Unusual sighting- etiquette of it?
 

Today at the library I saw a customer wearing a hat with the letters of a GLO that he could not have possibly belonged to for gender reasons. If you want the name of it, I can reveal it.

I was perplexed. While I know that people can wear T-shirts of specific events that a GLO hosted even if they do not belong to that GLO, I truly do not think a person can wear a hat stating simply the letters and name of that GLO.

I do not know if this person was the parent of someone in that GLO- though it did not say "Upsilon Upsilon Dad", just "Upsilon Upsilon". I do not know if it was someone who received that hat from a used clothing donation. Hat was not in terrible shape- but was not brand new either.

What is the etiquette and policy behind this? Does it vary per GLO? Would an umbrella organization determine it- and yes, this organization is under a larger umbrella governing body.

Should I have said something to him?

I will say that it is not a GLO that I belong to- had it been, I would have commented. But this GLO belongs to the same umbrella that one of mine belongs to as well.

Minding your own business is the way to go. If it's not your own organization, stay out of it.

I honestly think it varies by GLO and by person. Perhaps his daughter gave it to him as a gift. When I was little my old babysitter used to give us bags of hand me downs and she always gave us her old sorority sweatshirts. I wore them all the time as "play clothes" not knowing what it even was. I thought it was a logo that stood for something.
Even if this guy was wearing my letters I would not have said anything. Maybe a "oh, who do you know is a member of ABC?" wpuld have been appropriate but that would have been it. I know a lot of people get up in arms about letters but to me it's more about the ritual and crest. It's just fabric to a lot of people.

Like others have said, mind your own business. Maybe this guy got it at Goodwill because he doesn't have a lot of money and it keeps his head warm... Maybe he liked the letters and didn't know what they meant...

Honestly, who CARES if he's wearing NPC letters? It's a hat.

Maybe you could have been like SouthernSugar and ripped it off his head. LOL.

I think demurring on taking ANY action was and is the best action in cases like this.

I would mind your own business. When we did invite gifts to our date party or formal in the the spring, one of the items was a hat that had our letters on it, the first time we just had our letters then the name spelled out, but after the first time we would put very small on the back the name of the party.

Technically, if I'm correct, most sororities/fraternities are not allowed to discriminate against gender when it comes to members; however, I've never heard of a woman in a fraternity or man in a sorority so you're probably right that he didn't belong to the organization.
Like the others said, just keep to yourself. It's not your issue to deal with if someone is breaking another GLOs rules, and there could have been circumstances to it. :)

What? Most of the NPC groups have gender specifics in their name. For example, Alpha Gamma Delta Women's Fraternity. If that doesn't make it very clear that NO MEN are members, I don't know what does.

You're not correct.

The whole point of social/general Greeks being included in Title IX exemption is so that we CAN discriminate based on gender.

For more specification, it was a male around 50 years old wearing a baseball cap featuring the Greek letters and the spelled out name of an NPC organization. Not the one I belong to. I had never seen him before.

There could be many reasons why he was wearing it, but it all comes down to the fact that it was none of your business. Did you want the NPC to issue you a badge or something that deputizes you as the Letter Police?

Don't say anything. He could be wearing it for a number of reasons. But those reasons shouldn't matter to you. Or any of us.

Oh gosh no. I said absolutely nothing. I just wondered if there was any etiquette or procedures regarding these. I know some organizations are very strict about who wears their letters.

http://food-fun.wisconsinfood.com/ed...th_flowers.jpg

Nosy is as nosy does, unless nosy is cake, then nosy is delicious!

:confused: I guess I don't understand this thought process because I get pissed when I see someone who is not a member of my organization rocking my letters. Most people that I know feel this way.

I would bet he is a father.

I mean, it's not ideal to have someone else wearing your letters, but I can't think of any etiquette or procedures on it. It's not worth getting into a contentious conversation about it, and in the end it's not a big deal.

Here's my take on it...

If you are not Greek, you do not know what the letters mean anyways and you do not care.

If you are Greek, you know that a man is not a member of an NPC sorority and so you know he is not a member.

If you see a woman wearing letters that belong to an NPC sorority, do you REALLY know she is not a member? She could be.

So in the end it really doesn't matter.

If you aren't greek, you shouldn't be wearing letters that represent a greek organization.

If I see a woman wearing my sorority letters, I usually go over to talk to her anyway and I can usually tell when she's a perp.

I have known of incidents where people have literally snatched letters off of a perp.

I love you, SHEETCAKE.

You know...the sad thing is you probably don't realize how poorly Greeks are represented by those who "literally snatched letters off of a perp."

To me, my sorority is what it stands for, not the letters that stand for it.

Nothing celebrates sisterhood like an assault charge...

This deserves a place right up there with the BEST GC QUOTES EVER.

Ok. Yes, I'd be concerned if I saw someone who's not a member wearing my letters. But these were not Scandia's letters that she's talking about.

And honestly even if they are yours, what are you going to do, assault the man and demand that he not wear them anymore? Nothing says devotion to your sorority like jail time.

It doesn't bother me, really. A guy wearing ZTA is obviously NOT trying to perp. And, hell, if he is, more power to him. We must be pretty damn awesome if a man is wanting to walk around in our letters.


I think perhaps we're talking about different lanes here. Correct me if I am wrong, but NPHC and NPC differ in their views of getting all bent out of shape about people in letters that are not theirs.

Some sororities even have a baby wear line. GLO moms can get their kids the appropriate one-sie.

I second this motion.

If it was my sorority, I would talk to them. I have yet to meet a sister (not on GC) who isn't in my chapter. If it wasn't my sorority, then I wouldn't worry or react. They are wearing the letters for one reason or another.

As far as snatching letters... Unless they were hurting the reputation of my sorority, I would not touch them. Even if they were hurting the reputation, I might confront them, but I would not rip anything off. If people are getting our name out and not making us look bad, I am pretty okay about it.

I never said that I personally snatch letters. I don't because I don't invade personal space, but I am quick to call someone out when I realize they are a perp. And I have no problem with doing it.

You're right. :) Because I admit, I'm puzzled when I'm reading posts on here where people talk about passing out shirts with their letters to people who aren't members of that org.

Condescending much? :rolleyes:

"Oh, I have friends in that sorority. Who do you know that's an ABC?"
"My daughter. She gave me this hat for Father's Day."
"Oh how sweet."

or

"Excuse me, Grandpa. Get those letters off your head NOW. I KNOW you're not in a sorority!" (Followed by large scuffle in which said hat is ripped to shreds, Grandpa gets stitches in the scratches down his face and you get arrested for assaulting the husband of your local chapter's advisor. He deserved it, the perp.)

The second would be amazing to watch.. in a I can't look away from the train wreck kind of way.

Fantastic isn't condescending. She just doesn't want to look like an ass and go to jail.

Actually she WAS being condescending in telling ME what I realize or fail to realize. She doesn't know me so how can she make that assessment? Not to mention the fact that some of you seem to imply that I said I would do it or that I did it. Again, notice I said that I have SEEN those incidents. Never did I say it was right. Never did I say I had done it. I simply shared my experience.

And what is with all this talk about jail? These people never went to jail. The cops were never called. Besides, I find it ironic that so many talk about how this creates a poor reputation of an organization when I have seen members of certain sororities and fraternities (and I'm not only talking about NPHC either) do far worse at parties and the like. None of you are saints.:)

The "assessment" was undoubtedly based on your post. That is what people do here - they read your post, and respond based on that post. It doesn't require personal knowledge of the poster. I'm sorry that you feel you were misunderstood - I too thought that your posting of those incidents was a de facto endorsement. Am I correct in my interpretation of your post above - that you do NOT approve of it?

As to the "none of you are saints" - how deeply ironic it is that you are calling out a GCer because "she doesn't know me" and yet you are willing to go off on a totally unrelated non sequiter tangent and imply that "you" (meaning us) have no right to comment on actions that would reflect poorly, and perhaps be illegal, because you have seen others do actions which also reflect badly? You don't know US, do you?

The one has nothing to do with the other. This thread is specifically addressed to one incident. It is not a blanket indictment of GLOs, be they NPC, NPHC, or some other group.

When faced with the possible misappropriation of your letters, IMHO one should ask what action could be taken which would be most in keeping with the tenets of the GLO? How can you best embody the creed/symphony/principles of those letters? The letters themselves are not nearly as important as is the way they are brought to life through your actions while representing them. That holds true for all GLOs, and covers a multitude of situations.

My statement about what I have seen cannot be interpreted as an endorsement. At all. And my comment about none of u being saints still stands. You're not. No one is a sant. We all have flaws. When people make statements about being an ass and getting arrested and reflecting poorly on the org they open themselves upfor statements like that because they come off as self righteous.

or post-op

LOL!

True, I'm no sant.