Not Just Any Cock Up

The row over the reluctance of a Marks &Spencer checkout assistant to pass a bottle of champagne through her work station is another sing of a world gone stark raving mad, if you ask me.

Because why would anyone object to putting alcohol or pork or seafood through their till - when they work in a food store that sells all kinds of things that might not suit your own personal taste or lifestyle.  

And for a company with proud and long-standing Jewish connections it seems quite ridiculous to have a policy where staff members can decide what goods they are prepared to handle - on a cultural or religious basis.

Now it's not as though people are being asked to eat or drink the offending item or interact with it in some intimate or personal way - all they are being asked to do is to pass it from A to B to the person who wishes to buy the goods.

Why not let people object to handling non-Kosher and non-Halal foods - Vegetarians could say they have a problem with meat and Vegans could have a problem with just about everything - from honey to leather.

I can think of lots of things I would object to personally if I worked in a big supermarket or food store - selling packets of cigarettes, stupid lottery tickets, copies of the Sun, Daily Mail and Nuts magazine, for example - all of which I find offensive in one way or another.

But what the hey - what do my personal views have to do with anything! 

Because I'd be at work to work, not to mount some wacky campaign based on my own moral outlook, religious beliefs, cultural values or personal lifestyle - so in my view pandering to this kind of behaviour is completely cary.

In fact, it's plain bonkers - nuts.  

The only good thing to say about the whole affair is that this is not just any old cock up - it's a spectacularly successful and stylish M&S cock up - with that added little touch of je ne sais quoi.