Patterico's Pontifications

7/13/2016

When They Say That It Will Never Happen, Count On It Happening

Filed under: General — Dana @ 7:42 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Not long ago, Americans were lectured about their concerns “hysteria” over transgenders choosing their bathrooms and dressing rooms according to the gender they identified with rather than what they were assigned at birth. Americans were also derided as bigots for their concerns that things like this might happen:

An Idaho man who told police he identifies as a woman was arrested Tuesday after allegedly taking photos of a woman in a Target fitting room, officials said.

Sean Patrick Smith, 43, was allegedly dressed in women’s clothing when he entered the fitting room in the women’s section of the store in Ammon on Monday, East Idaho News reported. Smith, also known as Shauna Patricia Smith, then began taking pictures of a woman in the changing stall next to him, police said.

“The woman was begging for help as she chased the man out the door,” a witness told East Idaho News. “She kept saying she wanted those pictures deleted.”

Detectives found Smith on Tuesday and charged him with one felony count of voyeurism. He was booked into the Bonneville County Jail and was set to make a court appearance Wednesday.

As a reminder, it has been estimated that Target lost approximately $2.5 billion within two weeks of announcing their new transgender restroom/dressing room policy.

–Dana

43 Responses to “When They Say That It Will Never Happen, Count On It Happening”

  1. And so it goes.

    Dana (995455)

  2. $2.5 billion is not enough. Make them really pay!

    Jim (a9b7c7)

  3. tranny target is still a good place to buy towels if you’re trying to get decent but not great towels at a more or less fair price I think

    You just have to wash them before you use them in case a tranny got their tranny juices on them yuck

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  4. And every once in a while a love match happens.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  5. Actually Target has lost nothing (yet). The $2.5Billion represents the loss of value in its stock, which is due to several factors, not all of them unique to Target.
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/target-sales-decline-profit-edges-lower-1463572937
    The stock closed today at about $73, five dollars a share lower than at the time of the link Dana included but also fuve dollars above the low reported in my WSJ link.

    kishnevi (e95dc4)

  6. I understand the concern, but I also don’t think Target should lose $2.5 Billion over them having an open bathroom policy. They’re a private business, they can do what they want with their bathrooms.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  7. I applaud their stance and their courage. But sometimes actions have consequences and my family has decreased its purchasing from target. While I support their right to make a choice, I don’t actually support the choice. I’m not going to let some perv who happens to feel like a female go to the bathroom with my three daughters.

    Carlos (0ce2c9)

  8. “I understand the concern, but I also don’t think Target should lose $2.5 Billion over them having an open bathroom policy.”

    What’s the price-range at which letting freaks in the bathroom with your daughters is acceptable?

    Dystopia Max (76803a)

  9. We’ve encountered the first-ever case of fitting-room perversion – and it’s a doozy.

    Thanks Obama.

    Leviticus (44cfdb)

  10. I understand the concern, but I also don’t think Target should lose $2.5 Billion over them having an open bathroom policy. They’re a private business, they can do what they want with their bathrooms.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce) — 7/13/2016 @ 8:58 pm

    And it’s the consumer’s money, right?

    Target can do what they want with their bathrooms, and consumers can spend their money elsewhere. It’s one of nature’s most perfect relationships.

    Steve57 (7185fa)

  11. It’s the real BRexit. BathRoom exit (of customers).

    Target has had some horrific executive leadership in recent years. The current tools thought they might could get some positive pub out of this gesture. As Bluto once said, “Don’t cost nuthin.” Unfortunately for shareholders who stuck out their stoopidity, another line comes to mind: “Ya f*cked up. Ya trusted us.”

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  12. Hope they go out of business and some nutty Muzzy buys them and starts selling burkhas

    Tired of seeing fat sows leave the store with all toooo tight outfits.

    Rodney King's Spirit (c2f82f)

  13. #8. Well, when I let my daughter go to the bathroom, I wait outside for her. If she’s older, she can take care of herself. Target is a public facility with lots of people around, if the biggest danger is someone taking pictures of her, I’m okay with that. I can accept that risk as part of society without freaking out.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  14. #10. Correct, yes, people can take their money elsewhere. I don’t fault them for that. I just disapprove of it in the same way that people attack Chick-Fil-A over not being pro-gay.

    If it truly upsets you that much, sure, make a stand. I’m not jumping on board the Freedom Fries train though.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  15. Is the real problem here the man in the women’s fitting room or what the man was doing while in the women’s fitting room? Wouldn’t it still be a problem, perhaps an even more serious problem, if a woman was taking the pictures with the intent of making money posting them online?

    I note that at least one prominent politician has been forced out of office for his gay activities in a men’s restroom. It was not his presence but his actions which were actionable.

    As an engineer I have a “disease”. I feel compelled to analyze bad situations so that I can define a problem which can then be solved, if technically possible. This makes good engineering solutions. I rather suspect the same process would generate better legal solutions. And I perceive this process being skipped in the emotional upset over this transgender in the restroom thing.

    This thought process at least once shut up a co-worker who was railing for most of a day about how bad gays were. I had been ignoring him trying to setup a critical measurement in a laboratory for several hours. Finally rather than simply screaming, “Shut up!” I asked him, “Are you afraid that if you wandered into a gay bar nobody would proposition you?” Thankfully after some stammering he shut up and I was able to get back to work without his ranting interrupting my thought processes.

    {^_^} Joanne (Who is female and enthusiastically both heterosexual and attached.)

    JDow (babe94)

  16. …. if the biggest danger is someone taking pictures of her, I’m okay with that. I can accept that risk as part of society without freaking out.

    I hope you have the same outlook when those pictures show up on the internet f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Or worse, a porn site. Good parenting, dude. BTW, who said that’s the “biggest danger”? Are you saying you can’t imagine something worse happening? I can. Wanna here?

    Rev. Hoagie® (0f4ef6)

  17. That’s *Wanna hear?* Nothing ruins a good smart-a$$ comment faster than wrong spelling.

    Rev. Hoagie® (0f4ef6)

  18. Target might also be paying the literal price of being the willing tip-of-spear in many cities’s urban redevelopment schemes. Mariano Grocery CEO had to retire recently and I’m thinking he got stretched too far trying to be the savior of many former Dominicks.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  19. And be sure to not vote for Trump to insure events like this continue.

    cedarhill (1a7ee7)

  20. stinkypig and notorious harvardtrash judgesluts will do so good on the trannies

    and they know it

    look at their tails wag!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  21. there’s big pic of Mr. Mariano and his wife at my one where you walk in

    picklehead married UP

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  22. That is an informative link, thanks

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  23. In New York City yesterday I saw a sign on the wall of a bus shelter, put up by the city government (a human rights council of some sort)) telling people to go to the bathroom as the gender you are.

    By that they didn’t mean, AND NOT as the gender you want to be or think ou are, but what you actually are.

    They meant what somebody claimed to be. They are so into the propaganda that, of course what anyone says their gender is, that’s what it is!

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  24. this could all be a terrible misunderstanding you know

    trannies get misunderstood a lot cause of they’re so repulsive people aren’t very patient with them sometimes

    let’s not rush to the judgment

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  25. I understand the concern, but I also don’t think Target should lose $2.5 Billion over them having an open bathroom policy. They’re a private business, they can do what they want with their bathrooms.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce) — 7/13/2016 @ 8:58 pm

    True, they are a private business, they should be able to have an open bathroom policy. The other side of that is they’ve lost $2.5B in stock worth because investors are worried that this may backfire on Target. So far, they’ve been proven right, with a lower sales outlook- some of it, not all of it because Target is feeling inclusive- and stories like the one Dana posted.

    They’re not being fined $2.5B by the government, they’re being fined $2.5B in stock value (a very different thing than $2.5B in cash) by the normal ebb and flow of retail sales. People generally don’t like this idea, and Wall Street is merely reacting.

    Bill H (971e5f)

  26. …. if the biggest danger is someone taking pictures of her…”
    This rhetorical technique is deeply dishonest and, also, infuriating because the speaker insults the listeners by presuming they’re dumb enough to buy it.
    The planted axiom, that this is as bad as it gets, is obviously and transparently false.
    And the cost to society is more likely to be paid by my granddaughters than the writer. Or somebody else’s granddaughters.
    Women need safe spaces everywhere in the world except where they change clothes or use the bathroom.
    Not an easy sale.

    Richard Aubrey (472a6f)

  27. As a side matter, this creates one of the most cogent critiques of current conservatism – they can’t even conserve a women’s restroom against the Left. So what good are they?

    Ingot (b0176d)

  28. I just disapprove of it in the same way that people attack Chick-Fil-A over not being pro-gay.

    If it truly upsets you that much, sure, make a stand. I’m not jumping on board the Freedom Fries train though.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce) — 7/13/2016 @ 11:15 pm

    Is “Freedom Fries train” your pet term for the free market?

    Your thinking on this seems awfully muddled. It’s really a customer service issue, not a political one.

    Gays certainly have the right not to patronize Chik-fil-A because of the politics of the owner. If they did go they’d get the same polite, great (for a fast food chain) customer service as anyone else. But they are free to spend money where they like, of course, for whatever reason they like. It is, after all, their money. But I wouldn’t support it if they tried to interfere with Chik-fil-A’s business.

    I don’t care about the politics of the board of directors of Target Corporation. And they have the right to have whatever politics as long as they don’t try to force their politics on me. But they just can’t help themselves. So they rope their customers into their progressive cause and make their customers bear the brunt of their value signalling. I don’t care about their politics but I do care about the indignities they believe they can impose on me as a customer. It also bothers me that a lot of people just don’t feel safe in there any more with their little kids going into the bathrooms or dressing rooms. This is the opposite of customer service; the Target board wants to show how progressive it is and the hell with what the vast majority of customers want. The whole attitude the Target board has toward its customers if very Soviet. I’m not going to protest Target or try to force them to change or otherwise interfere with their business but thanks, but no thanks, I’ll go somewhere else.

    What is not the free market, though, is when Chik-fil-A is threatened by the mayors of Chicago and Boston because of the politics of the owner. They threatened to deny Chik-fil-A business licenses or building permits because of the CEOs religious views on marriage. That is beyond the pale. I would not propose doing that to Target, assuming it survives giving the back of its hand to its customers and will ever be opening any new stores.

    Steve57 (b75ed8)

  29. You don’t have to use the bathroom at Target, but they are selling 12-pack 369-count Charmin\Ultra soft Mega-plus rolls for $13.99 plus sales tax – and you get a $10 free target gift card if you buy 3 at one time. I think they may be discontinuing that size because this special seems every week.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  30. Do you understand the difference, Dejectedhead? It’s one thing to attack a company because of the politics or religious views of their corporate leaderships.

    I am not doing that. I am no longer shopping at Target to show my displeasure with the way they think they can treat their customers.

    There is a difference. Do you understand the difference?

    Target is a public facility with lots of people around, if the biggest danger is someone taking pictures of her, I’m okay with that. I can accept that risk as part of society without freaking out.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce) — 7/13/2016 @ 11:12 pm

    No, no you don’t. That’s just pathetic, Dejectedhead.

    You actually think that exposing your daughter to child pornographers and putting up with bad customer service and unsafe conditions is the price of being part of society? I suppose it is if you aren’t willing to stand up for yourself but would rather bend over.

    The thing about one’s dignity, Dejectedhead, is if you aren’t willing to defend it then it can’t be said to exist.

    Steve57 (b75ed8)

  31. I remember when this blog, or at least Patterico, was for gay rights. What became of that? That’s a fairly major waffle there.

    Tillman (a95660)

  32. Target is a public facility with lots of people around, if the biggest danger is someone taking pictures of her, I’m okay with that. I can accept that risk as part of society without freaking out.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce) — 7/13/2016 @ 11:12 pm

    You’re not “part of society” if you don’t shop at Target?

    Gerald A (76f251)

  33. I remember when this blog, or at least Patterico, was for gay rights. What became of that? That’s a fairly major waffle there.

    Tillman (a95660) — 7/14/2016 @ 3:18 pm

    Maybe Pat wouldn’t have been for gay rights if he had known that among them is the right of cross dressing men to go into the women’s dressing room and take pictures of the women in various stages of undress.

    Is that one of those gay rights you’re talking about, Tillman? Because I don’t remember that being part of the program.

    Steve57 (67f76e)

  34. A cover-up it is! Heard on the radio, that the “woman” who was being videoed, was actually an 18 year old girl that was trying on bikinis. Sounds like someone is really trying to soft pedal this in order to reduce the coming outrage.

    Yoda (feee21)

  35. That is what I read as well. It was the girl’s mother who confronted and chased the pervert.

    I have a number of gay friends but none ever claimed violating children this way was a “gay right” and in fact they would highly disapprove of it, as much as I do. What an insult to claim this is part of the gay rights movement. This is as bad as the people who excused Clinton’s infidelities as being because he was the first black President and that was how black men were by nature. Only Democrats would spew such BS.

    machinist (4332ef)

  36. #27. No, it isn’t deeply dishonest. It’s realistic. Life has risks and people need to accept that to a certain extent. I’m making a point that you guys are engaging in fear mongering. The same type of mindset that creates the nanny state and helicopter parents. The mystical tranny pedophile rapist lurking around every corner is not a significant threat and I’m not worried about it.

    I’m not saying to accept trannies, don’t like them if you want, be wary of them. I don’t care deeply about where and how people poop and pee. I’m against the President’s directive to force acceptance across every state in public schools. Target is not my battle. Nor do I find joy in seeing their stock price drop. That’s no sense of victory for me.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  37. #26. I know Target isn’t being fined. I’m still not a fan of the economic boycott battlefield over such a minor issue. The idea of saintly virtuous companies resides on the left, now, apparently, it resides on the right as well.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  38. #29. My thinking isn’t muddled, I just think yours is grossly exaggerated. Your view of Target is pretty much a conspiracy that they’re trying to turn you in a progressive. I don’t feel that way, it’s just totally out of proportion.

    Target has no bathroom police. They aren’t monitoring who uses what facility anyways, nor should they.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  39. #31. It sounds like you are attacking Target for their politics. You’ve stated that they’re Soviet progressives trying to force their view on you.

    You actually think that exposing your daughter to child pornographers and putting up with bad customer service and unsafe conditions is the price of being part of society?

    I’m not exposing my daughter to child pornographers. You’re acting like I see a child pornographer and then I’m saying to her “Honey, you need to go pee RIGHT NOW so you can be in the same room as THAT suspicious person RIGHT there.” It’s a ridiculous stance you’ve taken.

    As far as bad customer service is concerned, I’ll respond to it when I see it. I haven’t seen it at Target stores I’ve been to. A form of bad customer service that I’d see from a store like that is having an employee guarding the bathroom doors.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  40. #33. We’re all part of society and we all accept risk when we go outside. I don’t want to attempt to nerf the world and save everyone from any potential dangers that people can think of.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce)

  41. #33. We’re all part of society and we all accept risk when we go outside. I don’t want to attempt to nerf the world and save everyone from any potential dangers that people can think of.

    Dejectedhead (d243ce) — 7/14/2016 @ 11:55 pm

    Mmmkay. This guy needs an intervention.

    Steve57 (193d96)


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