My first British shop encounter (also posted on SBL)

I can't say I expected it to happen eventually, and of course it would have to be a branch of an American chain, wouldn't it.

I'd been having a rather good day in some very warm (by British standards) weather in Cambridge. My mum had asked me to track down some books she wanted to buy as a present for her old school teacher, whose 100th birthday is this saturday (myself I'm off to a wedding then - I believe I documented what happened on the stag do back in May). I found them all on amazon, but since the weather was good I fancied walking into town to shop around for them. As it happened I couldn't find them all and the one I did find was a few quid more, so I got my phone at and ordered them from amazon while still in town (I think I was having lunch in pizza hut at the time). I'd brought a book and went and sat on the big green area known as Parker's Piece for a bit.

Then on a whim, before walking home, I decided to go and buy myself a few new pairs of shorts. I went into four shops in total, which is VERY unlike me, as is clothes shopping on a whim in general. I'm usually the sort of person to wait until I'm in a situation where I need something there and then before I go and buy it on a subsequent day and then buy the first thing I find that seems like it'll do the job without bothering to compare the prices or quality of other products, especially not in other shops. I think it must of the weather making me look for more and more excuses to continue walking barefoot around town.

So I went into a couple of shops, had a good look around. Thought some things were decent but a bit pricey. Then I went on, thinking I might pop back later if I couldn't find anything better (I think my first serious longterm relationship last year must have affected me more than I'd realised - it's either that or the fact that I'm seriously low on money at the moment). And so I found myself going into Levi's. I'd been in there once before, in winter, with shoes on, looking for jeans, and ended up not buying anything before moving onto Top Man where I ended up buying quite a lot. This time round of course I had no shoes with me at all, and so I went in and had a look around to see if they had any shorts. They didn't have many, incidentally, and I wasn't surprised that they didn't. I walked past one young man working there, and then went onto check what was hanging up in the rest of the shop. Then a young lady approached me and got my attention, so I removed my headphones and listened to what she had to say.

So she told me she couldn't have people in there without shoes. I replied something along the lines of (and the rest of the dialogue will also be paraphrased as I don't have a full memory of the exact conversation,although i reckon that what's written blow is pretty close) "Oh, why's that then?".
"It's to do with health and safety?"
"Really, what health and safety exactly?"
"Well you might injure yourself."
"Well I've done a fair amount of research on this, as I wanted to prepare myself for this sort of encounter and I can tell you there's no health and safety policy about this. Do you have a written health and safety policy? May I see it?"
"No, I've not got anything."
"So how do you know there's a health and safety issue?"
"I've had training."
"Ok, well I happen to have worked in shops like these before and had plenty of health and safety training and never come across it. Nor have I, in any other shop as a customer been presented with any health and safety policy. There isn't one. Also, it's not in my interest for anyone else to be responsible, as it would only lead to rules actually existing. I'm in the best position to know my own limits and know what I'm capable of."
"Well there's a dress code. We're not allowed to come in here with open-toed shoes, for example..."
"But then customers are. I agree there are health and safety policies regarding employees, but not customers. And of course you're entitled to impose any dress code you like, but please don't insult my intelligence by trying to pass it off as health and safety."
"But you're not wearing any shoes at all."
"No, but someone could get injured just as easily in flip-flops. By imposing this rule you're guaranteeing that anyone wearing flip-flops or any other form of footwear, sensible or otherwise, is completely absolved of responsibility for their own safety, not matter what they do, how stupid it might be"
"Ok, but this is a private establishment and we have are rules".
"Yes, of course you can make any rules you like. But please don't try to pretend that it's because of health and safety and that your hands are tied"
"They are..."
"Yours personally, maybe, but not the shop's in general."

And I left it there, turned away and walked out as I was finishing that last sentence. With hindsight it might have been more fitting to finish by describing exactly what I was thinking - so I might have said "Well, it would be a bit hypocritical to continue a long drawn out argument in the hope that you might allow me to remain in the shop just so I can have a quick look around and then decide there isn't anything here I want to buy, then go into another shop where I'll be made to feel a bit more welcome". On the other hand, perhaps it was better that I left her without ruling out the possibility that she had lost a potential regular customer and at the very least one decent sale. She wasn't to know that I a) don't buy clothes very often and b) am off to Kuwait in 2 months time.

And so anyway, I walked across to the shop opposite - Top Man again, funnily enough. Went in there, spent some time choosing a couple of very reasonably priced shorts, went and paid for them, and walked out. I went and changed into a pair in the public loos a short way away, and made sure that I walked back across the front of Levi's with the shorts and the big Top Man carrier bag on display on my way out of the arcade.

I then went to the cinema on the way home. Saw The Hangover and rather enjoyed it - was a lot better than I'd expected.

So I count a total of 4 bookshops, 4 clothes shops, a restaurant, post office and a cinema today. And just one clothes shop in the minority decided to cause trouble. In the words of Al Murray - Ohdearwhatapitynevermind. Especially when I can get what I'm really after, and barefoot, in the shop opposite.

Anyway, hope you've all been enjoying the sun too.

 

Hmmm, sounds familiar. I've maintained that with few exceptions, the "policies" that employees mention are usually their own personal opinions or preferences versus the store's. I had a similar exchange (it's somewhere in the Barefoot forum) with an employee at a King Soopers grocery store (part of Krogers). She said I needed shoes. She said it was part of their "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" policy. I pointed out that it wasn't posted. I asked her if she wanted me to leave. She said "No." Anyhow, we went around a bit, but she refused to deny me service. A couple of weeks later I went to the same store barefoot and checked out with the same employee. My feet were very evident, but she said nothing. In fact, we exchanged a few pleasantries and I was on my way.

By contrast, Home Depot (hardware) has "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" signs posted at the entrance of each of their stores I've visited. I've gone in barefoot several times without an incident. I've even asked for assistance finding items, etc. My suspicion is that they feel that if it's posted and I choose to violate their policy, I do so at my own risk. I'm okay with that.

 

I wonder what the employee's response would be to this logic:

1 - I don't work for you.
2 - I'm not your child.
Therefore, I don't have to put shoes on for you.

I've been wanting to try that, but I haven't had the situation come up in a while.

 

I think that would tick them off and spark an emotional exchange. Personally, I don't mind asking a few questions to see if they really know what they're talking about. Ultimately, if I'm denied service, I'll leave, but don't expect me to come back wearing shoes (or any other way for that matter).

I don't know - I've had little or no resistance to going about life barefoot. People probably have better things to worry about.

 

The ad hominem approach is not the way forward. If you're going to do that you're basically assuming that it's the individual employee making a personal decision, and if that's the case then you might as well spell it out by saying "I'd rather hear it from your superior". And of course it doesn't change anything because they can still say that they're allowed to impose any dress code they like. That's a concession that we'll always have to make. The reason I bothered to stay and argue as long as I did was because I found they idea of passing it off as anything other than a conscious choice made by the business to be insulting.

 

Yeah, when I had the issue at the King Soopers grocery, I asked the checkout clerk if she wanted me to leave. That took her aback as she probably realized that she'd be responsible for the loss of both a sale and a customer. Anyhow, she didn't tell me to leave, and she hasn't confronted me when I've returned. If an employee is going to be unreasonable, there's little one can do to change their mind.

Realistically, sometimes I feel a bit odd going places barefoot, but most of the time I just enjoy the feeling and freedom. If it's the worst "crime against societal norms" I ever commit, I'll still be way ahead of the game.

 

Why not try this one.

"I'm honouring Michael Jackson in my own special way, and I defy you to dare offend me and disrespect the legend that was the King of Pop."

I can imagine quite a few idiots buying it.