Dori: I’m very disappointed in Nordstrom for booting Salvation Army

This story makes me so sad because I hold Nordstrom in very high regard.

It was a fantastic first job for all three of my daughters in high school and college. Everyone holds the company in high regard. So it is from that position of respect and love that I share a story about Nordstrom that really disturbs me.

The Seattle Times had a story over Christmas about an 85-year-old man named Dick Clarke who has been bell-ringing for the Salvation Army outside of the downtown Seattle Nordstrom for 18 years. He estimated that in that time, he collected over $100,000 for the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army does a lot of good all around the world, from feeding the hungry to disaster relief to addiction rehabilitation to fighting human trafficking to helping survivors of domestic violence.

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The Salvation Army is also an evangelical Christian organization. Some LGBTQ Nordstrom employees have apparently complained that the Salvation Army bell-ringing made them uncomfortable.

In a world of common sense and reality, the logical response to these employees would be that they need to raise the bar of what makes them uncomfortable. But we are not in a world of common sense and reality. We are in this bizarro-world where radical political correctness trumps reality.

And so, Nordstrom told the Salvation Army man that he could not ring the bell outside the store anymore, because the Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian organization that uses the money it raises for fundamental Christian principles — like helping the least fortunate among us.

Instead, Nordstrom could have told the few employees who were offended, “Sorry, but we’re a private company, the Salvation Army does a lot of incredible work around the world, and we’ve partnered with them.” But instead, they got rid of that wonderful charity opportunity because of a small number of people.

It’s a bad move by Nordstrom and I’m extremely disappointed.

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