To me, this is a real turnoff. Why does daddy need to fight this grown man's battles? It's embarrassing.

We do not know what the kid is doing to improve his image. His father is doing it for him as far as the Villages is concerned. That's the father's age group.

Would like to get the Villages Media Group's take on this firing. Maybe, one of our members can e-mail them and post the answer if there is one.

I'd like to know if there is more to the story other than the kid posting video that makes fun of golf carts, too many golf courses, houses that look a like, etc. I do not think any of that is actually true in the kid's video parody and love the attractive nature of many of the varieties of Villages homes and the beauty of many of how the golf courses have been developed. And, the seniors who live in the Villages have worked very hard to have fun in this time of their lives. I have enjoyed my ten years in the Villages a great deal due in part to the vision of the developers and the friendliness of my neighbors.

Like.


Our grandchildren are the same age as this kid. If they had been fired due to something like this, I would have said, I hope you learn something from this.


And their parents would have told them the same thing.


Some posters think of him as a misunderstood, well meaning kid. I think of him as an adult who should have been schooled differently. Your right to expression ends where your meal ticket begins.


Misplaced sympathy may well be the reason for the downfall of this country.

I just am a big fan of withholding judgment until we get the rest of the story. And I seriously doubt if the father knows the whole story from the kid.

Someone should contact the Villages Media Group and see what they have to say about the kid's dismissal. I want to emphasize that I love the Villages and the years from 2005 while I have lived here have been the best years of my life especially after all the rather rotten things that happened to me in Palm Harbor from 1996- 2005.

I believe the video didn't gain any traction until now because it was reported on by an Orlando media outlet. Before that, the The Villages probably didn't even know it existed.

I would do so, but unlike most places here, the person who answers the phone most likely will not speak for the owner of the business and the owner of the business is not likely to explain, or feel the need to explain to a caller.


The "company" here is known well for keeping their cards close to their vest.


The owners of this development company don't appear much and don't grandstand at all. They just quietly and efficiently run the business, employ thousands, make a lot of money, and duped all of us somehow to live here....which makes me very grateful.


I doubt they feel, and rightly so, that they need to explain why they fire someone.


There are those who will think they are wrong, those who think they are right and most don't know and don't care.


My remarks are based on a lifetime of raising my own children. (And I think we did a good job) Tough, smart love, many kisses and hugs and a few well placed kick in the pants, mostly figuratively, is often behind a lot of success stories. Misplaced sympathy is not.

Good points. Their web-site does not seem to be up-and-running yet.

And I do not see any available e-mail addresses except The Villages Daily Sun.

the 24 year old 'man' just learned that actions have consequences. if he didn't have the sense to understand that before, he does now. I would have fired him as well for biting the hand that feeds him.

The kid may not be able to speak publicly as he could open himself up to litigation. I do not know this for sure, just a guess.

It is a personnel matter and, frankly, none of our business.

I wish this man future success and hope he has learned discretion, good judgment, and what loyalty is about from this experience. The last thing he needs is sympathy and being treated as a victim.

That's true.

He might make a really fun Uber driver around here!

On the various Villages Facebook pages, the kid's video is very well liked and the Villages Media Group is not coming off very well.

That's probably why they should try to tell their side of the story somewhere. They may be too big to explain their action of firing the kid or maybe their lawyer(s) told them to keep quiet.

Holy cow! Somebody wrote that misplaced sympathy maybe the reason for the downfall of our country. Please lighten up. This downfallen country sure looks good from my lanai. The video is funny , and I hope he continues to produce more of them.

Misplaced sympathy may be the reason for the downfall of this country.


I hope he produces more of these videos and that they get good enough for him to earn a living from them.


So far he is doing better in being creative than he is in holding a job.

I watched the video again to see if I missed something. No... it's ok... a bit "irreverent" which if fine. Nothing you wouldn't send to a friend.
The fact that the video was up on Youtube over 8 months ago and he was just fired leads me to wonder if that was really the reason. Sort of like people who after years with a company get fired for stealing. Then they yell "I was only fired because I'm ----" (you can fill in the blank).

What is the relevance of being a retired US Navy veteran? Are the veterans here all supposed to demand that your son get rehired? Move if you want to.

I looked at the video too again and nothing is there which seems that it would be owned by the Villages Media Group. The kid likes to make irreverent videos.

More story
 

I seriously doubt that these "postings" will make any Real difference and I suspect there is more to the "story" than anyone of us knows. :posting:

Agree.

I say a nice paycheck is better.

TOTV probably would not have much of an impact. Facebook though gets a lot more viewers I would expect and more word of mouth outside the Villages.

There could be a lot more to the story though. We will not know unless more information comes in from the Villages Media Group. Too bad they are closed mouth about stuff.

I do know that employers sometimes check Facebook pages and having a lot of controversy about losing your last job is not a good thing.



Being gainfully employed is a huge value in my list, near the top. When I was a small child, just after the depression, men would greet each other, shake hands and ask; " Is your work steady?.

I am extremely well aware that many people judge you by what job you do. People must be aware though that this is not a fair nor just world and that sometimes circumstances beyond people's control make keeping gainful employment difficult. All kinds of factors can play into this. Sometimes, it is mental illness. https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI Sometimes crossing a small powerful clique that will do almost anything to protect its power and image. I believe a lot of the people who have been found to be innocent of capital crimes had done something against the interests of a small group. Rather than right the wrong they have done, they cover up their actions with whatever means possible. Small conspiracies do occur in the US if the people have the motive, power, and opportunities to pull these off.

Well, it wasn't really lol funny to me. Cute in parts but with the foul language "bleeps" and the reference to swinging key parties, etc... I wouldn't call it exactly flattering or a good marketing video for The Villages.

I disagree. Sex sells, even at our age. Whenever I see a car go by and I see a loofah on the roof I just gotta catch up and see who's driving. In my mind I think it's going to be a slightly older looking Angela Jolie and Brad Pitt but when I do catch them they always look more like Aunt Bea and Floyd the Barber. eeew
The loofah's there to find the car in the parking lot. But still.,,there's hope.
Someday I'll shoot par from the black tees and all the girls I dated in College will live here too.

I am guessing your wife doesn't read this forum.

It seems to be something the kid just put up somewhere on his own and probably was not paid for it. I do not see any proprietary Villages Media Group shots in it as the kid and a friend seem to be doing the camerawork.

We do not have all the information though.

It does not seem to warrant termination to me just some kind of warning.

He is a "kid" to me and to most of us but both of our grandchildren, ages 23 and 26 are college graduates and both hold jobs in the broadcast media and they post on Facebook and social media but stay away from anything of controversy.


Their grandfather always says "The man that has the gold makes the rules". It depends whether you want to have the right of completely free expression or you want to have a job. As I said before, you become the company you represent if you want to climb the ladder and make more money. If you don't, there are other jobs.


.

I had not addressed my opinion of the video itself but in my view there was nothing damaging about it.

If this was the only reason for their punitive action then I believe the guy's employer over reacted and perhaps should have simply admonished him or perhaps disciplined but firing?????? It makes the employer seem small if this was the case?????

This would be an interesting case to litigate because this guy videoed this piece on his own time and with his own equipment and because we have a David and Goliath scenario. Perhaps their is a valid legal concept in possession of this employer that I am missing??

Perhaps the Villages Media could claim copyright, etc but then they would have to sue the thousand upon thousands of people who video The Villages on a daily basis.

Perhaps they may make claim that the video was damaging but a sampling on this thread demonstrates that most people were favorable and hence the guy's video could be construed as a free and beneficial advertisement for TV.? We could go on... but without particulars ....................... to what avil

Perhaps as I stated previously we have a valid and legal situation where a company says I can fire you for anything or nothing and you can't do a darn thing about it and that ends it Perhaps they gave a valid cause for this termination? We don't know and while we can speculate we cannot pre-judge.

In the end I doubt for a number of reasons that a wrongful termination lawsuit will result anyway. Beside I just thinking aloud

In my opinion, the kid would be better off just to walk away from this. He should do fine with his future career.

We're only hearing one side of the story. Perhaps the video was not the reason the man was fired.

Tal: I agree and another issue struck me. It may be that the employer's "employee handbook" specifically prohibits this sort of behavior from an employee. I believe any legal action be initiated to find the truth but as you know with your legal background too often truth falls to the wayside

The employer could be very justified or perhaps the employee. with the little we all know about the incident the relationship legal/social between the employer and employee and the circumstances surround the video we are left only to speculate.

Like you a big part of my life had been around lawsuits and I can't help but let the juices flow when I read about something like this. Its just instinct and habit kicking in

Personal Best Regards:

The Villages Media Group Reviews | Glassdoor

I did find this interesting.

Offended. Mildly amused. Overly entertained. Righteous indignation over perceived trampling of rights. Keyboard lawyering. -- All of those things are woven into this thread -- the thread with its 15 minutes almost up.

Subjectivity aside, the name of the game is corporate politics. (And, of course, I don't mean dem or repub.) Somebody needs to tell young people the game is still the game. What do you think would have happened had this been Procter and Gamble or IBM?

It might not have been his dream job, but at least it was probably a stepping-stone job. And a job lots of other young people are lining up for, I bet.

He seems like a nice young man. And my guess is that he probably did not know any better. Because nobody ever told him.....

I spent a lot of years in secondary ed, and whether it was in my classroom or my office, I always had this Stephen Crane poem "A Man Said to the Universe" posted somewhere in sight....

A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."


.......I discussed with my students what they thought that little poem meant -- and sometimes I had to remind myself.

I wish this young man all the best, but I think some thinking through the situation is in order.

Boomer

You make a lot of sense. I bet you were a great educator.

OMG if we allow this video to go viral,thousands more will come!! One offensive word does not unemployment make...well except for the puritans. I laughed, and its good to laugh at oneself. Afterall Mr. Schwartz created this for us to be happy, joyous and free in our retirement. Good luck kid...stay creative.

If this video goes viral the last rec center will be in St. Pete

Unfortunately he had to learn a valuable lesson trying to be funny, don't let your video be about your employer and you will still be employed.