|
Fuzzie, weren’t you the one complaining about threads getting hijacked and turned into a debate over whether pin collecting is right or wrong?
No, there has not been a court battle to date. Several GLOs have had their officers and/or attorneys send letters to ebay. Ebay of course forwarded these to their own attorneys for review. What happened? Well, ebay then proceeded to give fraternity and sorority pins their own category in the listings! So I’ll leave you to speculate as to how strong the GLOs’ legal case was. I think you all know the answer already.
Maybe it is a respect issue after all. I’ll tell you though, I think the word “disrespect” gets thrown around way too often. PETA thinks I shouldn’t be sitting here at my desk eating this tasty chicken sandwich. So am I being disrespectful to PETA by eating this sandwich? Or do I just have a different opinion on the issue?
As I’ve said before, I feel these badges have a life and a soul of their own that transcends some bureaucratic policy manual or bylaw that was conceived a century or more after the founders were first inspired to design a badge reflective of their ideals. In my view, preserving your badge in my library is a sign of the utmost respect to the original ideals and symbols of your group. For me, that outweighs the concerns of a handful of people whose feathers are ruffled over entitlement issues.
Is that disrespectful? No. It’s a differing opinion. And here’s another one: GLOs should spend less time worrying about who is allowed or entitled to have the badge, and spend more time worrying about whether the people who are currently wearing it, deserve to.
From the infamous NY Times article:
“But to [Mrs. Silzel] the value of the pins lies not in their history, but in their hard-won exclusivity.”
Search your feelings and ask yourself if this isn’t the REAL reason you’re so upset about seeing your badges in the hands of non-members.
wptw
|