Posted on 03/15/2007 1:13:37 PM PDT by John Jorsett
Minneapolis, MN (SHNS) -- Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon.
So Dsouza was taken aback when the cashier -- who had on the traditional headscarf worn by many Muslim women -- refused to swipe the bacon through the checkout scanner.
"She made me scan the bacon. Then she opened the bag and made me put it in the bag," said Dsouza, 53, of Minneapolis. "It made me wonder why this person took a job as a cashier."
In the latest example of religious beliefs creating tension in the workplace, some Muslims in the Twin Cities are adhering to a strict interpretation of the Koran that prohibits the handling of pork products.
Instead of swiping the items themselves, they are asking non-Muslim employees or shoppers to do it for them.
Minneapolis has become a hotbed for such conflicts because of its burgeoning population of Somali immigrants, many of whom are orthodox Muslims. Last year, Somali cabdrivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport attracted national attention when some refused to carry passengers toting alcohol.
Shah Khan, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Minnesota, said the Somali Muslim community is divided between those who believe it is wrong to eat pork and more orthodox Muslims who believe the prohibition extends to selling, touching or handling the meat.
He urged people to remember the extraordinary adjustments many Somalis have made in coming to the Twin Cities. "Many of these people are refugees. They may have been tortured. And they came here having never held a book in English," he said. "They're already adapting to our society. We need to adapt to them, too."
Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for a person's religious practices if it doesn't impose an undue hardship.
A customer's personal preferences is usually not a factor in deciding whether a religious practice is protected in the workplace, noted Khadija Athman, national civil rights manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.
In most cases, a cashier should be able to call over another cashier who can scan a product and the shopper shouldn't be inconvenienced, Athman noted. "If the employee is rude and gasps at the sight of pork, then it's a different situation," she said.
Jonathan Sigelman, a local attorney, said he wasn't bothered when a cashier called for assistance after he showed up at the checkout lane with a package of turkey bacon. He explained to the cashier that turkey bacon did not contain pork, and the cashier agreed to scan it.
"It might have delayed my purchase 15 seconds at the most," Sigelman said.
Some legal experts said cashiers who avoid pork in a checkout line are different from taxi drivers at the airport who refuse customers carrying alcohol. "I think in general we expect taxi drivers to pick up all fares," said Eric Janus, the vice dean of William Mitchell College of Law. "That's part of what it means to be a taxi driver."
Unlike the ADA, reasonable accomodation for religous preferences means no cost to the employer. This is an easy call
Simple solution; if you get your balls broken at the store where buying pork, don't go to that store anymore. Make sure to let the manager know.
"accidentally" rub the pork against the moooooslim.
Take out cash, rub all over said pork, hand to cashier.
FYI - use this letter of mine for any mulsim converts:
Dear xxxx,
I am very sorry that your parents did not fill your heart with the love and joy of Jesus Christ. Please remember, that no matter what, he stills loves you and accepts you and just asks for your heart to be open for Him.
You have entered a faith that I hope you study in depth and in detail. The Quran teaches that only Islam is the true religion, and unbelievers have three options: 1) convert to Islam; 2) remain an infidel, and submit to humiliating subordinate status under Islamic (Sharia) law, including paying a hefty poll tax; or 3) wage war with, or be killed by, Muslims.
Keep in mind that in Islam it is “good works” (good vs. bad deeds on the scale of life) that you DO that may get you into heaven. Somehow you must win Allah’s favor. If you fall just .0001% short on the scale, you will be cast down into Hell.
But the problem is you never know when you have done enough. It is like being a salesperson who must meet a quota but never being told what that quota is. You can never be sure you have actually done enough (except dying in Jihad fighting infidels – but I don’t know if that is for you though).
Worse yet, the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we can never do enough. We will always fall short of God’s holy and perfect standard.
But be thankful – for there is hope. Jesus has DONE something for us that we could have never done for ourselves. Christ lived the perfect life that we could never live and He willingly died on the Cross to pay the penalty we owed for the wrongs we have done.
To become a Christian (a follower of Christ) means to humbly receive God’s gift of forgiveness and commit to His following and His leadership. When we do that, He adopts us into his family and begins to change us from the inside out.
Also consider - If you ever want to leave Islam, it will be considered an act of apostasy, which carries the death sentence in much of the Islamic world.
Best Regards,
Mark
PS – I spent a year in Afghanistan; living, eating, sleeping, talking, praying, fighting and dying with Muslims.
"Many of these people are refugees. They may have been tortured. And they came here having never held a book in English," he said. "They're already adapting to our society. We need to adapt to them, too."
Let me keep this simple, for those who have never held a book in English...WRONG.
We haven't asked them to do anything...it's not complicated. Follow our rules, or go back to whatever hellhole spawned you.
"Take out cash, rub all over said pork, hand to cashier."
Good answer!
This would have been sooooooooooooo simple for me. I would have refused to scan the bacon myself, called for a manager, complained til the cows come home, held everyone up that was in line, then told the checker and the manager how i will not be back, left everything sitting right where it was and walked out.
People need to stop putting up with this carp!
Could there are already lots of "pork rubbed" bills out there -- and more in the weeks and months to come.
I'd of whacked her with the bacon before I put it in the bag and laughed at her while saying muhammad was a mass murdering rapist and pedophile
The job requires scanning pork product. If they won't do it, they're not qualified to do the job and should be terminated. Besides, I object to Muslims handling my pork.
To Shah Khan & this cashier. If you can't adapt to your job usually you lose it, unless I guess you are a Muslim. I think if they can't adapt to America where bacon is a usual part of breakfast then they need to work elsewhere. Better yet just go back to where there is no pork. Can you imagine if she had to touch a jar of pigs feet? lmao
"You're doing a great job! Keep on truckling," Muslims tell America's movers and shakers.
I want to see a customer put up with this sh*t and when everything is done and the moslim cashier asks for the money, the customer should state plainly that his/her religion prohibits them from giving money to moslims.
Lets see how that plays out in Minneapolis.
I'm against all forms of fornication, immorality, homosexuality, filthy forms of music and dress.
Guess what? My religion demands that I abstain from these things, lead no one into sin, and flee from the appearance of evil.
Does this give me a pass to decide what I am going to ring up if I'm a clerk?
Better get it soon, lawyers, because a whole lot of people are going to play this game.
Excellent just add, it's our country if you don't like don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
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