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Sign at Wegmans draws attention

TacticalEvilDan

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It’s a first for Wegmans in this area. They’ve put up a sign asking customers buying pork or alcohol not to use a particular checkout line when a Muslim teenager is on duty as the cashier.The sign went up a week ago at their Lyell Avenue store.Wegmans says they haven’t gotten any in store complaints and Wegmans was very upfront about the cashier. They just wouldn’t allow us in the store to talk with her or customers.Spokeswoman Jo Natale says the cashier is a teenaged girl who wears a head covering. She told her supervisor she was uncomfortable handling those items because of religious reasons. So the store manager who had experience with this type of situation outside of Rochester decided to put up a small sign whenever the girl was at the checkout counter.It says, “If your order contains pork or alcohol product, we respectfully ask that you choose another lane.”
Sign at Wegmans draws attention | www.WHEC.com

I'm a native of the Rochester area. My family has been shopping at Wegmans since the size of each location amounted to a mom-and-pop operation, long before these gigantic stores started opening. I like Wegmans as a grocery store, and I like them as an employer. I've never worked for Wegmans, but I know many who have and all of them had wonderful things to say about Wegmans.

As such, this doesn't surprise me at all, and I think it's fantastic. It wasn't extorted out of Wegmans in a courtroom, it wasn't done under threat of extortion. She had a simple request, and for a variety of reasons the management employed a tactic which had been used successfully elsewhere.

As far as I'm concerned, this is just as acceptable as having an express check-out lane. Wegmans being the kind of operation it is, if this actually causes a significant delay for customers (and I doubt it will), all they have to do is open up an additional check-out. Managers do it all the time when it gets busy.
 
Sign at Wegmans draws attention | www.WHEC.com

I'm a native of the Rochester area. My family has been shopping at Wegmans since the size of each location amounted to a mom-and-pop operation, long before these gigantic stores started opening. I like Wegmans as a grocery store, and I like them as an employer. I've never worked for Wegmans, but I know many who have and all of them had wonderful things to say about Wegmans.

As such, this doesn't surprise me at all, and I think it's fantastic. It wasn't extorted out of Wegmans in a courtroom, it wasn't done under threat of extortion. She had a simple request, and for a variety of reasons the management employed a tactic which had been used successfully elsewhere.

As far as I'm concerned, this is just as acceptable as having an express check-out lane. Wegmans being the kind of operation it is, if this actually causes a significant delay for customers (and I doubt it will), all they have to do is open up an additional check-out. Managers do it all the time when it gets busy.

Heartwarming, actually. This is the way most of these things should be worked out.
 
It's fine. Glad to see people are still capable of finding a reasonable solution to a problem without turning to government or making a media frenzy out of it.
 
I appreciate the calm and logical posting.

I live in Mormon country and coke, alcohol and coffee are forbidden. I've never seen this type of accommodation for an employee but while it seems a bit overboard, it's also kind of cool.
 
Weird the things that happen when compromise is exercised in a calm and friendly manner. It could have gone a number of ways, some American Immans have ruled that as long as the pork or liquor doesn't pass a Muslim's lips they are OK. Another ruling said it is ok because the pork/booze is sealed and not in direct contact.

But nice to see people are willing to respect each other enough to get along.
 
Wegman's really doesn't mess around. It's been a pillar of the Rochester community for a long time. This kind of thing reminds me why. Well played, guys.
 
sorry to be the contrarian here, but I think this is absolutely ridiculous.

as a Jew, if I had problems touching a box or plastic package with pork or shellfish inside it, I would NOT work at a store that sold pork or shellfish.

I think this girl is wrong to ask to not have to handle pork or alcohol containing packages, and the store is even more wrong in enabling such an attitude of entitlement.

ugggg.
 
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I lived in Rochester for years....and actually used to frequent this location (there are several Wegmans in the city). I will also agree that it's a very good company, and this action makes me smile.
 
sorry to be the contrarian here, but I think this is absolutely ridiculous.

as a Jew, if I had problems touching a box or plastic package with pork or shellfish inside it, I would NOT work at a store that sold pork.

I think this girl is wrong to ask to not have to handle pork containing packages, and the store is even more wrong in enabling such an attitude of entitlement.

ugggg.

This is absolutely no different than asking for Sundays off so you can go to church.

You, as an employee, are free to ask for anything you want which would make your job easier or more enjoyable -- different hours, better pay, transfer to a different department, and so on. The request isn't what defines you as a person so much as what you do if your request is denied.
 
sorry to be the contrarian here, but I think this is absolutely ridiculous.

as a Jew, if I had problems touching a box or plastic package with pork or shellfish inside it, I would NOT work at a store that sold pork or shellfish.

I think this girl is wrong to ask to not have to handle pork or alcohol containing packages, and the store is even more wrong in enabling such an attitude of entitlement.


ugggg.

Likely, I would have done the same thing. Just as I tried to give my Christian employees Xmas off.
 
Good on them for respecting this young girl's religious problems. More importantly, to me, it is nice to see that this was not blown up into something stupid.
 
Likely, I would have done the same thing. Just as I tried to give my Christian employees Xmas off.

oh, that's very different.

giving someone Rosh Hashanah, or Easter, or Id, or some other very important holiday off, is just common courtesy & respect.

allowing an employee to have their own special "no alcohol or pork" check out line, I think is going waaay too far.

just like the Muslim tax drivers in Minnesota, who want to be able to refuse to transport folks from the airport who have alcohol in their luggage in the trunk of the car. that's just bull****.

what's next? Kosher-only taxis? no beef-product checkout lines for Hindus?
 
So, some (legally and morally sound) religious accommodations are okay, but not others. Got it.

allowing someone to NOT work on one of their most important religous holidays, is one thing.

actually having your religious views imposed on someone else's business, is very different.

Halaal-only checkout lines? that's pretty ridiculous.
 
I realize this makes me a jerk, but I would go to whichever checkout line was the shortest - even hers. I suspect her line will probably be the shortest, since many people with pork or alcohol would not.
 
I realize this makes me a jerk, but I would go to whichever checkout line was the shortest - even hers. I suspect her line will probably be the shortest, since many people with pork or alcohol would not.

kosher-only checkout lines?

vegan checkout lines?

pescetarian checkout lines?

lactose-intolerant checkout lines?

where does it end?
 
allowing someone to NOT work on one of their most important religous holidays, is one thing.

actually having your religious views imposed on someone else's business, is very different.

Halaal-only checkout lines? that's pretty ridiculous.

How are you imposing your religious views on someone else? If you've got booze you go to another line. If I want to buy cigarettes, there's only one line for that, and if I have more than 10 items I can't use certain lines.
 
I realize this makes me a jerk, but I would go to whichever checkout line was the shortest - even hers. I suspect her line will probably be the shortest, since many people with pork or alcohol would not.

You're right about one thing.

I'll bet you go to the 10-items-or-less line with 13 things, too.
 
Wherever the employer specifies. This was a choice made by management, not by a judge.

Jews are REQUIRED to drink wine, for Passover.

that means that if there are two lines at the store, one which is Halaal and only has one person and the other which is all-inclusive but has 50 people on it, I can't use the shorter line due to my religious beliefs.

that...is a form of discrimination.
 
How are you imposing your religious views on someone else? If you've got booze you go to another line. If I want to buy cigarettes, there's only one line for that, and if I have more than 10 items I can't use certain lines.

see above. there are religious obligations to drink wine, in Judaism.

and yet, I would be discriminated against due to my religious views, at this store.
 
Jews are REQUIRED to drink wine, for Passover.

that means that if there are two lines at the store, one which is Halaal and only has one person and the other which is all-inclusive but has 50 people on it, I can't use the shorter line due to my religious beliefs.

that...is a form of discrimination.

It's no more a form of discrimination than forcing them to use a different line if they have more than 10 bottles of wine.

At any rate, if there's that kind of backup at the checkouts, you know what they do? They summon more employees to act as cashiers. The floor manager will also open up and operate a register. Your objection is a non-starter.
 
You're right about one thing.

I'll bet you go to the 10-items-or-less line with 13 things, too.

With 13? Yes, I will go through the 10 items or less line as long as I am not much over. Mainly so I don't inconvenice the other customers who only have a few items. I couldn't care less about the employee - they're there to provide a service to the customers, and those customers are paying for the service to be provided.
 
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allowing someone to NOT work on one of their most important religous holidays, is one thing.

actually having your religious views imposed on someone else's business, is very different.

Halaal-only checkout lines? that's pretty ridiculous.

Nobody's imposing a damn thing.

The employee asked for something from her employer and got it.

It's none of your business. If you don't like it, don't shop there.
 
allowing someone to NOT work on one of their most important religous holidays, is one thing.

actually having your religious views imposed on someone else's business, is very different.

Halaal-only checkout lines? that's pretty ridiculous.

Okay...let's try to explain my thinking, perhaps it will get through.

I am not Christian, and in fact understand Xmas is a holiday made up to incorporate a Pagan population in Celtic Gaul long ago. Likely the Christ was born in spring (given the new born lambs, amongst other supposed "Facts"), but I respect the beliefs my employees hold, and would rather treat them respectfully than feel like an A$$, even though this often led to me working the holiday for them, or scheduling non-christians that day.

This is certainly not a matter of what You, or anyone considers important, it concerns the cashier and the company. If anything, yu come off as less than Christ-like by making a stink.
 
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