Britt McHenry. Wow.

[Ben E Lou]

I just can't imagine...

ESPN reporter suspended after video shows her berating tow company employee | myfox8.com

[Lathum]

Yeah, heard about this yesterday on the local ESPN affiliate and knew it was about to blow up on her. Pretty disgusting treatment of another human being.

[Dutch]

Now that's a great example of lipstick on a pig.

[NobodyHere]

More reason not to watch ESPN.

ETA: I will cut her some slack because she was dealing with a towing company.

[heybrad]

You could have posted that here:

Nominees for worst people in the world

[Atocep]

Bill Simmons suspended 3 weeks for calling Roger Goodell a liar. Britt McHenry gets 1 week for treating another human being like garbage.

At least ESPN's suspension policy makes as much sense as the sports it covers.

[MrBug708]

I hope they fire her. Towing company or not

[Kodos]

Am I the only one who has no idea who Britt McHenry is?

[Dutch]

I actually never heard of her before this.

[BYU 14]

Can't imagine what a party she would be to have for a wife. Bitch, you're a sports field reporter, not the second coming of Barbara Walters.

[Arles]

She was pretty rough, but I think people are a little too much on their high horse with this one. I've had to get my wife's car from a tow yard once and it was a pretty aggravating process. I didn't go full on "Britt", but I definitely said some things that I wouldn't be proud of if a camera was on me.

At some point we are going to have to let people be human from time to time at their house, in the bathroom, at a tow yard ... You pretty much have to be a 24/7 robot now days if you are in the national limelight (or semi regional limelight in the instance of Britt ).

[Vince, Pt. II]

Totally agree that this is awful. That being said, I read an article that mentions this towing company has been accused many times of towing cars unnecessarily, waiting in parking lots to snipe cars, towing cars that had been parked for less than five minutes, etc.

Doesn't excuse this behavior, but makes you wonder what actually happened.

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by Arles

She was pretty rough, but I think people are a little too much on their high horse with this one. I've had to get my wife's car from a tow yard once and it was a pretty aggravating process. I didn't go full on "Britt", but I definitely said some things that I wouldn't be proud of if a camera was on me.

At some point we are going to have to let people be human from time to time at their house, in the bathroom, at a tow yard ... You pretty much have to be a 24/7 robot now days if you are in the national limelight (or semi regional limelight in the instance of Britt ).

Not sure specifically what you may have said. I have certainly expressed frustration in the past where I'm sure I looked like an ass. There's a huge difference though in my mind when you go to some pretty vile personal attacks.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Totally agree that this is awful. That being said, I read an article that mentions this towing company has been accused many times of towing cars unnecessarily, waiting in parking lots to snipe cars, towing cars that had been parked for less than five minutes, etc.

Doesn't excuse this behavior, but makes you wonder what actually happened.

This is exactly what happened in my case. My wife parked next to a restaurant where her brother worked. The tow company had a "lookout" for the group of restaurants there and tipped them off that she got a soda at Jack-in-the-Box across the street. Which she did, right before heading into the restaurant to see her brother. So, the tow company came and took her car. Once she found out, the owner of the restaurant called the tow company and said she was a legit customer. Their response was "Sorry, its already been towed".

So, at that point, I had to pick her up, drive into the hood of South Phoenix and pay the $150 "ransom" for her car. Not exactly the best situation for you to be filmed, IMO.

Originally Posted by heybrad

Not sure specifically what you may have said. I have certainly expressed frustration in the past where I'm sure I looked like an ass. There's a huge difference though in my mind when you go to some pretty vile personal attacks.

I don't think I would have ever made comments about the person's appearance like Britt did - that was pretty tasteless. Plus, there are plenty of things you can say regarding their predatory extortion business practices that would have been completely legit. But, you never know how people react when they lose their cool in a bad, somewhat private, situation. I think it's an indication of poor character for her to respond the way she did, but I don't like the precedent of having every angry/frustrating situation being filmed. But, I guess that's the world we live in.

[Warhammer]

Its one thing to be heated, its another to go off like she did. I have had a car towed from a restaurant parking lot. It happened at 11PM at night and I managed not to go off like she did here.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

i hear shit like that almost every day.

At the LIGHTHOUSE!?!!? Damn! Turn the light off on 'em.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by heybrad

Not sure specifically what you may have said. I have certainly expressed frustration in the past where I'm sure I looked like an ass. There's a huge difference though in my mind when you go to some pretty vile personal attacks.

I agree with this. I deal with tow companies all the time, the people that work for them are in general horrible human beings themselves. That being said,no need to make the personal attacks.

That being said I would hate to see her lose her job. A lifetime of work undone because she lost her cool is a bit harsh.

[APC]

Fired? Really? For being a dick to a tow company employee?

Some type of punishment is warranted, but should a person really lose his or her job because of a single incident where they treated someone like crap?

Perhaps McHenry is an asshole and the tow company incident is another in a long line of her treating people poorly when there isn't video evidence, but I don't think a person should lose his or her job over a single incident of assholeishness (especially when it involves a tow company).

Man, hopefully there wasn't a camera rolling when I got into it with a washing machine company the other day. I'd be in the unemployment line.

[BishopMVP]

Fwiw, the video's also pretty clearly edited. Makes you wonder what was said by the other side or before they start showing video.

[RainMaker]

I don't get why she should be suspended. The incident has nothing to do with her job.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

maybe i've lived in NJ too long, but her comments didn't really seem that out of the ordinary. i hear shit like that almost every day.

your probably wondering why she didnt call her "muff-cabbage"

[Arles]

Given the entire business model of extortion that tow companies use, expect more companies to start filming all customer interactions in the hope they can get another famous person blowing up to sell to TMZ/tabloids/etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they put "spotters" in high end areas of Hollywood/New York to try to entrap more celebrities into these types of altercations.

[Mike Lowe]

Wow, what a piece of work!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Arles

Given the entire business model of extortion that tow companies use, expect more companies to start filming all customer interactions in the hope they can get another famous person blowing up to sell to TMZ/tabloids/etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they put "spotters" in high end areas of Hollywood/New York to try to entrap more celebrities into these types of altercations.

Tow companies are shady, but I look at the context from the other side too. I didn't hear anything from the tow company employee that would warrant that kind of outburst. If she really needed to vent take it out on the management/owner, not the woman working the desk just doing her job.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by APC

Man, hopefully there wasn't a camera rolling when I got into it with a washing machine company the other day. I'd be in the unemployment line.

I think you will have plenty of company if this recording trend continues on.

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by APC

Man, hopefully there wasn't a camera rolling when I got into it with a washing machine company the other day. I'd be in the unemployment line.

Genuinely curious... did you go off on their crappy customer service, horrible product, bad customer experience or did you just personally insult the person? It's easier to excuse when in this case, if it was, 'you guys are crooks, this is a crock of shit, etc...' I get that. I don't get anybody excusing 'you're ugly, you have no teeth, I'm better than you, you're stupid, etc...'

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Tow companies are shady, but I look at the context from the other side too. I didn't hear anything from the tow company employee that would warrant that kind of outburst. If she really needed to vent take it out on the management/owner, not the woman working the desk just doing her job.

Video's edited. We don't know what, if anything, the other woman said. Doesn't make McHenry a person, but based off my interactions with tow companies I doubt this was entirely one sided.

[Subby]

Pretty easy to drop the hammer on her when you don't have all of the information. You can't hear a word of what the attendant is saying. Plus that towing company is absolute satanic ass garbage. I wouldn't be surprised if all of their employees had tails and green blood.

Plus, you can't fire her for treating someone like that when you paid Bobby Knight and Chris Berman for years and years. Seems a little sexist.

[stevew]

Nothing to be said for reports that the attendant went out of her way to get this tape out like it was Zapruder or some other important shit. Maybe the espn reporter should tone it down but this didn't need to come out either.

And tow truck companies are Scum, I'm sure the attendant gets into it all the time. That's what happens when you work for an enterprise that legally steals cars.

[APC]

Originally Posted by heybrad

Genuinely curious... did you go off on their crappy customer service, horrible product, bad customer experience or did you just personally insult the person? It's easier to excuse when in this case, if it was, 'you guys are crooks, this is a crock of shit, etc...' I get that. I don't get anybody excusing 'you're ugly, you have no teeth, I'm better than you, you're stupid, etc...'

All of the above. I didn't say anything about looks or teeth, but you're stupid and other lines that crossed into the personal were used. Why did I go there? Because the person was REALLY stupid, a complete idiot and a total prick! Probably only the second or third time in my life where I've crossed the line in a situation like that. Not proud of myself, but I don't really regret it, either, because I was sold a washing machine that didn't work and the person sent to deal with the situation was a tool.

I also don't buy the "well, the person is just doing his/her job" reasoning. Part of everyone's job is to not be a moron and a dick. "Oh I'm just a lowly worker bee slaving for the man, be nice to me at all costs" doesn't fly with me. If you can't handle taking heat for something your company, in my opinion, screwed up, then get me someone who can.

[APC]

Originally Posted by stevew

And tow truck companies are Scum, I'm sure the attendant gets into it all the time. That's what happens when you work for an enterprise that legally steals cars.

I had my car, and so did hundreds of other people, towed at a concert once because someone turned the parking sign around and directed cars to park on a street where they should not have been.

A few months later, I told a buddy of mine whose a cop in the area about what happened. He just laughed hysterically. He said the town has three tow companies. Two are legit and reputable. The other pulls crap like turning signs around all the time so they can compete.

[Ben E Lou]

Neither what might have been said previously nor anything about the company is any excuse whatsoever for talking to another person like that. Off the top of my head, the only video, audio, or in-person interaction that I've heard/seen that I can think of that comes close to this level is Alec Baldwin calling his child a pig. I'm not sure I've ever heard one person talk to another in a way that disgusted me more than this.

[Izulde]

Doing some more reading, apparently Advanced Towing is one of the scummiest towing companies ever. And considering the video is edited on top of it, I'm inclined to give McHenry a pass on this one. Sure, she should have kept her cool and not made personal attacks, but when somebody's that angry, particularly if they have the right of the situation (I don't know if she did or not), it's very easy to slip up and go after the most visible sign of the thing that's wronged you.

And like others have said, we don't know what the clerk said - who might very well have deliberately provoked McHenry further.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Neither what might have been said previously nor anything about the company is any excuse whatsoever for talking to another person like that. Off the top of my head, the only video, audio, or in-person interaction that I've heard/seen that I can think of that comes close to this level is Alec Baldwin calling his child a pig. I'm not sure I've ever heard one person talk to another in a way that disgusted me more than this.

I'll be honest. If someone stole my car and held it for ransom there would probably be a similar string of words coming out of my mouth.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I'll be honest. If someone stole my car and held it for ransom there would probably be a similar string of words coming out of my mouth.

Rage against the process, not the person. This really isn't hard.

EDIT: to be fair, I've only been towed once, in downtown Charleston. It was bogus (dude claimed to be working for a parking company directed several people to park in a specific lot and pocketed the money), and the towing company apologized and issued a full refund in less than a week. But Charleston is a tourist town and doesn't want a reputation for those sorts of shenanigans, so there's pressure on companies to treat people fairly.

[NobodyHere]

The clerk is part of the process.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

The clerk is part of the process.

Good: your company sucks.
Bad: you suck

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Rage against the process, not the person. This really isn't hard.

This! Directing the venom she did at a low level employee of the company is both classless and futile. And I can't give her a pass because after she knew she was on video the attack only grew fiercer. Should she be fired? No, but being on TV doesn't give you carte blanche to act like a bitch. At least not to that level.

[ColtCrazy]

Yeah, Lord knows I've been pissy at people before, but to absolutely rail on and on like she did is idiotic. There's no call for it. One comment, fine. Repeatedly? Sorry, no excuse. And her apology is completely canned.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

The clerk is part of the process.

Sorry, but no. I worked in management for a supermarket for 10 years and customers always take it out on the employees for something that is not their fault. They do it with venom and vitriol, railing against the "stupid teenager cashier" or the "fat guy in produce" etc etc.

There's no excuse for it, ever. And to use the excuse, 'I'm mad at the situation, not at you" is never acceptable.

[Subby]

Why we can’t rush to judge suspended ESPN reporter Britt McHenry after her ugly parking-lot rant
By Michael Bayer April 16 at 6:17 PM

A video has been released depicting ESPN reporter Britt McHenry viciously berating a parking lot attendant. Unquestionably, this story is going to continue to gain momentum. As it should. It’s an ugly, ugly thing.

But before we get to self-righteous hand-wringing, I think we ought to pause and take this opportunity to engage in some honest self-scrutiny with respect to our own attitudes and actions. This video isn’t an isolated incident. It’s symptomatic of a deeper cultural pathology of viewing others, including “the poor,” “immigrants,” “high school dropouts” and other demographics as somehow less worth of dignity and respect than ourselves.

It is subtly, but verifiably dehumanizing. We tacitly judge the value of another human being based on what schools they went to, how prestigious their job title sounds and how much money they make. We have a congenital tendency to reduce the worth of our fellow human beings to measurable metrics like how much they weigh, how high they score on a test, or how fast they can run a mile.

By contrast, the radical truth of the Gospel is that our value lies not in anything so superficial as whether we went to Dartmouth, Cal State or Kirkwood Community College, nor whether we make $15, $50 or $150,000 a year, but in our intrinsic and inviolable dignity as a human person and child of God.

Pope Francis tirelessly denounces a “throwaway culture,” and this right here, is it: Dismissing another person as disposable because they perform a “menial job,” for an hourly wage.

Our challenge is to ask ourselves how we each support or perpetuate such detestable dynamics.

Do we treat the grocery store cashiers, hospital janitors and city bus drivers with the same respect with which we treat doctors and lawyers and university professors? Do we treat the check-in secretary at the dentist’s office with the same respect we treat the dentist? The ticket agent at the gate with the same level of courtesy we’d show the starting quarterback or head coach?

Let’s take this moment to acknowledge that we’re all a bit complicit and work to combat these ugly attitudes within ourselves, before rushing to judge others.

Michael Bayer is a graduate of Georgetown University and The Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley. He currently serves as director of outreach and education at the University of Iowa Newman Catholic Student Center.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...king-lot-rant/

[molson]

Originally Posted by Subby

Pretty easy to drop the hammer on her when you don't have all of the information.

I haven't watched it but I've read that the tow lady said something about McHenry's hair roots, and that's what sparks the retaliation. Is that in there?

It would generally be mean to say what McHenry said, but it seems like the tower was enjoying it and going for that reaction. If that's the case, who was "wronged" here?

[stevew]

I hope the cashier enjoys her moment of fame.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Grover

Sorry, but no. I worked in management for a supermarket for 10 years and customers always take it out on the employees for something that is not their fault. They do it with venom and vitriol, railing against the "stupid teenager cashier" or the "fat guy in produce" etc etc.

There's no excuse for it, ever. And to use the excuse, 'I'm mad at the situation, not at you" is never acceptable.

Generally that's true, but if the supermarket employees were videotaping customers and trying to antagonize them (perhaps with personal insults, that part's not clear yet with the edited video, but I'm assuming there was a self-serving reason for the edits), they'd get fired even if the customer got angry and said mean things.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Rage against the process, not the person. This really isn't hard.

EDIT: to be fair, I've only been towed once, in downtown Charleston. It was bogus (dude claimed to be working for a parking company directed several people to park in a specific lot and pocketed the money), and the towing company apologized and issued a full refund in less than a week. But Charleston is a tourist town and doesn't want a reputation for those sorts of shenanigans, so there's pressure on companies to treat people fairly.

I've worked enough shitty jobs that I'm exceedingly patient and nice with front line employees or call center people, with two exceptions. In my experience, about 33% of DMV clerks and 80% of towing employees get their enjoyment in life out of lording that small amount of power over people. McHenry went over the line, but I'll all but guarantee the clerk provoked her, loved every minute of it and this video going viral is the highlight of her life.

[Solecismic]

It's an Instagram world. We had better get used to it, because our children view 1,000,000 videos a day, and if it isn't on video, it didn't happen. The corollary is that pretty much everything might be on video, and it's there forever.

The upside of this is that, pretty soon, no one will able to run for Congress.

[tarcone]

Hey! I went to Kirkwood Community College.

[molson]

I wonder if the next generation will have so much of their lives online that nobody gets upset about stuff like this. Like when you start dating someone, you're all careful about presenting yourself in the best way possible, and then when you're married for a while, you get over it and can both be your true self, warts and all. Maybe eventually it will be like we're married to everyone on earth and nobody will give a shit.

[Grover]

ESPN Reporter Britt McHenry Has A History Of Being Rude As Hell

Perhaps she's just a terrible person.

[Dutch]

I listened to some of the commentary on this on the radio and everybody defended each other on how great each other was toward people in public and how awful this girl is. She would no doubt be right there with them if it had happened to somebody else. Point is, nobody knows how other people behave...so spare me that sort of commentary. Some people are just terrible people (thanks for setting that up, Grover!)....hell, I may be one of them, but you'll never know unless I get plastered all over you-tube one day.