Morrison's Supermaket Offends A Muslim Customer

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2421789/Morrisons-sold-cheese-onion-pasty-meat-Muslim-family-mistake--offered-ALCOHOL-apology.html

I would be very careful to feed my children anything that had been reduced from 85p to 19p.

But as the father said mistakes do happen

/// Mr Khan said: 'I put it down to human error, everybody makes
mistakes. ///

But what seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back was the fact that he was offered a bottle of Champagne as compensation, since Muslims don't drink????????

But anyway the manager didn't say her had to drink it, he could have sold it on.

But he was lucky to be offered any kind of compensation from Morrisons because on numerous occasions I have been charged incorrect prices on goods that have been labelled half price or buy one get one free etc,

Was I offered compensation for having to drive back to the store to obtain a refund? No instead I was forced to queue at customer services and then take part in cross questioning, then wait while a store worker checked out the offer on the self, before finally receiving the balance of cash back.

Surely Mr Khan there must be plenty of Muslim shops who would be sure to serve you and your family with Muslim acceptable food, but I don't know about being given a 66p discount on a 85p item.

[anotheoldgit]

Kramer21

/// My guess is that Mr Khan didn't want any trouble but then several dailyfail jumped out from their hiding places and started their well known art of "Extreme truth bending" ///

Blimey Kramer are you saying that Daily Mail reporters are lurking around customer services counters waiting for a good story?

/// Mr Khan "Sorry but you've made a mistake but i don't want any fuss" ///

Yeh we all know how tolerant they are, get real who do you think took the story to the press?

I am afraid your anti Daily Mail attempt has proven to be ridiculous at the very least.

[andy-hughes]

Apologies trig - will try to remember - i am embarassed to say that i think you have pointed this out before.

[viv38]

I find halal meat offensive ....

[Hypognosis]

By the way, whether it was over the phone, or face to face, how was the Manager to determine the customer's religion?

1) His surname is Khan but, surely, to associate this with a person being Muslim is leaping to conclusions, assumption. Wouldn't that be racist?

2) His accent might have been Brummy, Scottish, Larndarn, or Welsh. Wouldn't assumptions of being Muslim based on the slightest hint of the sub-continent in the accent be, similarly, racist?

3) If not a phone call, would the customer's style of dress provide a clue about faith? Or would assumptions of that sort also be racist?

If the customer failed to 'brief' the (non-mind-reading) manager about his faith then it's his own fault that he was subjected to the 'standard issue' champagne gift, no?

Of course, better communication skills are all very well but the upshot of this is that we will have to learn to put up with a constant stream of "Hello, I'm a Muslim, please respect my needs". :-/

[New Judge]

Well, baz, you learn something new every day. There is a pamphlet produced by the Department of Trade & Industry (in collaboration with the Muslim Council of Britain) entitled “Muslims in the Workplace - a good practice guide for Employers and Employees.”

http://www.mcb.org.uk/faith/approved.pdf

Here’s an extract :
======================
be aware that certain routine conduct at interviews may conflict with acceptable practice according to the applicant’s religion or belief, such as shaking hands with the opposite sex

Example

An employer at an interview puts his hand out to shake the interviewee’s hand who is a Muslim lady. She refuses to do so. The employer does not understand why and considers her to be extremely rude, which affects her application. Employers could instead wait for the employee to initiate the handshake if they are unsure.
=======================

So people in the UK are expected to be aware of something which is culturally alien to them and more than this they must recognise the religion of somebody who they may never have previously met. Oh - and they must not take offence when their offered handshake is declined AND they must wait to have a handshake offered to them (and hence risk being seen as rude themselves).

Yes Andy, you are quite right. Religion is far more embedded in the DNA of people of some faiths than others. But we are constantly being told in the UK that we must adapt, move on, modernise, embrace others’ cultures. But I see no sign of other cultures being asked to do likewise. I don’t see, for example, in the pamphlet I quoted above a mention that some people are offended by having their handshake declined (as I would be) and so perhaps Muslims could consider suspending their religious requirements to avoid offending their new boss. After all, they are not going to die or contract some life-threatening disease as a result (though that’s the impression I would get if somebody refused to shake my hand when I offer it). Muslims need to make some adjustments too. They need to lighten up in order to fit in with the majority behaviour in their home nation. But it seems there is no encouragement for them to do so.

[anotheoldgit]

andy-hughes

/// but putting oneself in the shoes of another is the first step towards tolerance and understanding. ///

Yes but try that in a mosque and there wouldn't be any who would agree with you.

[sp1814]

Hypognosis

My guess is that when he phoned to complain about the cheese pie being mislabelled, he mentioned why he couldn't eat it...because he is Muslim...and the meat wasn't halal?

[Zeuhl]

I have employed Muslims in the past with excellent results and would do so again

I would not employ someone who selects who they will shake hands with based on gender

[zebo]

The idea that Muslims don't drink is laughable, they may tell their parents they don't drink, but trust me, they do!
I get offended by people trivialising their religion to get their name in the paper, they need to grow-up.
Children are being fed halal meat in schools without their parents' consent, that is religiously offensive to me.
All establishments who use halal meat should have to declare the fact so they can avoided by people who don't subscribe to this method of slaughter.
The schools that allow a full face covering will also have to accept children in ski masks, they're as religiously valid.
The majority of people of all religions or none just want to muddle along with their lives, minorities within cause friction.

[sp1814]

NJ

"So people in the UK are expected to be aware of something which is culturally alien to them and more than this they must recognise the religion of somebody who they may never have previously met"

No...that's why it's in a pamphlet!!!

[jomifl]

Do muslims not eat meat, I didn't know that. I suppose mohammed declared goat to be a kind of vegetable.

[anotheoldgit]

Regarding Muslims not drinking, I once holidayed in Tunisia and many enjoyed a drink of my duty free.

Regarding the meat in the pastie, how did Mr Khan know that the meat in it was non-halal?

[jomifl]

AOG, you'd be hard pressed to find any shoes into which to put your feet in a mosque :o)

[sp1814]

NJ

Perhaps you're as intolerant as some Muslims?

They don't want to adapt, and nor do you.

Elsewhere, people like me couldn't give a monkeys - if I were conducting an interview with a Muslim woman now, I would simply ask her, "Do you shake?"

End of story.

But then...I work in a very multicultural and multinational company, so used to it...

In the same way that the Muslims who work for my company are quite happy to join us in the pub on Fridays...because they're like me...easy-going.

I think the problem is that you see Muslims as on amorphous lump of people as defined by certain right wing papers/organisations - whereas my exposure has been to colleagues and friends...so I know Muslims as individuals.

Always best to get to know people on a human level...rather than relying on what you read...

[anotheoldgit]

New Judge

/// Muslims need to make some adjustments too. ///

Totally agree British and American troops were once issued with booklets out lining the various national cultures and traditions of the countries they found themselves in, so as not to offend the natives of those countries.

[Hypognosis]

sp
//My guess is that when he phoned to complain about the cheese pie being mislabelled, he mentioned why he couldn't eat it...because he is Muslim...and the meat wasn't halal? //

Thanks for pointing this out. You also mentioned this earlier but I was typing a reply at the time.

Taking the meat to be Non-halal would not be assumption either - if not labelled as halal then that's a no-brainer.

It was probably pork though, and MRM at at that.

[joggerjayne]

// ... for devout Muslims, the issue of consuming non-Halal meat is a serious offence for them to Allah, and not 'trivial nonsense //

Did he ... "consume" ... it?

[boxtops]

Yes of course Muslims eat meat, jomifl, but (in theory) only halal - but's let not forget that many people of different faiths follow their chosen path in varying degrees. I know Muslims who drink, my Jewish friends go to McDonalds and eat bacon sandwiches. It depends on how observant the person is.

I would expect a certain level of cultural and religious awareness in a supermarket manager. We certainly have to be aware of it in healthcare settings, there are shedloads of publications on the topic and many NHS bodies have their own guidance as to what certain faiths can have in terms of medicines (e.g. no beef gelatin based capsules for Hindus, no pork or alcohol based medication for Muslims). This has now become a huge storm in a teacup, but I think the manager made a gaffe - that's the end of the story, IMO.