Haste is one of the most important stats for Pally tanks since 5.0 since our CD's are now lowered by Haste in combination to the active mitigation system. Depending on which way you gear, it's Mastery>Haste or Haste>Mastery, but either way, both come before Dodge/Parry. (But after Hit/Exp)
For anyone to say Haste is not a tanking stat for Pallies they are just ignorant of how they gear since 5.0. But, since Haste has always traditionally been a DPS stat, I suppose it's understandable if you are not current on Pally tanks.
So, in your story, it would seem you already were a bit of a dick but redeemed yourself in the end.