If a tradesperson said something racist to you, would it put you off hiring them?

Mad_maxx · 14-12-2022 11:53am

i Don’t remember ever entering into a political discussion with a tradesman so if a plumber etc dropped a throwaway casual racism line , I’d leave him be , now if he turned up at the door dressed like one of those guys who were chasing John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd in the Blues Brothers, that’s where I’d refuse entry and look elsewhere

manifesto speech = no

off colour banter = will you service the boiler while you’re at it

BrianD3 · 14-12-2022 12:25pm

Given the current weather conditions, this thread has proven to be a good laugh.

The community facebook page for my area has several people asking for recommendations for plumbers and boiler repair techs. If by some miracle they manage to get a competent one in a timely manner in this weather and he turns up making racist comments, will they send him away? Will they fcuk. And neither would anyone on this thread no matter what they might claim.

Here we see the difference between the real world (where many people do hold unsavoury views and where tradesmaen are in high demand) and the virtue signalling, online nonsense world where people can claim this and that to enhance their woke credentials.

BattleCorp · 14-12-2022 1:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119994844#Comment_119994844

Hmmmm. Saying something racist versus smashing someone's fcuking teeth in. I think smashing someone's teeth in or threatening to smash someone's teeth in is a little more serious than someone saying the words 'fcuking chinks'.

But I assume you are joking or have absolutely no recent experience of trying to get a tradesperson in.

Shelga · 14-12-2022 2:29pm

People keep saying “if he’s a good tradesman I don’t give a damn” blah blah, but how do you know he’s good? Ok, whatever information you can glean from the internet, but most of the time you’re flying somewhat blind with these things. I start off with a neutral opinion of someone. When he started spouting racist bile, it just made me think he’s a complete moron who’s probably also a **** plumber.

Oscar_Madison · 14-12-2022 4:17pm

I was in a taxi once and the driver insisted on bad mouthing African taxi drivers- he had one of those cam videos in the car and pretty sure it was focused on the passengers- I’d say his game was to get passengers to say stuff they might not normally admit to (he was quite persistent) and then upload to YouTube or other social media- I didn’t take the bait

BattleCorp · 14-12-2022 5:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119995661#Comment_119995661

I more or less have the same electrician, plumber, septic tank emptier etc. for a good few years now. One or two exceptions when the regulars weren't available. I live in rural Ireland and it's easy enough to hear if a tradesman is good or not.

I don't see how someone spouting racist bile is probably a shyt plumber though. That's like saying someone who is thick can't be a good athlete.

Leg End Reject · 14-12-2022 5:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119995661#Comment_119995661

I ask people I know for recommendations, works a charm for me.

ILoveYourVibes · 15-12-2022 3:15am

Yes.

Also a tradesperson being so overly familiar with me that they felt they could express political opinions with me would also put me off hiring them.

IMO it's unprofessional and inelegant. I'm not your mate ...

maninasia · 15-12-2022 4:38am

I'm joking. Maybe I will just threaten to sue them for using hate speech and see them back pedal so fast they will crash into the wall lol.

The point is use racist comments to some people one might have to accept the consequences.

Its only that that they have never experienced blowback that they continue with that ****.

I find this thread is interesting, a lot of posters will accept it just because they aren't racist to THEM. That means you are actually condoning it in my book, by saying nothing and continuing to employ these people.

15-12-2022 8:37am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119995661#Comment_119995661

How do you know a well mannered one is a good plumber? Fraudsters are usually charming and inoffensive after all.

Like other posters, as long as the tradesman does a good job, he can say what he wants as long as he doesn’t insult my family.

osarusan · 15-12-2022 9:01am

In emergencies, or half-way through a job, I'd probably have no real choice but to let it go.

But if it came to choosing between two equally compentent plumbers or electricians or whatever, or recommending one to a neighbour, I'd go for the one that doesn't come out with racist or other ugly stuff.

15-12-2022 9:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998614#Comment_119998614

I think you are optimistic if you think you would have a choice if you were in any way time limited.

Still stihl waters 3 · 15-12-2022 10:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119989072#Comment_119989072

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119989149#Comment_119989149

I'd agree with buried here, people have a problem (rightly so) with a racist remark, you can't stand on one side of the fence and condemn someone over saying "fcukin chink" while endorsing a homophobic, racist, misogynistic backwater in the desert who bought and bribed their way to a world cup, they literally caused the deaths of thousands of migrant workers whom they believe to be lesser value and people like you think a plumbers racist remark is somehow woese.

The only difference is though obviously a racist remark the plumber isn't going out tomorrow beheading gays, stoning women or killing immigrants, you want it all your own way but you find it acceptable that fifa and footballers worth millions sold out to the highest bidder with an appalling human rights record and not one of them had the balls to stand up for what is right, you're as bad as the spineless footballers who were all talk while behind the microphone in London and suddenly weren't so brave when out in Qatar.

So yes I'd say you're as bad as that apparently racist plumber for endorsing such a charade, the only difference being the plumber said it out and you hide away behind the keyboard convinced of your moral superiority

walshb · 15-12-2022 1:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998797#Comment_119998797

You and Buried are bringing in absoluter scutter here.

Trying to equate the many many Irish people who turn on a tv to watch a soccer tournament in another country 1000s a miles away with these same people not being happy with or comfortable with a complete fooking stranger exhibiting racist/homophonic/xenophobic bile in their homes.....?

Simply the dumbest case of "but what about" I have ever come across

So all us folks who watched the WC on tv are now what, in no position to be unhappy with "a complete fooking stranger exhibiting racist/homophonic/xenophobic bile in their homes?" We are all hypocrites?

Still stihl waters 3 · 15-12-2022 4:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999453#Comment_119999453

If you can square it with yourself then fair enough, as long as you enjoy it what does the civil liberty of others matter, but yea, a racist remark from a Tradesman is worse

15-12-2022 4:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000230#Comment_120000230

I can live with it.

Igotadose · 15-12-2022 4:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119996581#Comment_119996581

Even that's a crapshoot. Ireland really needs something like Angie's list in the US. Unlikely we'll ever have it due to the state of freedom of speech here.

Many recommendations I've received here have ended up being for relatives who weren't particularly competent, let alone licensed by even the easygoing Irish licensing system.

Still stihl waters 3 · 15-12-2022 4:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000281#Comment_120000281

Yup I couldn't give a fcuk either, same as I couldn't care what the views of my tradesmen are, but if people get upset over the views of a random plumber they can't pick and choose what racism/homophobic/misogynistic they can ignore, that just makes them ignorant hypocritical charlatans, hey should have the backbone to stand against it all or let them shut their mouth

15-12-2022 4:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000352#Comment_120000352

I really don’t think you get to choose though, this is just more PC bullshit from the woke brigade. Building sites are not necessarily the refined discussion forums that somewhere like boards is 😁. If you choose to be upset, so be it, wait another month for the next plumber, me, I just want him to fix my boiler, don’t rip me off, then go on his merry way when it’s done.

hayrabit · 15-12-2022 5:03pm

all in all i'd say those folk from countries (irrespective of those countries' 'Human Rights' records - altho, doubtless, most would have very poor ones) where Whitey aint in t'majority, are far more "racist" than the majority of Irish tradespeople

I'd rather a racist plumber/taxi driver etcetera going on a rant than having to sit there trying to think of something to say to him, but that's only me 😃

take it with a pinch of salt, and move on OP; far more worse things to be getting exercised about out there

on the other hand,, if he were to invite ya to a KKK rally, then maybe reassess any potential future interactions with those vile Irish Tradesfolk 🤣

walshb · 15-12-2022 5:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000230#Comment_120000230

I would simply not be happy or comfortable with a stranger in my home exhibitibg racist views. I’d look for someone not a racist.

And your answer to this is to wonder how people who have this view can have it whilst also switching on a tv to watch a soccer tournament.

so in order for me and others to be right and consistent here we have to NOT watch a soccer tournament?

what a stupid response.

Still stihl waters 3 · 15-12-2022 5:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000425#Comment_120000425

So no bigotry within earshot, as long as you don't see or hear it you're good with it, gotcha

patmahe · 15-12-2022 5:21pm

In my experience people who are openly racist tend to be ignorant and hard to deal with in other ways too, given the choice I'd rather deal with someone who isn't like that.

DublinWriter · 15-12-2022 5:33pm

In the medical field, I've known a few of the top cancer surgeons in the country to be complete arseholes with zero bedside manner and people skills.

Why? Because anyone who hadn't the requisite technical skills would have been sacked years hence.

Same with tradesmen. The more personable they are, the more sh*t I find them to be. The more friendly and talkative a taxi-driver is, the more likely he'll be to rip you off.

I'm as leftie and woke as they come, but you've got the context all wrong. They're not there to be your 'chum'.

The fact that you're doing a 'moral audit' on someone who's come to fix your boiler speaks more to you than it does to them.

Guess_Who · 15-12-2022 5:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000447#Comment_120000447

I take it you don't buy any clothes from companies who use sweatshops, use technology thats components are made by using children laborers and you oppose and are intolerant to people whose religious and cultural views are less than accepting of gays/women and wouldn't want them in the country?

Or is it a case that you are trying to make a vapid argument that you are a big hypocrite if you watch a football match and also say that you wouldn't like a person to say something racist in your house?

15-12-2022 5:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000461#Comment_120000461

If dealing with them consists of showing them your boiler, then paying them when you are finished, it’s not really a hardship, is it? I don’t invite the plumber to stay for dinner or down to the pub for a few pints.

15-12-2022 5:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000497#Comment_120000497

The irony of using a smartphone made in a Chinese mega factory like the one where the workers revolted last week against the Chinese government’s Covid policy, to type a post may be lost on Still.

I Blame Sheeple · 15-12-2022 5:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119994844#Comment_119994844

oooh you're hard

Still stihl waters 3 · 15-12-2022 5:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000497#Comment_120000497

You've got me wrong, I'm not the hypocrite, I don't care what the plumber said or did, I also really couldn't care less about where my goods come from, sure in a perfect world we'd all be self sufficient and everyone would be equal but we're not and I'm practical enough to understand the way the world works, some are dealt a better hand than others, my gripe is with hypocrites who support an organisation who sold out to a homophobic racist country for money but get upset over words from joe plumber, or can people pick and choose what racist shower of bastards are ok for now

walshb · 15-12-2022 5:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000492#Comment_120000492

Moral audit because maybe folks don't want a stranger in their home spouting racist bile?

Nobody is expecting the tradesmen to be be Mary fooking Poppins, but I don't think it is at all odd to not want some racist in your home.

Ah, shur he was grand. Yes, was openly spouting racist bile in my house, but he fixed the boiler.

I reckon most decent people would look for someone who wasn't a racist bigot.

Some a the logic here is baffling. Making out that people who would rather deal with a non racist bigot are odd. The conflation being presented by some is off.

We cannot solve every issue everywhere in the world, but surely in our own homes we can exercise some common decency, without nonsense about soccer tournaments, or where did our iPhones come from?

Guess_Who · 15-12-2022 5:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000549#Comment_120000549

I still think you are wrong. It's absolutely not equivocal.

Having an issue with someone being overtly racist in your company is not the same as watching a football game that happens to be in a country with more than questionable human rights issues.

walshb · 15-12-2022 6:04pm

And here is another thing. I have had many tradesmen in my house/company and none were racist/bigoted. So, I don't think it's too much to ask that whomever is in your house simply does his/her work and behaves in a normal decent way. They're not like hens teeth, folks, There are plenty to choose from.

Still stihl waters 3 · 15-12-2022 6:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000522#Comment_120000522

Once again, I couldn't give 2 fcuks who's racist or not, as I said I don't care where I get my goods either, but I do have a problem with people picking and choosing which racists they like or don't like, people can be racist all they want, theres laws in place to keep them in check, it's not my job to police people's thoughts and actions

Strumms · 15-12-2022 6:40pm

If I had a say house that needed painting and I was recommended..

1) Joe Kelly.. great worker, clean, efficient, an eye for detail, on time, good staff, reasonable quote… but isn’t a fan say of certain demographics of individual and not afraid to express said sentiment on occasion…

or

2) Kevin Smith..good worker, very nice guy, works clean, works with just his son, not the fastest paintbrush in the west but gets on with it, competitive quote but not express.

do you want ? The better worker ? Or the better human being ? You ain’t coughing up a grand to make friends…

by entering into a business agreement with a person who is a racist or has other undesirable issues… you are not supporting them or endorsing their views.

if you would not hire them… how about this.. if you had a taxi driver taking you from Templeogue say, to the airport… back full of luggage and he went off on one to a racist degree about… whatever…. 7 kilometers from the airport…

Would you

1) demand he pull over, pay the fare, unload bags… attempt to acquire another suitable cab via hailing or app ?

or

2) think, jeez this guy is a bit of an ignorant dose… get there, pay him without tipping and adios.

you won’t cure racism… discrimination has existed in all forms since the dawn of time practically…

better off getting on with your life and not getting bogged down in tacit aggravation by it… too much grandstanding on the topic it’s zzzz … I’d rather know a non violent racist then a violent head case head the ball who was unprejudiced and open minded about race issues.

walshb · 15-12-2022 8:03pm

You do realize, folks that there are plenty tradesmen out there who are not racist bigots, and who are both reasonably priced and very good at their job. How about getting these lads? And this nothing to do with curing racism

walshb · 15-12-2022 9:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000447#Comment_120000447

You’re trying to conflate here in order to make yourself out as being anti racism everyehere, and to make out that some people are hypocrites (based off watching the WC on tv) is so obviously clear. It’s a completely ridiculous conflation.

In other words, racism that is blatant and clear and in your direct company and displayed to you personally, is the exact same as us watching soccer on TV where a country has questionable human rights issues.

And because we do not accep/tolerate the former, if we do not also condemn the latter (by not watching the WC) we are hypocrites. Gotcha!

buried · 15-12-2022 9:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001305#Comment_120001305

"watching soccer on TV where a country has questionable human rights issues" It goes way way beyond that w, the ruling regime there are one of the most disgraceful despotic and racist regimes to have ever walked the planet. You are dealing with a family that literally believe they are related to some sort of desert djinn demon so they can do literally whatever they want to whoever they want. Including their own people. They wouldn't p!ss on you if you were on fire, let alone some poor desperate man from Pakistan or Bangladesh, they'd spit in your face for you being who you are. But yet, you have zero problem funneling money to the likes of that by literally supporting their propaganda, their spit in your face showpiece to the world.

You said up there "surely in our own homes we can exercise some common decency" yeah, you sure can, and you can do it too by turning off your television if it has anything to do with that racist trash regime.

walshb · 15-12-2022 9:37pm

Ok, sorted so. We switch off the tv, and all is fine n dandy, and we can remove that hypocrite tag!

buried · 15-12-2022 9:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001347#Comment_120001347

Well you won't be supporting racists will you? Racists far worse than Billy John Macwhoever you think is one that ultimately matters f**k all

maninasia · 16-12-2022 2:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000386#Comment_120000386

The biggest load of bollocks whataboutary I've seen on Boards for a while.

maninasia · 16-12-2022 3:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000492#Comment_120000492

You are making a poor attempt at accepting racist arseholes into your house and silently condoning their behaviour.

JUST BECAUSE they aren't racist to native Irish people.

16-12-2022 6:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002088#Comment_120002088

There you go getting all uppity again, your first inclination was the threat of violence, then it was to sue the tradesman, now you think it’s whataboutary if I don’t care and just want my boiler fixed. How do you get through life being so easily offended?, it must be terrible, your PC antennae must be constantly twitching.

French Toast · 16-12-2022 3:41pm

I wouldn't care very much tbh.

Pay a man to do a job, he does the job well, everyone gets what they want and tips along.

maninasia · 16-12-2022 4:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002158#Comment_120002158

So I'm PC or I'm not PC, make up your mind, you seem mighty confused.

I just cant stand hypocrites and whataboutery. Leftie my arse.

Yoi ever think I or any customer might have a Chinese friend, an African wife or whatever. People who throw racist epithets around are on thinner and thinner ground these days in Ireland, the odds of it blowing back on them badly are increasing i.e only a fucning moron would start that shite with a random customer. And there iS HATE SPEECH legislation now.They can get their arse sued and rightfully so.

BattleCorp · 16-12-2022 6:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120004147#Comment_120004147

You don't appear to know what you are talking about.

Getting sued is a civil issue. Hate speech is a criminal issue. Big difference between the two.

There is old legislation on Hate Speech called The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. A tradesperson saying to me 'fcukin chink' would not be a crime under that legislation.

There is new legislation on the way but it hasn't been enacted yet. It's called the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. It's unlikely that a tradesperson saying to me 'fcukin chink' would be crime under that legislation either. Broadly speaking, you'd have to incite violence or hatred against a person with a protected characteristic. That said, we don't know how the courts will interpret the law so we'll have to wait and see.

And as regards being a hypocrite, if you've children in a house with no heating tonight because of a burst pipe or broken burner, you'd be quick to get down off your high horse if the only plumber in your area was known to spout racist shyte.

maninasia · 17-12-2022 7:10am

So it appears I do know what I'm talking about.

I'm pretty sure 'the **** 'insert racist tag here' is going to fall under that legislation one way or another. I wouldn't take that chance if I was a tradesman, easy lawsuit. Even getting sued is going to look really bad.