New coworker puts on disturbing shows and music on the store TV

Question

There’s a large TV mounted on the wall at the liquor store where I work. The atmosphere is very casual, we don’t have any specific policies regarding it. We change the channel whenever we feel like it and it has Chromecast to connect to YouTube. There is a new girl who has been putting on things I don’t think are appropriate. We watch music, but usually pop from the 90s and she puts on bands like Die Antwoord. Aside from her choice of music being different from what we usually have playing, many of the music videos she plays have suggestive themes or content.

She also puts on videos like Creep Captures. I’m not sure if anyone’s heard of but they are a controversial group of vigilantes that lure out suspected pedophiles and film their confrontation with them. Personally I’m not ok with this as they have had some questionable behavior, for example chasing a mentally handicapped man into traffic. I’d rather not be seeing this at work (though such it’s such a hot subject I want to be careful what I say).

Any one could walk in and see the TV. What, if anything, should I say or do? I could just change the channel myself but she changes it back. Especially the pedophile one, I find disturbing and don’t want to hear about it (given the store layout you can’t get away from the TV).

To draw a bit more of a picture, the girl who does this is young and she’s in a punk metal band. Her general attitude seems to be “in your face” style entertainment. I know music is really important to her so I don’t want to offend by asking her to turn off her favorite song.

I understand and respect that people have different tastes in music. I consider this a problem more because of our perception with customers in the store. I didn't mean for this to turn into a large discussion.

Answer 1

This is not something you should have a confrontation over. If it's affecting you too much, then you need to speak to whoever has the actual authority to create a TV policy.

In a similar situation with inappropriate use of a screen, one of my clients asked me to automate everything and took away the staffs capability to monkey around with it. Problem solved, everyone hated me, but staff didn't hate each other, and they soon got used to it.

Take away the toy and the kids can't fight over it. Best if it's done by someone that can't be argued with, and minimise tension and recriminations within the staff.

Answer 2

In contrast with the other answers here I do think you should try raising this with your coworker directly. Any manager worth his salt will ask you if you've tried resolving the problem yourself before you came to him. Passive-aggressive channel switching doesn't count for that, the point is to talk to your colleague and try to reach common ground.

As you know we don't really have a set channel for the TV, but we're used to listening to [genre / channel]. While I don't mind changing it up occasionally, I'd like to find a balance in the type of music we put on or perhaps figure out if there's a channel that we all enjoy.

Aside from that though, I wanted to ask you to avoid putting on stuff like [show name / reality TV / controversial genres]. Those kinds of programs are rather distracting and sometimes controversial [because of ] and I find it difficult to have this on in the background knowing some of the history behind their production. I'm also worried that it could be off-putting for some of our customers so I was hoping we could agree to keep the TV turned to music.

That last line brings up an important point: if your clientele is likely to find the music she puts on disruptive, then that's an important argument to make instead, and a much stronger one. At that point you effectively do have an unwritten policy in place as the TV should be restricted to mainstream music to avoid pushing away your potential clients. Pop music and classic rock are mainstream for a reason as most people don't feel strongly about listening to it and it's common for workplaces or stores to have that on in the background. Anything non-standard, and Die Antwoord certainly qualifies, is more risky. Of course this all depends on what your store is selling, what the culture is and what your clientele expects. You won't hear the same kind of music in GAP and Hot Topic.

This conversation can go any number of ways and it's not always an easy conversation for people to have. If you get the impression that you're not getting through to her or if she starts arguing why her desire to watch something trumps your right not to be distracted or offended then you probably need to involve your manager. People with no work experience can have trouble adjusting to such an environment and don't always react well to these kinds of conversations and sometimes need to hear it from a manager. I'm assuming she might fall in this cateogry given that you call her young and she's apparently unaware of what kind of content is appropriate for a workplace, even if that's a liquor store.

Answer 3

In a fairly casual environment like a liquor store, I'd suggest an approach that matches that environment. In my experience of retail work, approaching your manager directly over something like this will not go down well with either your manager or the coworker. A better approach is probably simply to address things you find objectionable as they happen. Just a simple "Hey, could we not have pedophiles trying to defend themselves in the background while we're working?" or "This video's a bit much for a customer space - could we dial it back to something a bit more mainstream?"

Also, the impact on customers is probably more important than the impact on you. If any customers are reacting unfavourable to whatever she's playing, maybe take her to one side and say something like "A customer has commented on some of the stuff you're playing on TV. If they'd spoken to a manager instead of me it could have caused you a problem. Do me a favour and save the Die Antwoord and stuff for cleaning after close - if management get complaints about what we're playing, we'll end up with YouTube being banned and the TV locked to CMT or Harmony."

Answer 4

I think all of the answers are going too much into what taste of music the employees have.

What should matter, is what music brings in the most customers within the values the company wants to show.

If hard punk happens to bring in most customers (I don't think so) then why not put that on? I'd say do what's in the interest of the business to do and take that as a starting point for discussion instead of personal tastes.

Answer 5

The only thing you can do is report this to the office manager (or the person who holds the role). It will, however, be extremely hard to produce a serious, comprehensive guideline, on what kind of music should be broadcasted on TV. That being said, building a guideline that doesn't feel unfair will be challenging.

Consider the other's opinion. Maybe this girl can't stand 90's pop, and absolutely can't work with this music on. As people join and leave, you're going to have a single music broadcast for very different tastes of music - clashes are going to happen.

Overall, I think the best you can ask for is to broadcast neutral things, like a 24-hour information network, and not music, because of the controversies raised.

Answer 6

If you can find a way to talk w/ your coworker first and resolve it that way (several answers suggest good means of doing so) it will probably work out better... If MGMT has to make a policy it'll very likely be more strict than either of you would like or might even end up with the TV stuck on News or Sports or some other channel that is odious to everyone with no recourse.

Answer 7

First thing to try is to talk about this directly. It's quite important not to be defensive or bossy about it, just say that you don't like particular show instead of switching the channel. Punk is not about being a dick, so I'd expect she'd listen.

However that turns out, there's another thing to consider. If your visitors can hear and see the TV, they might not like it too. Music is IMHO ok, Die Antwoord does not seem unusually suggestive to me, but controversial TV shows - like the pedophile chasing thing - especially out of context may leave negative impression. It's just a liquor store, but I'd recommend that you settle on playing just the music.

Regarding the whole suggestive aspect, in McDonalds they play pop music videos that are often as suggestive as is possible without being porn, so I think there's quite a different standard on music videos than on TV shows. That's mainly why I recommend sticking to it and maybe switching who's "DJing".

I strongly advise against complaining to the manager especially if you don't know him well (unless really necessary). In the setting of three people this ought to turn really uncomfortable. And it will look stupid. If you came to me about that, I'd wonder if you (both) are really so immature that you can't settle over TV.

Answer 8

I would address this with the owner/site manager of the establishment. Do so in a manner in which you are expressing concern for the business, do not attack/address the employees taste in music/style/ or anything along these lines.

If the coworker has an "in your face" attitude, they may take any confrontation, no matter how neutral or well worded as an attack, instead of a mere suggestion, hence the approaching the owner/site manager directly.

Also, to defuse the situation, one could suggest a rotating playlist with a wide mix of music, in which different genres are reflected.

Answer 9

I would say that your right to not endure something that you strongly dislike is much stronger than someone else's right to watch something that they have a perverted interest in.

For TV programs in the workplace, the default if there is no agreement is: No TV. You feel harassed by it, so the harassment needs to stop.