....but a Santa hat is okay.

[MissusDe]

Hats off to Mr. Rolley - although I doubt that the outcome of this will be to allow him to wear his American Legion hat...which seems to be more appropriate to a uniform than a Santa hat.  Instead, I'm sure they'll rethink their arbitrary "OK / Not OK" hat list, and prohibit anything that isn't part of their official uniform.

Driver Prevented From Wearing Hat

Gwinnett County bus driver wanted to show support for veterans who lost their lives fighting for our country. So today, the last day before Memorial Day, he wore a patriotic hat.

Gary Rolley, who's a vet himself, said he was ordered to take the hat off. A supervisor told him it wasn't part of his uniform.

Rolley is proud of the four years he served in the Navy. He is proud to be an American.

"I love my country," he said.

Rolley said he is paying tribute to all veterans by wearing his American Legion hat, but the he said that didn’t' go over well with his bosses at the Gwinnett County Transit Authority.

"The supervisor said, 'You are you have uniform; you have to take that hat off.' I explained this was a hat I wear for the holiday."

Rolley said he continued to wear the hat on his bus route.

"As we were going down the road, a second supervisor radioed me. He said, 'What do you have on your head?' I said, "Why are you asking me that?" And he said 'Take that hat off now,'" Rolley explained.

Rolley said he turned the bus around and went back to headquarters.

"I said 'I'm sorry, I got sick over this. I'm sick to my stomach, and I'm going home sick'," Rolley said. "I turned around and I left."

Rolley said patriotic hats have been allowed in the past, and Santa hats are allowed at Christmastime, so he doesn't understand why the rules have changed.

"It's just to me a slap in the face to our veterans," Rolley said.

He said he wore the hat on Friday because he has the day off on Monday -- Memorial Day. He said he plans to spend Monday honoring American veterans.

The general manager of the Gwinnett County Transit Authority said that Rolley was asked nicely to wear the proper uniform, and he opted to go home. John Autry said there is a standard issue hat that all bus drivers are required to wear.

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=97620

[Lanya]

Shame on them.   Everyone has gone nuts in the last ....20 years.  Conservatively speaking.  (For once.  ;-)   

[Michael Tee]

I sure hope he didn't have a full load of paying customers when he turned the bus around and reported in "sick."  I'd have fired him on the spot.  I don't give a shit whether he supports the vets or Osama bin Laden, as long as he does it on his own time and he wears the company uniform when and as the job requires.

[BT]

odds are he is union, and he probably was following company policy by returning the bus to the depot, to protect the passengers and all.

And he does have a point, if they allow santa hats they should allow other hats.

[Michael Tee]

<<odds are he is union, and he probably was following company policy by returning the bus to the depot, to protect the passengers and all. >>

Protect them from what, his little snit at not being allowed to wear his VFW hat?  He's lucky his passengers didn't lynch him as a sign of their gratitude for his "protective" actions.

But you're right about Santa hats.  Company should write it into their policy that Santa hats are optional during Christmas season.  Till then, no Santa hats either.

[BT]

Protect them from what, his little snit at not being allowed to wear his VFW hat?  He's lucky his passengers didn't lynch him as a sign of their gratitude for his "protective" actions.

Obviously he was distraught and distracted by the inconsistent application of policy at the hands of management.

I'm sure his passengers understood and were behind him 100% as he stuck it to the man.

[Michael Tee]

<<I'm sure his passengers understood and were behind him 100% as he stuck it to the man. >>

They must be the kind of people that if you peed on their heads and told them it was raining would thank you for the weather report.  The only people that he stuck it to was them.

[BT]

They must be the kind of people that if you peed on their heads and told them it was raining would thank you for the weather report.

Way to support the working poor and the ecologically aware.

[Michael Tee]

<<Way to support the working poor and the ecologically aware. >>

Wasn't talking about either one of them.  YOU are the one who fantasized that they'd be just dumb enough to put up with that driver's shit.

[BT]

They must be the kind of people that if you peed on their heads and told them it was raining would thank you for the weather report

Mikey,

Gwinnett County is not an urban area. It is suburban. And there ridership is comprised pretty much as i described. Working poor and mass transit aficionados. Every one else drives their own car. The traffic gridlock there attests to that.

So those were the ones you were disrespecting. Way to go.