to protect the First!