Today I'm angry about.....

[Always hopeful]

Rule of thumb is now nothing other than marketing to get you to part with more readies!

Again - I'll be the judge of that, thanks. Not sure how many 'like for like' product comparisons there are between Aldi & M&S by the way.

semi skimmed milk - more expensive in M&S - tastes the same! bottled water - ditto! bananas, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, cabbage.... cheeeeeese!

Can't agree with you on the veg, Bish. Not at all (or fruit for that matter). Only water I buy is San Pellegrino. Cheese is good from Aldi but the choice is extremey limited. Skimmed milk? Absolutely agree 100% (and is something else that I buy from Aldi / Lidl). Further, I would also say that 'easy drinking' (stop it, William described it to you ) wines are not only very good indeed from Aldi & Lidl but are completely superior to the stuff like Echo Falls that the main supemarkets use as their price-fighter.

The only water I 'buy' comes out of the tap.

[bobo the clown]

The only water I 'buy' comes out of the tap.

Same here .... but the Hopeful Family have a river at the bottom of their garden so you have more options than most.

[Bruce Rioja]

The only water I 'buy' comes out of the tap.

Sorry. The only 'other' water I buy... etc etc

[Always hopeful]

The only water I 'buy' comes out of the tap.

Sorry. The only 'other' water I buy... etc etc

[Harry Genshaw]

https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are really interested I think you can view here without signing up.

The gist is that they're all boycotting M&S from now on - very few seem to realise that this was a mistake and not official policy. The general tone is appalling and is a chilling reminder of how much unpleasantness, resentment and general dim-wittedness is constantly bubbling under the surface in this country.

I ended up reading some complaint about the quality of their steak & ale pie! If you want some great examples of unpleasantness & dim wittedness look no further than the comments on the Bolton News site! Whatever the item - Trains, Wanderers, Greggs all get hijacked by racists

[Burnden Paddock]

https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are really interested I think you can view here without signing up.

The gist is that they're all boycotting M&S from now on - very few seem to realise that this was a mistake and not official policy. The general tone is appalling and is a chilling reminder of how much unpleasantness, resentment and general dim-wittedness is constantly bubbling under the surface in this country.

I ended up reading some complaint about the quality of their steak & ale pie! If you want some great examples of unpleasantness & dim wittedness look no further than the comments on the Bolton News site! Whatever the item - Trains, Wanderers, Greggs all get hijacked by racists

100% this. It's quite frankly disgusting and as to why the BN don't censor these idiots is a mystery.

[Hoboh]

https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are really interested I think you can view here without signing up.

The gist is that they're all boycotting M&S from now on - very few seem to realise that this was a mistake and not official policy. The general tone is appalling and is a chilling reminder of how much unpleasantness, resentment and general dim-wittedness is constantly bubbling under the surface in this country.

I ended up reading some complaint about the quality of their steak & ale pie! If you want some great examples of unpleasantness & dim wittedness look no further than the comments on the Bolton News site! Whatever the item - Trains, Wanderers, Greggs all get hijacked by racists

I only have a dig at the fat controller!!!!!

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Did M&S actually tell any of their staff they could refuse to serve people? Because that's what the Telegraph has printed, but it's not in any of the direct quotes.

What an absurd mountain out of a molehill. The comments on the M&S Facebook page are an amusing (if somewhat terrifying) read today.

Such as? (Sorry I just don't do facerag so I wouldn't know)

https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are really interested I think you can view here without signing up.

The gist is that they're all boycotting M&S from now on - very few seem to realise that this was a mistake and not official policy. The general tone is appalling and is a chilling reminder of how much unpleasantness, resentment and general dim-wittedness is constantly bubbling under the surface in this country.

M&S initially said it backed the worker ...

Did they? I've only read that this was a one-off mistake and a departure from policy?

[LeverEnd]

They allow the worker the right to not handle these products but M&S have a policy of not putting such workers on tills where it may cause a problem like this. So they are apologising for a failure of management to adhere to policy whilst maintaining the worker's right to refuse.
Would be a real shame if a store manager now gets in trouble for a simple oversight. Or did the manager tell the worker she had to go on the till against her wishes and against policy? Whichever way you look at it, it's the religious intolerance of that worker which is the problem. What's the difference between working for a shop that sells it or actually putting it through the till herself? It's not like she has to drink it or even pour it.

[bobo the clown]

Did M&S actually tell any of their staff they could refuse to serve people? Because that's what the Telegraph has printed, but it's not in any of the direct quotes.

What an absurd mountain out of a molehill. The comments on the M&S Facebook page are an amusing (if somewhat terrifying) read today.

Such as? (Sorry I just don't do facerag so I wouldn't know)

https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are really interested I think you can view here without signing up.

The gist is that they're all boycotting M&S from now on - very few seem to realise that this was a mistake and not official policy. The general tone is appalling and is a chilling reminder of how much unpleasantness, resentment and general dim-wittedness is constantly bubbling under the surface in this country.

M&S initially said it backed the worker ...

Did they? I've only read that this was a one-off mistake and a departure from policy?

I understand that the local managers approved the refusal by the woman and facilitated the shopper's move to a till where the attendant would serve them.

That, as I said, could be a misunderstanding or sheer terror of being accused of being racist .... so easy to occur these days and potentially career threatening. However M&S OR were initially backing the decision but then reviewed their response. This could have been a result of the furore or that as the issue grew arms and legs the top management and PR people became involved. Probably a bit of both.

It's worth knowing that from November each year M&S recruit a lot of short term staff and that may explain this woman being put on tills or not having raised objections previously.

I still think she was a piss-take using this opinion to refuse to serve.

[Bruce Rioja]

https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are really interested I think you can view here without signing up.

The gist is that they're all boycotting M&S from now on - very few seem to realise that this was a mistake and not official policy. The general tone is appalling and is a chilling reminder of how much unpleasantness, resentment and general dim-wittedness is constantly bubbling under the surface in this country.

I ended up reading some complaint about the quality of their steak & ale pie! If you want some great examples of unpleasantness & dim wittedness look no further than the comments on the Bolton News site! Whatever the item - Trains, Wanderers, Greggs all get hijacked by racists

I only have a dig at the fat controller!!!!!

As it should be But some knobber always manages to shoehorn a race angle into every set of comments.

[Bruce Rioja]

Anyway - how does all this tally with me being told by officials of Air India that I wasn't allowed to board their flight between Chicago and Heathrow unless I dumped my duty free.

[Athers]

Clearly the Hinduification of the Atlantic

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Anyway - how does all this tally with me being told by officials of Air India that I wasn't allowed to board their flight between Chicago and Heathrow unless I dumped my duty free.

word had spread that you were calling them gunga din

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I understand that the local managers approved the refusal by the woman and facilitated the shopper's move to a till where the attendant would serve them.

That, as I said, could be a misunderstanding or sheer terror of being accused of being racist .... so easy to occur these days and potentially career threatening. However M&S OR were initially backing the decision but then reviewed their response. This could have been a result of the furore or that as the issue grew arms and legs the top management and PR people became involved. Probably a bit of both.

It's worth knowing that from November each year M&S recruit a lot of short term staff and that may explain this woman being put on tills or not having raised objections previously.

I still think she was a piss-take using this opinion to refuse to serve.

I haven't seen M&S head office backing the decision anywhere? Perhaps they have pruged the intial response from the internet.

As you say, it's a busy time and it seems an individual store manager made a mistake.

I find it pretty sad that this woman feels like she wants and needs to refuse to handle these things - indeed, I actually feel sorry for her - but it's not a big deal and worth all the pitchforks, is it?

[Harry Genshaw]

^ (LLS)

All this fuss about M&S, I keep thinking of the poor customer. Imagine queuing up at Xmas time to buy some stuff, finally getting to the till then being told they couldn't serve you becuase of what you were trying to purchase. Think I may have exploded!

[Hoboh]

I understand that the local managers approved the refusal by the woman and facilitated the shopper's move to a till where the attendant would serve them.

That, as I said, could be a misunderstanding or sheer terror of being accused of being racist .... so easy to occur these days and potentially career threatening. However M&S OR were initially backing the decision but then reviewed their response. This could have been a result of the furore or that as the issue grew arms and legs the top management and PR people became involved. Probably a bit of both.

It's worth knowing that from November each year M&S recruit a lot of short term staff and that may explain this woman being put on tills or not having raised objections previously.

I still think she was a piss-take using this opinion to refuse to serve.

I haven't seen M&S head office backing the decision anywhere? Perhaps they have pruged the intial response from the internet.

As you say, it's a busy time and it seems an individual store manager made a mistake.

I find it pretty sad that this woman feels like she wants and needs to refuse to handle these things - indeed, I actually feel sorry for her - but it's not a big deal and worth all the pitchforks, is it?

Whoa hang on there! You feel sorry for someone who was quite happy to work for a company, knowing that company sold these types of goods, then refused to play ball like all the other employees?
Oh please, I'm sure there must be hoards of East Europeans champing the bit to fill a highly skilled job like this and contribute to our ecconomy
You take or not take a job on the terms offered, not take it then work to rules to suit you.
Some of the comments about Vegans, Christians etc bring home real discrimination that companies practise anyway, like you don't work Sundays then no job, what is the difference?

[Lord Kangana]

How did we get from Muslims to Eastern European's in the blink of an eye?

[Bruce Rioja]

Anyway - how does all this tally with me being told by officials of Air India that I wasn't allowed to board their flight between Chicago and Heathrow unless I dumped my duty free.

word had spread that you were calling them gunga din

[Bruce Rioja]

How did we get from Muslims to Eastern European's in the blink of an eye?

Hoboh's Muslamic Raygun fires through 360 degrees.