Oh, Lord, here we go again! The P.C. Patrol strikes again!
A furniture store owner in downtown Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, where my wife and I spend our summers, had a bunch of foreign students come into his store, plop down on his floor sample chairs and even lie down on his beds---all the while eating fast food and consuming soft drinks and spilling the food and drink on the chairs, beds and floor. This is not the first time this has happened, and he was really pissed off, with some cause, I might add. He posted two signs: (1) no food or drink allowed in the store (and (2) foreign students not welcome.
The second notice was his big mistake. He has been advised that he may be in violation of human rights and racial equality laws and could be liable for legal action. He probably would have been wiser just to post the first notice and leave it at that, but I'm sure he wa smarting from these inappropriate and expensive (to the store owner) actions of the foreign students.
Then there was an inteview on the local news with several foreign students, all of whom blandly state that they bring food into stores all the time. One even brazenly said, "After all, I have to have some place to eat my lunch."
It is so typical of the time we live in where lack of civility and just plain non-thinking are the rule of the day. Then add to this mixture the cult of Political Correctness to turn a bad situation even sourer with the misapplication of human rights laws.
I did a lot of dumb things as a kid, but eating my lunch in a store and spilling food all over the place was one action I never considered. Am I wrong in thinking the store owner has a few rights, too? I guess my age is showing.
Younger generations believe they are "entitled". We didn't have that misconception.
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