i sell lemonade. free for emts, police, firefighters and their kids. but not if they wear leggings.

[unblock]

(a) i don't have to sell lemonade at all.
(b) i don't have to offer it for free to emts, police, or firefighters. it's nice of me to do that.
(c) i have the right to put restrictions on my free offer or yank it entirely.
(d) ***it matters what those restrictions are***
*(1) i shouldn't say no free lemonade for people who won't take off their headgear. that would be religious discrimination.
*(2) i shouldn't say no free lemonade for people whose skin isn't similar to my own. that would be racism.
*(3) i shouldn't place more free lemonade restrictions on girls than i do on boys. that would be sexism.
*(4) i shouldn't place so many restrictions on free lemonade that it's actually impossibly inconvenient to actually get. that would be fraud.
*(5) i shouldn't place many more restrictions on free lemonade than my competitors do. that would just be bad for business.


the bottom line is that, while i don't have to offer free lemonade at all, and while i do have the *right* to place certain restrictions on free lemonade, i still have to choose those restrictions wisely. some may be illegal, some may be bad for business, some may cause p.r. problems.

i may decide that the risks and expense of creating and enforcing an constantly updating such rules isn't worth it.
or, i may run the risk of damaging my own business if i do have such rules and choose those rules poorly.

[ret5hd]

1. Way to turn lemonade into whine.

On edit: This joke would be way better if you sold watermelon. Can you still edit your post for me?

[unblock]

2. !

[Adrahil]

3. People are WAY over-reacting to this.

Just wear pants while flying on someone else's dime.

[unblock]

4. which part of this is an over-reaction?

Last edited Tue Mar 28, 2017, 05:34 PM - Edit history (1)

[Adrahil]

14. Not your post.... NT

[unitedwethrive]

13. Agree x 1000!

[Demit]

5. I can see you put a lot of work into writing your analogy, but I'm not persuaded.

The airline had a dress code for employees. The employees knew it. In order to take advantage of flying for free, they had to follow the dress code. I really don't see the problem with that. A perk like that—a free airline ticket—is worth the "inconvenience" of having my kid pick a different outfit out of her closet for the flight.

[unblock]

6. like i said, having certain restrictions isn't in and of itself necessarily a problem.

it matters what the restrictions are.

it's not enough to say "dress code" and vote it up or down.


for instance, it's perfectly reasonable for them to insist that you don't advertise a competitor when travelling for free, whereas they might tolerate it for paying passengers.

on the other hand, insisting that all girls wear skirts wouldn't go over well at all.


i think the p.r. problem for the company in this case is that saying kids can't wear leggings when travelling for free comes off as just plain silly and overly controlling. leggings are perfectly reasonable attire for air travel, imho, i don't see how a kid wearing leggings is impairing anyone else's flight experience.

they can have a reasonable dress code, i just think saying kids can't wear leggings is a bit of an overreach, and that's where the problem for them is.

[Demit]

10. Why is it a problem for them? Is there a boycott brewing?

Actually this situation doesn't bother me much, but it's interesting, if a lot of people are as bothered as you. (I'm serious, not being snarky.)

[unblock]

11. No boycott afaik, but bad p.r.; the worst problem is now some think leggings are banned entirely

And may switch airlines as a result. Some competitors are already encouraging this misconception with ads saying leggings welcome here.

[leftstreet]

7. I don't know why anyone would WANT to wear them

I'm no expert, but they look restrictive, uncomfortable, hot, and hard to get in and out of

I agree with your OP by the way


Just don't get the whole leggings/skinny jeans thing

[unblock]

8. generally, i'm always freezing on airplanes.

so something not bulky but keeps legs warm sounds like a good idea to me.

[JI7]

9. they stretch so size is not much of an issUe. is an easy throw on time item

Like a t shirt .and they can be very cheap.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. if you're going to yank your offer

you should do it in private.