Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Discrimination in Yasar Halim
I went and did my normal shop in Yasar Halim and the cashier who was serving me actually waved through a Turkish man to jump the queue in front of myself and another man. I did ask whether there was discrimination of non-Turks and she just laughed.
The guy who was waived through apologised to me afterwards but this was blatant discrimination against non-Turkish people in that shop. I can't believe it!!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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I took it as a small life lesson ('check your privilege' territory) when it happened to me, twice, a few years ago (demographic: ageing English man).
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Stillman on
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you have my sympathy for the inconvenience, but it seems quite a jump to assume that it was discrimination at play. there could be all sorts of reasons. perhaps the chap had been in before and had forgotten something, perhaps, as Amit suggests, they were friends, perhaps the cashier knew that his wife had just had a baby. who knows. perhaps, she should be given the benefit of the doubt, and you should let yourself of the hook. it was probably just one of those things that doesn't deserve a second thought.
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This has happened to me, I was the only one at the counter and about to be served when a man walked in and stood directly behind me; he was served over the top of my head as they chatted on and on and on as if I did not exist, as I was pressed against the counter. I asked them if I was invisible and checked my self to see if I had not suddenly become an apparition at which point they looked at me as if I was crazy, really surprised that I should object. This was not the first time either.
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Permalink Reply by Shar on
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What Andrew said. I am sympathetic about the inconvenience and also the lack of explanation, regardless of whether discrimination occured and even though my first impulse is to allow the benefit of doubt.
Having said that, from my point of view (and I emphasise this is solely my view that I don't expect anyone else to share):
If being passed over in a queue once was my main experience of discrimination - as opposed to say having abuse shouted at me in the street OR systematically being discriminated in job or business situations OR having my every action or statement being viewed through the prism of my (presumed) ethnicity or beliefs - it wouldn't be a windmill that I'd be inclined to spend much energy tilting at...
As a random aside, are you sure both parties were Turkish?
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Permalink Reply by Matt on
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Have often found this to be the case at Yasar Halim. Not in an overly unpleasant way (service when it is given is always with a smile!), but certainly allowing people to queue jump by pointedly ignoring those already in the queue.
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it sounds like they are rude and may sometimes act in a way that might lead people to take their custom elsewhere. but i still think its quite a leap to classify it as discrimination.
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Yes, I agree. Besides the idea of an orderly queue everyone served in the order in which they arrived, one-by-one, is seen as a peculiar way to go about things in many parts of the world. I imagine their response would be "well, you were just stood there smiling, whilst that guy placed his order".
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Also perhaps their English wasn't good enough to explain why they allowed the queue jumping? I'm not suggesting that makes anything OK...
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I've never asked why. Only adds a few minutes to the day, and just took it as a cultural thing.
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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on
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I prefer Andrew Stillman's approach to this which doesn't mean that Mimi is wrong.
In my own experience as a regular and appreciative customer of Yasar Halim, I sometimes feel rather as I do when in a shop in a foreign country. One or two of the check-out clerks engage with more or less the easy familiarity one finds in Sainsburys (for example) but others do not. In some cultures I know it is not normal to be familiar with strangers (and this is strongest as between women and men). There are also often individual staff members in Yasar H whose spoken English is definitely weak and these may avoid getting into a dialogue. I doubt very much whether the management run courses in how to deal with customers but, if they did, I should be fascinated to know what the boss would recommend about queuing etc. Although I believe Yasar Halim is Cypriot rather than simply Turkish, the prevalence of Turkish speakers among its customers might also have an influence. I have sometimes noticed a tendency to deference by both other customers and staff, especially in the bakery, and this might be seen as departing from habitually strict queuing. Of course, I am a white haired senior citizen which might be the reason, but I think of it it as intended to help someone rather than being directed against anyone.
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