Holly MatkinDallas, TX – Goodie bags doled out to Dallas city employees as part of a wellness initiative promotion this week are raising eyebrows after several workers complained about being given personal mini massagers they believe are sex toys.
“City of Dallas Wellness initiative for all employees,” the Dallas Fire Fighters Association (DFFA) tweeted on Wednesday, along with photos of the device. “Vibrators for everyone! #tcspocketrocket”
Not everyone was pleased with the gift.
DFFA President Jim McDade said the bags, which are part of the city’s Well-Being First campaign, began arriving at local fire stations this week, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The bags contained pamphlets with tips about fitness and nutrition, a cooling towel, and a massager with the wellness initiative’s logo emblazoned on the side.
McDade said the devices are completely inappropriate and that several firefighters have complained about them, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The DFFA is even considering filing a formal complaint, he said.
“It’s very clear what it is and what it’s for, and I don’t think it should be distributed to city employees,” McDade told The Dallas Morning News. “Our members want to know why it was approved to send sex toys to every fire station.”
City of Dallas Wellness initiative for all employees. Vibrators for everyone! #tcspocketrocket pic.twitter.com/C9GgmgUB9i
— Dallas Fire Fighters (@DFFA58) August 31, 2022
The City of Dallas employs approximately 13,000 people.
Dallas Deputy City Manager Kim Bizor Tolbert said the wellness kits were provided by the city’s medical benefits provider, BlueCross BlueShield, as part of a city employee health exposition that took place last week, The Dallas Morning News reported.
A blood drive, nutrition counseling, mammogram screenings, stress-reduction advice, wellness checks, and chair massages were all featured during the employee-centered event.
Tolbert vehemently denied allegations that the personal massagers given to workers should be classified as sex toys, The Dallas Morning News reported.
She said people have taken the devices “completely out of context” and that they are “turing to turn it into something that it is not.”
“If you’re sitting at your desk working all day and you can’t get away, you use it for massaging your neck or your feet or other parts of your body that might be aching,” she told The Dallas Morning News. “People have taken this to the extreme, and they need to get their mind out of the gutter.”
At least two of the city’s police association seemed to be taking the situation in stride.
Black Police Association President Terrance Hopkins said he has not received any complaints from his members, “just laughs,” The Dallas Morning News reported.
Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata acknowledged that the city “might want a do-over because of the inappropriate inferences” regarding the devices, but that he believed the city had good intentions.
