I'm not so sure this is culture shock so much as WH Smith having a wierd corporate policy and then giving a kack-handed explanation of it. There's nothing to stop shopkeepers being wierd.
I must admit I find all this anti-discrimination legislation a bit disquieting; there's a clear case for it where the market is obviously failing - disabled access being the obvious example - but elsewhere it sounds much like legislation for legislation's sake.
Interesting question: if the customer had taken WH Smith's advice and not attempted to buy cigarettes, presuming the assistant to be Muslim, would the store have a case for racial discrimination? I think they probably would (corollary: should the police now investigate WH Smith for promoting racial discrimination against themselves?)
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Date: 2007-01-24 05:14 pm (UTC)I must admit I find all this anti-discrimination legislation a bit disquieting; there's a clear case for it where the market is obviously failing - disabled access being the obvious example - but elsewhere it sounds much like legislation for legislation's sake.
Interesting question: if the customer had taken WH Smith's advice and not attempted to buy cigarettes, presuming the assistant to be Muslim, would the store have a case for racial discrimination? I think they probably would (corollary: should the police now investigate WH Smith for promoting racial discrimination against themselves?)